what to put in a 10gal hex...??

[skye4jc]

any suggestions? what would be the best fish for this type & size of tank? i was thinking 2 bolivian rams... or a ghost knife or two... or not? what else? are these bad choices?

ps... im being given this tank... it would not be my first choice for obvious reasons... however, since i have it, i wanna be able to use it...

all suggestions welcome!

TKS!!! B)

 

[glolite]

Hex tanks have a small surface area in relation to their size so you are restricted to the amount of fish. To be honest, I don't know about rams, never having kept them but I have a 6g hex which houses 1 male siamese fighting fish. He's georgeous and I could probably keep some bottom feeders with him but I like him on his own!!

 

[sylvia]

The ghost knives are out of the question - much too big.

A pair of rams is a possibility but only if you have some experience with them and a tank you could move one into if things start going wrong. In an ordinary 10 gallon, rams would work fine but a hex has much smaller floor space and therefor far less territory for 2 rams to share.

I personaly would suggest something smaller or less territorial - guppies, platies, pygmy cories and other small cories, killifish, honey gouramies, possibly sparkling gouramies, small (as in very small when fully grown - not clown loach fry!) loaches, mosquito fish, otos, small plecs like bulldog or a bristlenose, a school of golden dwarf barbs or neon tetras or spotted rasboras etc - any very small, not overly-active, peaceful schooling fish, a couple of dwarf puffers, shell-dwelling cichlids (though a hex isn't the best for this), a group of female bettas or a single male with some small cories or something, maybe even some bumblebee gobies (freshwater species). There are lots and lots to choose from

 

[penguinpimp1990]

Not a snowball's chance in hell a ghost knife (or any knife) would fit in an 10 gallon hex.(they get about 1 and a half feet!) The general rule for most fish is 1 ich per gallon. Your quite limited with only ten gallons. A betta would be nice with a few other SMALL fish. Oto's are always fun.

 

[penguinpimp1990]

In my ten gallon tank I have 2 ghost shrimp, 1 betta, 1 oto, and 4 black black neon tetras.

 

[sylvia]

Just noticed you were considering BOLIVIAN rams - don't get them for this tank. Bolivians are considerably more aggressive than german blue/gold rams (though I love bolivians and preffer them for their character) and are better off in a larger tank. A pair of german blue/gold rams might work though, as I said before.

 

[skye4jc]

thanks so far you guys...

penguinpimp... im not a total newbie to fish keeping, and i know the inch per gallon thing, although its not always reliable. however, i did not realise black ghost knives got so big! oops! ) my bad...

no on the bolivian rams.... check

i dont want any more livebearers... have a 10 gal of them already... but tetras may be an option... and some more cories maybe? how about albinos? theyre cute... ghost shrimp... now can they go with cories? dont they do the same thing essentially (in function)? and ive always loved neons - black and reg. mmm...

some good suggestions here, everyone... tks

anything else i should know?? (about layering, substrate, filtration etc...)

edit: hey! what about glass catfish??

 

[penguinpimp1990]

Much to small of a tank for glass catfish...they get 6 inches and need to be kept in a school of at least 4.

 

[FrAnK3333]

Ghost shrimp should be fine. The 1 inch is a guideline and not a rule. Id go for a small tetra school, and the rams.

 

[OohFeeshy]

What about a male betta and a few ADFs? You can probably keep a few ghost shrimp in with them, the betta might eat them but not to quickly.... bettas don't exactly have huge mouthes.

 

[FrAnK3333]

IMO if it was 10 gallon tank it would be salt water but you want freshwater go with some cichlids. Have you ever consider shell dweller cichlids? I am told they have a lot of character and their small so you can fit some in your 10. There african so if you want to know more about them post in the african cichlid forum.

 

[Raechal]

Ghost shrimp do fine with albino cories and male bettas. Atleast in my 10 gallon anyway. My male betta didn't even flare at the ghost shrimp. Probably because he can't see them all that well. He flared at the larger bronze cory that was in there but he had no problem with the smaller albino cories. I suggest a male betta, 3 pygmy cories, 3 ghost shrimp.

 

[sylvia]

From what you mentioned - I think you could keep a small school of small tetras (4-5 neons are good), 2-3 cories (albino aenus would work) and some ghost shrimp like you said without much trouble. You might be slightly pushing it but it's possible if you keep up with maintainance.
I would say a thin sand substrate and some plants would be great with those fish. Maybe a little wood too. and, yes, I suppose cories and shrimp do pretty much perform the same function They are both bottom-dwellers at least - but their behaviours are obviously very different and neither is very messy or territorial so it doesn't realy matter. If you were to go with pygmy cories, however, they preffer the middle layers (plus are smaller) so you wouldn't be over-stocked and the shrimp and cories would not be 'performing the same function' So, if you can get some, do consider them instead of albinos. Oh and over-filtering is always a good thing .