10 Gall Stocking List Suggestions?

[luckyliam13]

hey guys im currently cycling a 10 gall tank to raise my baby bristle noses. Was wondering once the bristle noses have moved on what fish could i keep in this tank as a very small comunity tank was thinking Pygmy Gourami, some form of shrimp, neons, dwarf gourami, Pygmy corys would these fish be suitable?? oviously wont be sticking them all in this tank just some, these fish id herd fair well in smaller tanks any suggestions or tips would be great ty the tank is also blank exept gravel filter heater ect suggestions for layout would also help

ps just a refference to a previous post local store wont take my RTBS so im stuck with him atm but his agro levels have droped ever since i installed a night light and introduced two troublesome upside down cats which shook the pecking order up a bit so now gaurmi is always out and has cooured up considerably the tiger barb has some peace and life in the tank is going well ty for the tips

 

[orangefish]

I would definitely recommend pygmy cory's and neons, however, I'm not sure whether the dwarf gouramis would be suitable- how many of them were you intending to have. I could also recommend a school of harlequin rasboras. They go well in my 10gallon

 

[BethK]

Kuli Loaches, shrimp, Rasboras, zebra danio............dunno if they can all go together but they are pretty

 

[Curiosity101]

Pygmy Gourami, do you mean Trichopsis pumila? If you do then they're a great choice and will stick to the upper levels of the tank

Shrimp - Also a good idea, most common shrimps will be suitable

Neons - Personally I wouldn't have them in less than a 60l but that would be up to you. I'd aim for something a tad smaller like the smaller rasbora, ember tetra. Eitherways certainly don't go with anything larger or more active than neons. Ie. Zebra Danios would be a bad idea as they are extremely active and easily reach 5cm

Dwarf Gourami - I would say a big no no here. Not only are they a bit big imo, but they often get agressive when confined to spaces below 60l. A more suitable alternative would be sticking to the pygmys or getting 1 or 2 Honey gouramis.

Pygmy corys - Perfect for the size and great little fish

I wouldn't put Kuhli loach in there, they're low waste and very flexible but also super active. Mine regularly did laps of my 120l with ease and having seen them in a 60l I definitely wouldn't put them in anything smaller.

A nice balanced stocking (from your suggestions) would be something like...
3 Pygmy Gouramis - top level
5 Tetras/Rasboras - middle level
5 Pygmy Corys - bottom level (depending on species)
A few cherry shrimp - all levels

 

[luckyliam13]

wow thanks guys one the speedy replies didnt no i could fit that many fish in their ill keep a look out for the pigmy gouramies and corys u mentioned cherry shrimps are they easy to care for?? ill look into some smaller tetras i like black neon tetras/cardinals would they be suitable or not ?? and what live plants would be suitable for this tank or would i be better of with plastics?? ty for all the help so far

 

[Curiosity101]

Well I presumed if you're breeding bristlenose then you probably are on top of tank maintenance etc (you have to be, particularly in fry tanks because of how much waste is produced as they grow etc). So figured you would be able to cope with a well stocked tank as opposed to a lightly stocked tank.

Cherry shrimp have been in the hobby for ages now so are very adaptable and therefore easy to care for. They all breed quite well which is nice.

Cardinals are too big imo as they're a bit longer and quite full bodied. Black neons would be more suitable.

Any live plants would be great, I'd always go live rather than plastic. It's much more natural and definitely cheaper.
Depends how much effort you want to put into the tank but I'd stick to things like java moss and java ferns to begin with, possibly adding in a few stem plants like ludwigia, cabomba or water wisteria etc.
Don't get elodea, although cheap it's no where near as pretty as some others that you can get so you're likely to get bored of it quite quickly. And avoid anything that's purple/red or has white/cream stripes around the edges of the leaves or that can hold itself up out of water. Purple/red means high light so will die in average tanks, if it's mainly green with just the uppermost parts changing colour then that's fine. Just solid purples/reds that are an issue.

 

[luckyliam13]

yea definatly no about the mess of bristle noses got a breeding pair and 50+ fry in a 2 foot = a lota poop weekly water changes are necisary so im willing to do the hard yards to keep the tank running well. i like the sounds of the cherry shrimps looked it up and they like java ferns and java moss both of which u mentioned earlier as good plants

so atm im thinking:

3 pigmy gourami
5 cherry shrimp
4 black neons
4 pigmy corrys

ill get my hands on some java fern and moss and a small peice of drift wood

thaks for all your help ps would baby bristle noses be a good idea in the cycling process of the tank? or should i head out and get the black neons becuase theyre suposed to be super hardy?? ty sooo mutch for every thing so far

 

[Curiosity101]

Are you not cycling the tank before using it as a grow out? If not then I suggest when you move the fry over you move around half of the filter media from the tank they were in with them into the 40l.

You don't want to do too many things at once. Worry about your baby bristlenose first and keeping them happy and healthy and then start thinking about beginning to stock that tank with it's future permanent inhabitants once you've rehomed most of the babys.

Don't sell/rehome all the bristlenose before you get your first permanent fish though cause you want the tank to remain cycled.
Ie. When you have say 4 or 5 baby bristlenose left (depending on size...I'm presuming they're around the 1-2" size) go and get your 5 black neons, when a couple more go (or a week later) go get the pygmy gouramis then don't get anything else until you've re-homed all your bristles.
After all the bristles are re-homed go get your corys and then a few days/a week later get the cherries.

Following an introduction pattern similar to above will keep the tank cycled and significantly lower the likelihood of mini cycles and losing new fish.

Edit: ps. It wasn't a coincidence I suggested java moss and java fern

 

[luckyliam13]

haha thats my intentions i was planing when i clean the bristle nose tank out tomorrow afternoon to take a bucket load of water out and put that as well as the fileter media in the new tank to kik start thngs. is it better to get the tank cycling first before i get the plants or should i try and get them tomorrow when im out and about?? ty once again for your speedy replies

ps will my bristle noses stop breeding for a while after this batch or will they just continue to breed??

pps this small tank was just plans for the future. school holz coming up in 3 or 4 weeks. you see anything to take my mind of the hsc

 

[Curiosity101]

Don't take all the media from the adults tank... just some.

As you have a second tank, cycling isn't really a big issue, you could always move the media back to the main tank once you're babies are all sold and then move some over again when you actually want to start stocking the 10gal with it's permanent residents. Alternatively keep the 10gal tank cycled using household ammonia by following the 'fishless cycle' guide.

I just thought you wanted to move the new fish in sooner rather than later

The 10gal shouldn't need to 'get cycling', as you're moving half the media over it should be an almost instant cycle (less than 24 hours for ammonia and nitrites to 0,0).
So for plants it's just a case of whether you want them yet or not... you could buy them now and plant them in the adults tank and just forget about them till you're ready to stock the 10gal, alternatively if you're keeping the 10gal cycled via ammonia you could keep the plants in there. Personally I'd buy plants from ebay/here/aquatic plant sites. See the planted tank section of the boards here and there is a sticky somewhere with good recommendations/a guide of where to buy plants online.

No they wont necessarily stop breeding, if they're fed well and are generally happy and healthy there is no reason they would stop.

Oh and by the way... HSC?

 

[luckyliam13]

haha the hsc is the big exam at the end of year 12 which means that im finished school after that so yea really should be studying instead of reseaerching fish

p.s im in australia

 

[Curiosity101]

I don't know which sites deliver to australia but plants are pretty hardy so that's not an issue...just cost. Surely there are Australian equivalents..?

And I see lol... anything but exams. Finished all mine two weeks ago, get my results on Monday first year of Uni completed already, only feels like 5 secs since I arrived in halls in September.

I can't vouch for the sites but I googled 'buy aquatic plants' on australia google and got 4 sites that sell plants... might be worth a look. Also checked australian ebay and they're on there too. Not sure about costs vs buying in a shop obviously but if it's anything like here it's cheaper and you KNOW you're getting a specific species instead of having to rely on fish store workers who don't always know but often make out that they do.

 

[luckyliam13]

haha yerp local pet stores pritty good im in their enough so they no i like/know my fish ill probz just get them tomza suport the locals by the way good luck with your results and congratz at finishing 1st year if you dont mind me asking what are you studying ive been looking into course latley and just wana no wats good/bad

 

[Curiosity101]

Well I can't tell you about all the other courses obviously but I'm doing Genetics and I love it. Basically just make sure if you go to Uni you're doing it for the right reasons and are doing a course you actually want to do/a subject you're interested in. However at the same time don't just go for something you like, think about what you want to get out of Uni...at the end do you want to use uni to get you a good job? If so then using me as an example I could've done 'Biology' which is very general and covers lots of different aspects including zoology, ecology etc however I chose to specialise in genetics cause it's something I'm interested in and means that I have one over on any general biologist applying for a genetics job but equally I can still apply for many of the general biology jobs... hope that makes sense?

 

[luckyliam13]

yerp it does ty for all ur help tonight im off to bed got soccer in the morning ill keep in touch and tell you how the nano aquarium goes untill then good luck with the rest of uni and ty for the tips

kind reagards liam m