10G Stocking Questions

[dokkaebi]

So I've got myself a brand new ten gallon tank, the largest I can afford/have enough space for for the time being.

I'm planning on getting it set up in the next month or two; for now I'm just doing loads of research (and saving up enough money to buy everything else I need).

I have two general ideas of the kind of stocking I want, now I just need some advice on the specifics.

IDEA ONE:

I'd like to keep a group of one of the smaller schooling fish to occupy the mid-to-upper levels, and a group of something bottom dwelling to take up the bottom. Any species I have must be generally hardy, as I've never set up an actual aquarium on my own before, and want to minimize my risk of killing the poor fish.

I've always been very fond of the harlequin rasbora, and would like to keep this as my schooling fish. Are they generally considered hardy? How many can I get away with keeping in a ten gallon tank?

For the bottom, I'm torn between getting a group of one of the smaller corydoras (dwarf, pygmy, or panda) or a group of shrimp (either ghost or red cherry). I'm definitely leaning towards the shrimp, though I have a lot of reservations. Again, hardiness. Do shrimp require live plants in the aquarium? I'm planning on using fake plants, mostly because I have zero idea of how to keep live ones. In either case, shrimp or corydoras, how many can I get away with keeping? I assume neither will have problems with the rasboras.

IDEA TWO:

Another stocking idea I had was keeping a pair of dwarf gouramis or cichlids as the 'focal fish', and then adding a few other species/fish to accent them. In this case I have a few questions- what are good looking, hardy, smaller fish that are usually kept in pairs? What fish would be good tankmates for them? As this is the only tank I can have for the time being, I don't want to keep it as a one species tank.


Out of these two stocking ideas, which would you recommend? If you have a ten gallon tank set up, what do you keep in it? Do you have any ideas/recommendations other than the ones I've come up with? Please give me all the stocking advice you can muster. I'm very indecisive and need help making up my mind, haha.

 

[sXeLifer]

Personally I'd stick to idea number 1

my reasons for recommending this is that Gourami's can be a wee bit aggressive sometimes. A large quantity of cichlids will be incredibly aggressive so if these two are together you can expect a bit of trouble.

For hardy fish to kick you off I'd say use cory's these fish are among my favourites, they have real big personalities and love to be kept in company with each other. Mines will often hold sand in their mouths then spit it out from the top of the tank. As for hardy top/mid dwellers I would stick to maybe neon tetras, other hardy fish that dont neccessarily need to be together are mollies and platys. You dont NEED live plants but they're always best. Around maybe 5-7 corys as they stay small. Numbers of neons, not so sure.

 

[Wills]

Hi both options are very viable options really

With the first one your pretty much there with your stocking plans I would go for something like

3 Sparkling Gourami
5 Harlequin Rasbora
5 Pygmy Cories (not bronze or panda etc stick to the pygmy species)

Get a sand substrate for the cories though Dont be afraid of live plants there are many that you simply put in the tank and turn your light on each day and they will grow, things like Valis, Jave Fern, Java Moss and Anubias (spelling).

On the second one I would stick to two species in this tank one schooling and then a pair of dwarf cichlids

For the cichlids your options would be

Laetacara Curviceps
Laetacara Dorsiger
Nannacara Anomala

These three are the easiest to find really peaceful dwarfs for this tank but depending on where you live or how far you can travel you might be able to find other options. I would do a pair of these fish and try to get a male and a female.

Then for schooling fish anything like the harlequins or any of the smaller tetras would work great - you could look at maybe some micro rasbora like chilli rasbora and get a bigger school or a school of ember tetras again these are quite a small tetra so higher numbers than the larger harlequins in the other set up.

For me this tank would be something like

2 Laetacara Dorsiger
8 Ember Tetras

This leaves the bottom clean to the cichlids should they choose to breed which they will if you get a pair and then plenty of action uptop which will give the tank action and also give the small cichlids a lot of confidence and the interaction between cichlids and their owners is just great

Wills