New 10 Us Gallon Tank

[Ali-Jack]

Hi all,

Great forum. Brilliant for us beginners - best of the forums i looed at.

Apologies if i waffle on a bit, but here goes........) Right, my wife and I have a 10 US gallon tank (38 litres for us UK residents) and we're in the process of turning it into a tropical tank. We're cycling it as i type using Homebase own brand ammonia - about 3 weeks in and all going fine so far. We have a Hagen Elite Stingray 10 filter (suitable for up to 10g tanks), tetra APS 100 air pump and the tanks going to be planted.

My question is regarding the number of fish we can keep. I read the very informative article in the beginners resource centre titled "Suitable fish for a 10g tank" and had sort of set my sights on keeping 1x Honey Gourami, 4x endlers livebearers and 4x pygmy cories (as recommeded in the article). However, when i check on the Aq Advisor website and add this quantity based on my set up, it implies this is too many fish!

Can anyone with more knowledge than me shed some light on whether this quanity of fish is ok for my set up and whether Aq Advisor is a good source for stocking information?

Thanks in advanced.

 

[cambojnr]

Hi all,

Great forum. Brilliant for us beginners - best of the forums i looed at.

Apologies if i waffle on a bit, but here goes........) Right, my wife and I have a 10 US gallon tank (38 litres for us UK residents) and we're in the process of turning it into a tropical tank. We're cycling it as i type using Homebase own brand ammonia - about 3 weeks in and all going fine so far. We have a Hagen Elite Stingray 10 filter (suitable for up to 10g tanks), tetra APS 100 air pump and the tanks going to be planted.

My question is regarding the number of fish we can keep. I read the very informative article in the beginners resource centre titled "Suitable fish for a 10g tank" and had sort of set my sights on keeping 1x Honey Gourami, 4x endlers livebearers and 4x pygmy cories (as recommeded in the article). However, when i check on the Aq Advisor website and add this quantity based on my set up, it implies this is too many fish!

Can anyone with more knowledge than me shed some light on whether this quanity of fish is ok for my set up and whether Aq Advisor is a good source for stocking information?

Thanks in advanced.

with it being 10gal you would probarbly be better of going with something like guppies, tetras, and the live bearers. what substrate do you have? as corys need sand to feed of as gravel damages there barbles and Gouramis need atleast a 2ft long tank.

 

[Bugdozer]

Hi all,

Great forum. Brilliant for us beginners - best of the forums i looed at.

Apologies if i waffle on a bit, but here goes........) Right, my wife and I have a 10 US gallon tank (38 litres for us UK residents) and we're in the process of turning it into a tropical tank. We're cycling it as i type using Homebase own brand ammonia - about 3 weeks in and all going fine so far. We have a Hagen Elite Stingray 10 filter (suitable for up to 10g tanks), tetra APS 100 air pump and the tanks going to be planted.

My question is regarding the number of fish we can keep. I read the very informative article in the beginners resource centre titled "Suitable fish for a 10g tank" and had sort of set my sights on keeping 1x Honey Gourami, 4x endlers livebearers and 4x pygmy cories (as recommeded in the article). However, when i check on the Aq Advisor website and add this quantity based on my set up, it implies this is too many fish!

Can anyone with more knowledge than me shed some light on whether this quanity of fish is ok for my set up and whether Aq Advisor is a good source for stocking information?

Thanks in advanced.

with it being 10gal you would probarbly be better of going with something like guppies, tetras, and the live bearers. what substrate do you have? as corys need sand to feed of as gravel damages there barbles and Gouramis need atleast a 2ft long tank.

Gravel damages cory barbels IF the gravel is not kept clean and IF it is not of a rounded sort. Do a read around of posts from cory owners here and you will find plenty of accounts from cory owners with gravel that their barbels are fine. However, sand is probably more suitable. Given that honey gouramis swim slowly and not in mad dashes like zebra danios, the tank length can be less than 2 feet as long as you have sufficient stock volume.
(NB yes I'm a relative newbie, however I have done a HUGE amount of reading about both these species as they were on my potential fish list).

 

[cambojnr]

Hi all,

Great forum. Brilliant for us beginners - best of the forums i looed at.

Apologies if i waffle on a bit, but here goes........) Right, my wife and I have a 10 US gallon tank (38 litres for us UK residents) and we're in the process of turning it into a tropical tank. We're cycling it as i type using Homebase own brand ammonia - about 3 weeks in and all going fine so far. We have a Hagen Elite Stingray 10 filter (suitable for up to 10g tanks), tetra APS 100 air pump and the tanks going to be planted.

My question is regarding the number of fish we can keep. I read the very informative article in the beginners resource centre titled "Suitable fish for a 10g tank" and had sort of set my sights on keeping 1x Honey Gourami, 4x endlers livebearers and 4x pygmy cories (as recommeded in the article). However, when i check on the Aq Advisor website and add this quantity based on my set up, it implies this is too many fish!

Can anyone with more knowledge than me shed some light on whether this quanity of fish is ok for my set up and whether Aq Advisor is a good source for stocking information?

Thanks in advanced.

with it being 10gal you would probarbly be better of going with something like guppies, tetras, and the live bearers. what substrate do you have? as corys need sand to feed of as gravel damages there barbles and Gouramis need atleast a 2ft long tank.

Gravel damages cory barbels IF the gravel is not kept clean and IF it is not of a rounded sort. Do a read around of posts from cory owners here and you will find plenty of accounts from cory owners with gravel that their barbels are fine. However, sand is probably more suitable. Given that honey gouramis swim slowly and not in mad dashes like zebra danios, the tank length can be less than 2 feet as long as you have sufficient stock volume.
(NB yes I'm a relative newbie, however I have done a HUGE amount of reading about both these species as they were on my potential fish list).

that maybe so but I wouldent wanna risk damaging my fish for the sake of having them, as I was gonna get the same corys but cause I have gravel and even though it is small I still dont wanna risk them harming themselves and honey gouramis are gonna be the next fish introduced to my tank, then a brisslenose plec once I get some bogwood soaked and ready.

 

[Ali-Jack]

Thanks for the replies. It's really appreciated. The substrate i'll be using is gravel, but like Bugdozer i've read plenty of accounts stating gravel is ok. I just really wanted some advice regarding whether my filter, tank and air pump combo are sufficient for a tank containing 4cory's, 4endler's and 1 honey gourami. Sylvia's piece in the beginners resource centre (under "Suitable fish for a 10g tank")states this quantity would be fine....but is my set up up to the job? Aq Advisor thinks not

 

[slimeneo]

Number of fish you can keep- rule of thumb is that a 1" fish needs 1 gallon of space, so if you have 10 gallons, you should have 10" total of fish. For example, I have a 10 gallon tank as well, and I have 10 fish total, they are all 1" in size

I have red platys and gold barbs, they live pretty peacefully together and they're adorable.

 

[Grant1897]

Number of fish you can keep- rule of thumb is that a 1" fish needs 1 gallon of space, so if you have 10 gallons, you should have 10" total of fish. For example, I have a 10 gallon tank as well, and I have 10 fish total, they are all 1" in size

I have red platys and gold barbs, they live pretty peacefully together and they're adorable.

that rules just stupid really. and you need to take into account that fish will grow. the barbs might be 1 inch now but they can reach almost 3 inches.

 

[slimeneo]

Number of fish you can keep- rule of thumb is that a 1" fish needs 1 gallon of space, so if you have 10 gallons, you should have 10" total of fish. For example, I have a 10 gallon tank as well, and I have 10 fish total, they are all 1" in size

I have red platys and gold barbs, they live pretty peacefully together and they're adorable.

that rules just stupid really. and you need to take into account that fish will grow. the barbs might be 1 inch now but they can reach almost 3 inches.

... which is why I'll need a new fish tank when they do grow

 

[JohnDyer]

People on this forum seem to really distrust Aq Advisor's estimates. I believe even the link is blocked. http/##150###.com/
A lot of the capacity depends on live plants, frequency of water changes, etc. It seems that you UK residents stock a good bit more than the stores recommend us in America, probably because you are less lazy with water changes.

If you're willing to risk the cories' barbels, I would say it's fine.

 

[Ali-Jack]

Thanks for all the replies. I'll do some further research regarding corys and gravel substrate. Think i'll stick to the stocking advice given in the post in the beginners resource centre. The tank water will be changed weekly and it'll be planted too, so i'm pretty sure everything will be ok! Just hope the stingray 10 is up to the job of dealing with their waste! Will just have to persuade the lovely wife to let me get a larger tank Cheers all.

 

[Tizer]

Hi all,

Great forum. Brilliant for us beginners - best of the forums i looed at.

Apologies if i waffle on a bit, but here goes........) Right, my wife and I have a 10 US gallon tank (38 litres for us UK residents) and we're in the process of turning it into a tropical tank. We're cycling it as i type using Homebase own brand ammonia - about 3 weeks in and all going fine so far. We have a Hagen Elite Stingray 10 filter (suitable for up to 10g tanks), tetra APS 100 air pump and the tanks going to be planted.

My question is regarding the number of fish we can keep. I read the very informative article in the beginners resource centre titled "Suitable fish for a 10g tank" and had sort of set my sights on keeping 1x Honey Gourami, 4x endlers livebearers and 4x pygmy cories (as recommeded in the article). However, when i check on the Aq Advisor website and add this quantity based on my set up, it implies this is too many fish!

Can anyone with more knowledge than me shed some light on whether this quanity of fish is ok for my set up and whether Aq Advisor is a good source for stocking information?

Thanks in advanced.

Get yourself a pair or even trio of Honey Gourami's, get 6 pygmy corys, they will be perfectly fine on gravel as long as it isn't sharp, roll it around in your hand to find out. Then consider a small school of Ember/Flame tetras or small Rasboras, like Celestial Pearl Danios. You could even put in some cherry shrimp. Stocking...done.

Then forget the air pump, it will look crap and make too much noise Also ignore AQ Advisor, its pants.

You can do a lot with 38 litres, here are my nanos

As long as you keep looking into small fish (preferably ones that don't breed like mad) and not barbs or anything daft like that, you can get some cracking setups.

(Low Dust Cat Litter is in the right hand tank, £3.50 from Tescos, probably a better option for Corys than gravel. needs a lot of cleaning though.)

 

[Ali-Jack]

That's a lot more fish than i thought would be ok to stock in my tank! Would be lovely to have 3 h gouramis. You sure the number of fish you've suggested is ok? I'm in the nitrite spike part of the cycle at the mo so waiting for that to drop done to 0ppm before we can stock! Nice tanks by the way mate I'm a complete newbie to keeping fish to be honest so all the advice is greatly appreciated.

 

[onidrase]

not too keen on websites that judge stocking.

Also not keen on the 1 inch per gallon rule. All my tanks have a lot more than 1 inch per gallon of fish and nobody is stressed or sickly. Most tanks, in fact, have much more than 1 inch per gallon of fish. That rule was taken from a time when people would wash their filter media under the sink and kill most of their bacteria, and not change more than 20% of the water per month, as well as run the tank empty for a week to "cycle" it

I like tizer's stocking ideas. You could also probably try to licorice/sparkling gouramis instead of honey gouramis if they suit your fancy. I personally like the licorice ones better.

 

[Ruskull]

Stock limitation is more about common sense than any set figure like the 1 inch per gallon rule. Like others have said, it's more about how often you are willing to do water changes and how much water you plan to change with each.

All my tanks are overstocked if I went by that inch per gallon nonsense. More important is how the particular fish get along.

I do think that filter is too small to stock the tank as highly as Tizer recommended. I'd add an additional 10 gallon filter of a different type maybe? Gouramis can be pigs with the poo...........

I'd probably add a cheap hang on back Topfin 10 or 20 gallon filter or maybe a Marineland (Tetratec) Bio wheel hang on back. It would give your good bacs more surface area to grow colonies.

 

[Tizer]

I would agree, the filter is a little pants (Elite Stingray 10) and its huge if i recall. I use Superfish Aquaflow 50's in my nano's which basically have a sponge from my Fluval 2+ inside them (cut in half), so already cycled when i set it up. The sponges get a squeeze to get the dirt out when i notice the flow has dropped, which is usually once every 6 weeks. The little spray bars are quite good, they push the water around the tank nicely and they are rated at 150 litres per hour, so it probably turns the tank over 3 and a bit times an hour, which is perfectly fine for my setups. You can pick them up from any Maidenhead Aquatics for £10 so they don't break the bank.