Research before buying

[kc2jga]

I would like to send many thanks to the folks here on this website for all the info that they have posted here. Unfortunatley, I had found this website a little to late...
About 2 weeks ago, we had purchased a 10US gallon fish tank kit with carbon filter, hood etc. I got the extra's, heater, air stone, gravel, live plants(seeds). We didn't know that much about fish, other than that you can't mix certain fish, chlorinated water etc etc. The only thing that the salesman told me was that it was best to use distilled water. Seems how we were going to be putting fish in that day. Ok, so we get 10gallons of distilled water. Here's the scary part...

First batch-
1 frog
1 kisser
2 catfish
1 Male beta
1 Gorami(sp)
3 days later-frog dies. thought it was bad luck.
4th day, kisser dies.

Second batch
1 female beta
2 sharks
1 Replacement kisser
1 kisser(new)
1 algae eater

First ones to go other than the frog, and kisser were the male beta (possible confrontations with Gorami) female beta, same day, both catfish, within 2 hours, both sharks and kisser. Hmm, trying to think now, Iv'e lost track, So, now I have only the algae eater and the original Gorami. After visiting the local pet store(not Wal*Mart) I was informed to what more than likely happened, advised as what to do and so forth. I was given chemicals to help with the "proper cycling".
I was told that I had too many fish in the tank. Which made the ammonia levels to high.
So, now my questions are...
1. How many fish can I keep in a 10gallon, carbon filtered tank?With bubbles.
2. What chemicals, treatments, test supplies etc, should I keep in stock?

I think that should be about it. Again, I thank you guys ahead of time for any info that could help us out. If we can, we would like to put the original(not the ones that died) species of fish back in if the numbers are not too high. Except for the frog. He just sat in the corner.

Thanks again
Mike.

 

[DizBjOhN104]

yeah i was like that too

before i knew about fish
for my first
i had like 15 goldfish in a 10g

then i had a angelfish, oscar, tetras, pl*co, 3 goldfish in a 10g

and then i had went to forums and learned more about them and how they neeed a lot of room

so it is really important to research for those ones who are begineers

 

[brookie]

i had that problem too when i first got fish 3 ike 1.5 inch fish in a 1.66 us gal they all died and i gave up on fish for about a year

 

[Alia]

It can be very discouraging. Have you read the Pinned posts about cycling?
These two posts are must reads, in my opinion. Very informative.

Cycling

Healthy Fish

So, now that you've read those, 90% of your questions are answered. I'm not sure I completely understand what you are asking here, however:

we would like to put the original(not the ones that died) species of fish back in if the numbers are not too high. Except for the frog

Do you mean:

First batch
-1 frog
1 kisser
2 catfish
1 Male beta
1 Gorami(sp)

or do you mean all of those plus:

Second batch
1 female beta
2 sharks
1 Replacement kisser
1 kisser(new)
1 algae eater

What sort of catfish were they? That will make a big difference. The algae eater will almost certainly be too large for your ten gallon tank, as will the kissing gourami, if that is what your "kisser" fish were. My experience with my male betta has been that he doesn't particularly care to share space with other fish, but that could vary from fish to fish. My female betta isn't congenial, but she does share space with (dwarf) gourami and corydoras catfish, as well as some black skirt tetras and cherry barbs. I'm not well versed on sharks. I believe that most grow too large for a ten-gallon tank. A single gourami might be alright, but probably not with a male betta.

Like most people, you were probably thinking of filling your tank with fish that are pretty to look at, or interesting (like sharks). Unfortunately, with a ten gallon tank, you are very limited in what you can reasonably expect to keep. I am hesitant to even begin to make suggestions based on the selections you made before doing any research.

If it is drama you want, a school of 10-12 small, brightly colored fish (like neons or glo-lite tetras) would be a good choice. If you want fish with personality, a lone male betta in a ten gallon, or maybe with a small group of schooling fish (check with the betta forum for suggestions). I personally love gouramis, but for a ten gallon you need either honeys, dwarfs or one of the smaller gouramis, and with them a male/female pair might work the best. I also think that a little school of panda or spotted cory cats would work great with a small school of upper to mid-level fish, like tetras or barbs.

It kind of depends on what you are after, but I don't see how you can have the particular mix you were going for, not in a ten gallon, that's certain. I would never put those particular fish together in any tank. Sorry.

Alia

 

[Alien Anna]

Hi,
sorry to hear how you were mislead about your tank. Some examples of suitable communities for a 10 gal tank include:

1x male betta
6-8 black neon, cardinal or head-and-taillight tetras
Pair of cherry barbs
1x golden apple snail

1m 3f guppies (which will breed)
Pair of gold barbs
3-6 corys

Pair of dwarf puffers

6-8 white cloud mountain or rosy minnows
3-6 otto catfish or single dwarf pleco (clown or bristlenose)
Shrimp

Pair of shelldweller cichlids

One goldfish or shabukin (although you may need to rehome later)

On the issue of distilled water, it is not good for anything (fish or man) because it depletes minerals from the body. If you use distilled or RO water, you need to add minerals etc. back to the water either by mixing with a bit of standard, dechlorinated tap water or by adding specially made powders for the purpose. Personally, I suggest a newbie uses well dechlorinated tap water and chooses species that naturally tolerate the pH and hardness that comes out of the tap.

 

[kc2jga]

Thanks guys-gals, we appreciate the help so far. Like I had said in my first post that I was a little too late in finding this site. As far as fish go, I kinda like your listing ANNA. Maybe I might pinch some pennies this tax season and go all the way to a hundred gallon tank. I sure miss those sharks and catfish. Now that I know what I can and cannot put in a ten gallon, I guess we are just gonna put a few in for the time being. It just really makes me mad that some places don't ask you or tell you things. Well, lesson learned here! Thanks again. If somebody else has a different idea for my setup as far as fish are concerned, please go ahead and let me know. I'm open for ideas.
Mike

 

[Jo]

What about platies....you could have a few in a 10 gallon and they come in so many different colours they will be nice an colourful...you also get the joy of getting babies, but if you intend to let the breed you will have to make sure that you have made arrangements for somewhere to put them when the babies grow up

Lots of people breed them, but I normally just let the babies (fry) stay in the same tank as the adults, that was you keep the population down because most of the fry get eaten by the adults and only a few survive...

Just my tuppenceworth..!