should this work in a ten gallon?

[Mordinbar]

Hey all, Im trying to figure out what to stock my little 10 gallon tank that i take with me to school. Sorry if this is a really newbish question. (which i know it is).

Right now on the list i have:

1 honey gourami
1 dwarf gourami
and either
4 neon tetras
or
2 serpae tetras


Can anyone give me some suggestions, because i have a knack at somehow putting fish that hate each other together, whether or not i do some research on them ahead of time.

btw the tank is cycled and has a whisper 20 power filter on it.

 

[Snailguy101]

Well I am not sure about the gourmaes but you can have teras forsure abybe about 6 of them

 

[red-devil0602]

you could have a female betta community of about 4 as long as theres lots of plants for them to hide.

sorry betta dislikers but i'm always trying to bring newbies over to the betta darkside lol

 

[Snailguy101]

You said you were taking this tank to school...i don't think that would work so well

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Why do you want to take the fish to school? It will be very stressful for them.

 

[Mordinbar]

So i have some in my dorm room, Its a 3.5-4 hour trip, and i can bag them up seperately on the way. It would be about mid august here. They would be there for 9 months, and then it would be a 3.5-4 hour trip back in may.

 

[freddyk]

Serpaes are very feisty nippers - they need a decent shoal and a decent sized tank - a poor choice for this one. Stick to more peaceful varieties, like rummynoses or something. Or better yet, just go with one species of tetra and give them a reasonable shoal for security. Instead of mixing and matching characins, just get a shoal of 8 neons - they'll thank you for it.

Transporting them is no problem - put the bags in a cooler to maintain an even temperature, and double bag them, one upside down in another, so small fish like neons don't get crushed in the corners.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

I would say its too long a trip for them- by the time they have been in the car for 3 and a half hours, they are going to need another hour acclimatising to the tank on top of the time it takes you to set the tank up; and if we are talking about boarding school and end of term and all, its going to take even longer to address their needs if you are hauling all your stuff and school gear back home.
Also you need to read up and understand the concept of cycling a tank, water changes with dechlorinator and montering ammonia, nitrates and nitrites in your water quality- its no where near as simple as dumping the fish in some water and feeding them some fish flakes, if you did that they wouldn't last long.
There are quite a few articles pinned in the beginners section at the top as to understanding the basics of good fish keeping and i think you should read them before you go any further .

 

[Mordinbar]

Just to make sure i understand you, did you mean i should go with a straight species tank? or just go with the 8 neons and i would still be able to put the gourami in there. I would go with the dwarf over the honey if i had to choose.


---Edit---
Tokis, the tank is already cycled right now as it is. When i move it, i keep about 3 gallons of the water in milk jugs. and i keep the filter in a ziplock so that the bio filter is ok. I have all the stuff, and the tank has been rolling for a while, (I have some chiclid fry in there right now that i am holding for a friend).

(I always move my stuff to college in 2 trips, so that it doesnt take me very long each time. Besides i dont have a ton of stuff.)

I am not concerned about keeping the fish alive and ok, I know i can do that, its whether or not they will work together.

(Dont take this as me blowing you off either, I do appreciate what you are saying )

 

[platyfreek]

yes i also think you should do neons or i had one dwarf gourami in a 10 gallon with some tetras for awhile but maybe it would be best to just do the neons. or you could do what my sister always does- bring the tank to colledge and buy the fish there. then they only have to survive the stressful trip back. (my sister did this with her betta which survived a 6 hour drive from LA to the north in one of those cups bettas get sold in) I told her it was a bad idea but she wouldn't listen and when the betta got here it seemed to be in perfect health.

 

[freddyk]

I meant go with one species of shoaling fish, that way you can give them a proper shoal - and then add what you like - you'd still have room for at least one gourami (I'd stick to a single one), and even some cory cats or something if you like them - or some shrimp. I dunno, I like a bottom dweller in my tanks.

 

[Mordinbar]

Ok, thanks. I have to run for work now, but i will check this again when i get home in 8 hours.

Peace and thanks

 

[yvez9]

a 4 hour trip is fine for your fish

i've ordered fish that took 4 days to get to me, in tiny little shipping bags, which are 10 times smaller than regular fish bags from stores.

Don't worry about it

 

[Synirr]

Yeah, the trip is definitely no problem for the fish. It takes days for them to get shipped from one place to another, so a few hours shouldn't hurt

I'd go with freddyk's suggestion for stocking, and definitely leave room for a gourami if you want one. I love gouarmis

 

[Mordinbar]

Ok, Major thanks to everyone for all the advice, Including the dont do it stuff

One other question i had, When i move the tetras, (I am getting the 8 neons that freddyk suggested) Should i put the whole shoal into one large fish store bag, or should i put like 4 in 2 bags.

So now im at this point for the fish, working off recommendations:

1 dwarf gourami
8 Neon tetras
1 kooli loach


I can swap out the loach for a cory catfish if that would work better. I dont really care, since i just like striped bottom dwellers, and looking around this guy seemed to be pretty well suited for a small tank.