Stocking options?

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PheonixKingZ

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Hello TFF people!

I have a 10 gallon tank set up, with a filter, heater, and light.

Before I go on, what is the recommend “Watts per gallon” for a fish tank? The light I have now is a 60 Watt LED light.

The filter is Tetra brand 2-10 gallon internal filter.

The heater is Tetra brand 2-10 gallon heater.

As far as stocking goes right now, I have....

1. Male betta fish. (Super peaceful, super nice, not aggressive at all)
1. Zebra Nerite snail.
1. Zebra Danio (Male)

And I know that it isn’t recommend to keep Bettas and ZD’s together, because they require different temperatures, and ZD’s are typically fin nipers.

The only reason why I have them together, is because I rescued the ZD from Craigslist (he was free, and they where going to dump him if no one came), and the betta used to be in a 2.5 gallon tank all alone.

What other fish could I keep with the 3 species I already have in the 10?

Here is what I was thinking...

5-6 Harlequin rasbora

5-6 celestial pearl danio‘s (Danio margaritatus)

Would either of those work? I definitely don’t want to over stock, so that’s why I’m asking. I will soon be getting some Cherry Shrimp (I’m not sure how many), and some MTS. With these 2 species how many of the other fish could I add?

Sort of a long read, so I thank you for your time! :)
 
60 watts is heaps of light for a fish only tank. Most small fish only tanks have about 20 watts or less.

Danios need to be kept in groups so if you plan on keeping the zebra danio, you should get more to keep him company.

Keep the temperature around 24C.
 
The intention given in post #1 is riddled with problems that I will try to explain.

The light must be reduced, this is not only blinding on the poor fish (you are considering fish from dimly lit waters) it will be hard on the aquarist viewing the tank. Floating plants can help, but as Colin mentioned this may just be too much light no matter what. Now, I say this acknowledging that my experience with LED is next to nil, but from what others have mentioned I would assume this is very bright for LED.

A male Betta is not a community fish, so this Betta alone in this 10g tank would be fine, with floating plants. There is no way around this, and the lone danio makes it even worse.

Danio are shoaling fish and thus need a group. When they are denied a group of several, studies show their aggression is likely to be increased, which makes it even more of a risk when they are forced into what is too small a tank (= yet more aggression) and with a "red flag" sedate Betta. The poor Betta will be stressed just by their presence and the allomones they release, even without physical contact, but the latter is almost inevitable when the circumstances lead in that direction.

The Harlequin Rasbora needs a larger tank, it is shoaling obviously, but will get too large for this space. The only rasbora suited to a 10g are the dwarf species in Boraras. We have discussed these in another thread.

The Celestial Pearl Danio will work, maybe, but a larger group and on their own. And then still maybe. A slightly larger footprint tank would be best, but if you want this species and can plant this tank heavily, I would go with them. But not with the Betta, no question, nor anything else, there is simply not enough space. More data here:
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/celestichthys-margaritatus/
 
So 60 Watts is to much for a 10 gallon tank? (Please Note, the tank also has “Lacy” Java fern, and Anacharis.)

Harlequin Rasbora won’t work? I thought they where excellent tank mates! Also, I can’t, not keep the ZD in the 10 gallon. I have no where else to put him! :/

I would want to get CPD, they are just so up there in price! :)
 
So 60 Watts is to much for a 10 gallon tank? (Please Note, the tank also has “Lacy” Java fern, and Anacharis.)

Harlequin Rasbora won’t work? I thought they where excellent tank mates! Also, I can’t, not keep the ZD in the 10 gallon. I have no where else to put him! :/

I would want to get CPD, they are just so up there in price! :)

Java Fern is a low-light requiring plant. Anacharis being a stem plant needs more light. I said before I have little data on LED so if other members say this is not too much, I won't counter, but in LED I think 60w is a lot of light from what I've seen.

No, Harlequins get too large to have a group of 7-8 (minimum, more would be much better) in a 10g. Please do not have him with the Betta, that would be inhumane for the Betta. Danios are too active for sedate fish to begin with, but here there is a lone danio and this has inevitably increased its frustration which leads to more aggressive behaviour.
 
Do you mean the LED is 60 watts or it is the equivalent of a 60 watt light bulb/fluorescent tube? LED's use a lot less power than non-LED light bulbs for the same light output.
Roughly speaking, a 60 watt LED gives out the same light as a 333 watt incandescent light bulb; a 60 watt LED gives the same light as a 175 watt fluorescent tube. Both of these are way to much on a 10 gallon tank, even if the conversions are not terribly accurate.
I have a 6 watt LED over my 6.5 gallon betta's tank.

However if you mean the LED is equivalent to a 60 watt bulb, that's a different matter.
 
You mentioned duckweed in one of your other posts here. That will tone down the light. I'm still not sure about LED. I think they are communistic. Doesn't look like real light. Find yourself some good old tried and true fluorescent. Get a warm white tube and a plant tube. Use shop light fixtures. Those can be hung up high and illuminate several tanks. Also gives your fish room an industrial guy look.
 
I believe, the LED is a 60 Watt equivalent. :)
 
I believe, the LED is a 60 Watt equivalent. :)

That's much better. We were all thinking the LED itself was 60 watts :)

Does the light give an actual power rating? I know a lot of LEDs don't; the one that came with my betta's tank didn't. I now have a new light that does give the rating - when I tried to unplug the original light one day, the transformer/plug came apart in my hand :eek: so I got a new one.
 
No it doesn’t. Although it wasn’t designed for fish tanks, it used to have a yellow bulb in it, and now I put a LED bulb in it. It used to be like a desk lamp. :)
 
Hmmm, we have LED bulbs in just about every room in the house. All of them give the watts, the lumens and the K rating either on the bulb itself or the packaging. Here I mean the lights suspended from the ceiling, the same shape as incandescent bulbs. I know some desk lamps take bulbs that look more like torch (searchlight) bulbs which are too small to have anything written on them
[Where English-English is different from American-English I try to give the equivalent word. Here we call them torches, short for electric torch, while you call them searchlights I think. In the UK a searchlight is the kind of thing a police helicopter would use :) ]
 
[Where English-English is different from American-English I try to give the equivalent word. Here we call them torches, short for electric torch, while you call them searchlights I think. In the UK a searchlight is the kind of thing a police helicopter would use :) ]

I watch a number of English mystery/detective stories (Christie, Sayers, up to modern shows like Midsomer Murders) and from the dialogue I think your "torch" is our "flashlight," a small beam light held in the hand. Useful to see in dark corners, finding the light panel in darkness, or for me, just being able to read the thermostat!
 

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