What to put in a 10 gallon tank

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Creepy the Crayfish

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I have 10 gallon tank I was wondering if i could put 1 German blue ram, 4 or 5 neon tetras and 2 sparkling gouramis in it. Is this overstocking? Are these fish not compatible? I have read that German blue rams are sensitive to ammonia and am willing to make larger water changes or more frequent water changes.
 
A 10g tank is a very small space to fish. You would also have compatibility issues, primarily temperature. The blue rams must have very warm water, minimum 870F (27 C) whereas neon tetra must have cooler water, around 75-76F (24 C) is as warm as it should be for these.

Before suggesting suitable fish species, can you provide us with the water parameters of your source (tap) water? GH and pH especially. You should be able to get this from the water authority, check their website. Given the small size of the tank, most suitable fish will be wild caught and more particular when it comes to water.

Welcome to TFF. :hi:
 
Ok so I'm not sure on ph or gh but we run on well water that im pretty sure is hard. Also would chilli rasbora work instead of neon tetras. I haven't added anything yet.
 
If you are on well water, take a cup of your tap water to an LFS and ask them to test it for GH and KH. Get the to write down the number and unit, not some vague words.

If your water is as hard as you think, you cannot keep any soft water fish such as neon tetras or chili rasboras. As Byron said, fish small enough for this size tank are usually wild caught, and wild caught fish need a hardness similar to that in the home water.

Find out just how hard your water is, then we'll be able to make suggestions.
 
Ok but can't u change ph? what is kh? also I can't get my water tested for awhile but i still will.
 
Ok but can't u change ph? what is kh? also I can't get my water tested for awhile but i still will.

Hello and welcome to the forum. There are a number of ways to change the PH level. This can be increased or decreased. PH is a measurement of the acidity/alkalinity of the water. KH is a measurement of the carbonate/biocarbonate in the water. Best of luck.
 
Ok but can't u change ph? what is kh? also I can't get my water tested for awhile but i still will.

I answered this in your other thread, but will do so here too. The following is cut/pasted from an article I wrote a few years back but it will explain things in simple terms. Water chemistry is a very complex subject but we as aquarists only need to recognize the basics.

Water hardness is the measure of dissolved mineral salts in the water, a portion of the TDS (total dissolved solids). There are two basic types of hardness of importance to aquarists, termed general hardness (abbreviated GH) and carbonate hardness (abbreviated KH, from the German “karbon” [carbon]). The combined GH and KH is sometimes termed “total hardness,” but this is of less importance because the GH and KH individually impact the water in different ways.

General Hardness is determined primarily by the minerals calcium and magnesium; GH is sometimes referred to as “permanent hardness” because it cannot be removed from water by boiling as can KH.

Carbonate hardness is the measure of carbonate and bicarbonate ions; carbonates and bicarbonates are the salts of carbonic acid. It is sometimes referred to as Alkalinity [not to be confused with alkaline as in pH, something very different]. KH is normally tied to the GH, since carbonate minerals include limestone, dolomite, calcium and calcite. Mollusc shells and coral are primarily calcium. Carbonate hardness is sometimes called “temporary hardness” because it can be removed from water by boiling which precipitates out the carbonates.

KH has some direct impact on fish; but it also “buffers” the pH by binding to additions of acids or bases, keeping the pH stable—or more correctly, preventing it from changing—and the higher the KH, the greater the buffering capacity. A simple way is to think of the buffer as a sponge that soaks up the acid being added; however, at some point it will become saturated, and further additions of the acid can then cause a sudden and very large fluctuation which is usually fatal to the fish. This buffering is why attempts to adjust (lower) the pH of hard water are dangerous and will fail unless the KH is first reduced.

pH stands for pondus hydrogeni, Latin for “potential of hydrogen.” Water is made up of positively-charged hydrogen ions and negatively-charged hydroxyl ions, and pH is the measurement of the ratio of hydrogen and hydroxyl ions in a body of water. Acidic water contains more hydrogen ions, and basic (alkaline) water more hydroxyl ions; neutral water has an equal proportion. The pH is closely linked with the level of carbon dioxide (CO2) because CO2 produces carbonic acid. The hardness also impacts pH, since the carbonates bind to acids as they appear; as mentioned previously, this buffering will prevent or limit changes in pH.

Because each of the above impacts fish, it is important that the GH, KH and pH remains stable. This is another very involved topic I won't get into, the ways these impact fish. But selecting fish suited to your source water is always safer and easier on the fish and the aquarist because there is much less to "go wrong."
 
So ph is like the acidity gh is the hardness and Kh is what makes the water less acidic? So if my water is too hard I add kh if that's how that works and if my water is too soft I add co2? I'm not adding these things just hypothetical to see if i get it.
 
So ph is like the acidity, gh is the hardness and Kh is what makes the water less acidic?
pretty much, yes.

pH is the measurement used to tell us if something is an acid, neutral or alkaline/ base. Pure distilled water has a no mineral content and a pH of 7.0 and is considered neutral.
If something breaks down in pure water the pH drops and becomes acidic (pH goes below 7.0).
If minerals are added to pure water the pH goes up and becomes basic or alkaline (pH goes above 7.0).

Carbonate Hardness (KH) is the measurement of carbonates and bicarbonates in the water. These normally increase the pH. When there are acids in the water, the acids cause the pH to drop. If there are plenty of carbonates/ bicarbonates in the water, they neutralise the acids and help stop the pH from dropping.

General Hardness (GH) is the measurement of minerals in the water and usually measures calcium and magnesium chlorides. The more calcium and or magnesium chlorides in the water, the harder it is.

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So if my water is too hard I add kh if that's how that works and if my water is too soft I add co2? I'm not adding these things just hypothetical to see if i get it.
No. If you add KH buffer to hard water it gets harder. If you add carbon dioxide (CO2) to soft water the pH drops.

If you have hard water, it contains lots of minerals and it usually contains lots of carbonates and bicarbonates. To lower the hardness, you dilute the hard water with soft water. Reverse osmosis (r/o) water, distilled water and rain water have no minerals and is very soft water. Mixing some of this soft water with the hard water will reduce the GH, KH and pH of the hard water.

If you want to reduce the pH, you can add small amounts of acidic substances like carbon dioxide (CO2), peat moss, drift wood and things like sodium biphosphate to lower the pH. These acids get neutralised by the carbonates/ bicarbonates and when the carbonates and bicarbonates have been used up, the pH drops.

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To increase the GH you add minerals like calcium and magnesium chloride.

To increase the KH you add carbonates and bicarbonates (baking soda is sodium bicarbonate).
When you add carbonates & bicarbonates the pH will go up.
 
Ok so if my water is to hard I could put peat moss in the filter or somewhere else to lower the ph? I plan on buying some water testing strips tommarrow or a couple days after
 
Peat moss will help to lower the pH, however if the KH is very high, the peat moss might not drop the pH.

If your GH is very hard and you want to keep soft water fishes, then you are better off using reverse osmosis water, distilled water or rainwater (if you can get clean rainwater). You mix some of this soft water with the hard water to get water with a GH that is suitable for your fish.

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The GH does not normally change much and you can check it a couple of times a year. Most people just take a glass full of tap water to the local pet shop and ask them to test the GH.

When you buy test kits, try to get liquid test kits rather than dry paper strips. The liquid kits are more accurate.

Do not buy test kits that are kept in a warm room or near a heat source or window because heat will cause the chemicals in the kits to break down faster. Check the expiry date on them too.

When you get the test kits home, keep them in a cool dry place away from sunlight. I kept mine in an icecream bucket in the bottom of the fridge.

*NB* Make sure children and animals can't get the test kits because the chemicals are pretty toxic.

*NB* Wash your hands with soapy water after doing water tests.
 
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Ok I plan on ordering mine from Amazon but thanks for the information. Let's say my water was perfect for the fish I mentioned earlier would that be too many fish or could I get away with doing larger more frequent water changes
 
I don't know what the tank dimensions are but if the tank is 2 foot long or longer, then it should be ok for rams, sparkling gouramis and tetras, but you will need to get the temperature to about 26C and the neons will age faster in warm water. You also need more neons, they should be kept in groups of 10 or more.

If you used cardinal tetras instead of neons, they would tolerate the warmer water better. You will need about 10 cardinal tetras.
 
Ok so if my water is to hard I could put peat moss in the filter or somewhere else to lower the ph? I plan on buying some water testing strips tommarrow or a couple days after

Adding onto what’s already been posted - the problem with test strips is that they don’t always test for ammonia. I use the tetra 6 in 1 to test my water and a small liquid tetra test kit for ammonia. These are pretty cheap and are available online or in some stores. Best of luck.
 

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