What to put in a 10 gallon tank

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Ok so I can provide them with all of the things mentioned except the sand. Is sand needed or prefered?
 
Ok so I can provide them with all of the things mentioned except the sand. Is sand needed or prefered?

The best and most honest answer I can give to this question is...if you want to provide the best home for your cories so they will be less stressed and healthy, you will use sand for the substrate.
 
Well I would like all my fish to be happy and healthy but to change from gravel to sand wouldn't I have to take everything out then put in sand and then put every thing back in? If this is the case I'd just like to find different bottom feeders (I'm lazy)
 
Yes normally you have to remove the gravel and then add sand. If you have a clear spot in the gravel, you can put a small plastic container of sand in there.

Use a 2 litre icecream contain and cut it down so it's only about 1 inch high. Put clean sand in the icecream container and put that in the tank. Move some gravel out of the way so the container can sit in the gravel. Have the container about 6-10mm above the surrounding gravel to keep the sand and gravel separate.

The Cories can play in the sand pit.
 
Unfortunately without permanent (meaning siliconed to the tank bottom) dividers the sand and gravel will mix. Water in an aquarium is not stagnant, it continually moves horizontally and vertically. The sand being smaller will settle to the bottom with gravel on top.

If you want pygmy cories, change to sand so they will be happy. This is I assume a fairly new tank, so now is the best time to make changes. There are not many fish suited to a 10g tank, so you are severely limited by the tank size.
 
I know that sand is good for cories but i like the gravel more than the sand Idk why and its not because I'd have to take everything out. is there some sort of small cory or catfish that would be compatible with sparkling gouramis and chili rasbora.
 
I know that sand is good for cories but i like the gravel more than the sand Idk why and its not because I'd have to take everything out. is there some sort of small cory or catfish that would be compatible with sparkling gouramis and chili rasbora.
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I know that sand is good for cories but i like the gravel more than the sand Idk why and its not because I'd have to take everything out. is there some sort of small cory or catfish that would be compatible with sparkling gouramis and chili rasbora.

The needs of the fish come before our preferences. The dwarf species of cory willnot manage well with anything but sand. Alternate substrate fish might be a Whiptail Catfish (Rineloricaria parva species, not one of the much larger "Royal" Whiptails). In a 10g I cannot think of anything else.
 
Ok I read a couple articles about whiptail catfish and they were not promising, they said they weren't good in captivity and were best cared for by an experienced aquarist- definitely not me. Also I really like otocinclus I mentioned getting them instead of cories to control my algae (which is now gone) would otocinclus be a good choice? I know their more of an algae fish than a scavenger fish but i like them anyway.
 
Ok I read a couple articles about whiptail catfish and they were not promising, they said they weren't good in captivity and were best cared for by an experienced aquarist- definitely not me. Also I really like otocinclus I mentioned getting them instead of cories to control my algae (which is now gone) would otocinclus be a good choice? I know their more of an algae fish than a scavenger fish but i like them anyway.

Otos are not substrate fish (like cories) but spend their time on surfaces grazing algae. They will not eat "problem" algae but only common green and diatoms. Unless this is present, they may initially starve to death.
 
I know that they are picky eaters and planned on separately growing some soft green algae on a stick or something while being quarantined and then once I put them in my tank I was going to let them eat the fungus off my drift wood then experiment with some other things to see if they eat algae wafers or spinach. Does this sound good?
 
I know that they are picky eaters and planned on separately growing some soft green algae on a stick or something while being quarantined and then once I put them in my tank I was going to let them eat the fungus off my drift wood then experiment with some other things to see if they eat algae wafers or spinach. Does this sound good?

Otos will usually learn to feed from sinking algae or kelp-based foods (Omega One's Veggie Rounds is excellent food for vegetarian substrate fish). The risk is initially. Otos are wild caught and by the time they get to the store many are almost starved and without suitable algae they often die. Once they get established they will begin to search out other foods like the sinking foods. Blanched veggies can be good food too, once the otos are settled.

They may or may not eat the "fungus," just as they will not eat all algae species.
 
Ok I guess while I quarantine them I could put in a small piece of it to see if they eat it and if they don't I'll work on getting them to eat veggies or wafers. Do these sound like appropriate steps to take? I put a picture of what the fungus looks like.
 

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Ok I guess while I quarantine them I could put in a small piece of it to see if they eat it and if they don't I'll work on getting them to eat veggies or wafers. Do these sound like appropriate steps to take? I put a picture of what the fungus looks like.

That is not fungus, it is algae, assuming you mean the fuzzy dark green stem. Otos will not eat that, no algae-eating fish suited to a 10g will. Reducing light intensity and/or duration (depends upon the intensity now), and/or organics (fish feeding, plant additives) is the only way to keep this in check. Floating plants help too.
 
No it's not algae because it doesn't spread. It only grows on the drift wood. It doesn't need sun(I don't think) it is growing there because the wood is releasing carbs. To me it just looks really ugly and is annoying because the duck weed sticks to it. I read that many algae eating fish would eat it and that in some cases it was good for the aquarium. I don't really know how to get rid of it though because I took it out and scrubbed all the fuzz off it but it grew back the in the same amount, same spots, and then it stopped growing. It doesn't spread. How do I get rid of it?
 

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