# oooo petsmart here having $2 tropical fish sale



## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

Up here in canuckastan, we don't have black friday, we have boxing day. aka " whatever's leftover gets put on clearance"day. the lps aside from petsmart has a bogo deal i might look into, but they werent that helpful. i asked " okay whats good with a betta, 10g, and 80 degrees?"
" pretty much anything, all depends on the betta"
".... hmmm okay is this sale on tomorow too? okay ima do some homework* buys neccecities and leaves*"

so... heres what i have, and was wondering what would go nice:

1 CT male
1 FW clam
10 gallons at 80degrees
no plants
tests showed the water is a tad alkaline

What can a NOOB deal with? i also don't want to jam the tank tight so non or small schooling fish is best ( or id have neons by now :3)


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

Almost all tetra are usually a safe choice some cory's are also nice. It really depends on you and what you want. I had a betta live with some livebearers mollies, platy's and guppies


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

okay, i was told tetras might be a bit much for a 10g, i've allways wanted tetras since theyre so...shiney. guppies are cool too but i can imagine the ones i would want would be too flashy for the male.
i hope my guy is cool... he likes to flare and strut around my filter and sepiroth figurene. i added some hides for other fish. man am i going to have to keep an eye on CL for a 20g now? -.- stupid fish bug...


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## Malvolti (Nov 15, 2010)

Nah, 4ish tetras will be fine in a 10 gallon. You just can't really do muchmore than the tetras and betta. I really don't know much about clams though, I've never had the opportunity to own one.


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

Malvolti said:


> Nah, 4ish tetras will be fine in a 10 gallon. You just can't really do muchmore than the tetras and betta. I really don't know much about clams though, I've never had the opportunity to own one.


i hate to admit the clam kinda followed my CT home... they were marketed specifically as filters for betta bowls  maybe that lps is a little full of it lol. so corys or tetras.. hmm


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## Malvolti (Nov 15, 2010)

Um, yes they are. Clams are filter _feeders_ which means they eat micro-organisms and algae that floats in the tank but they don't clean the water. 

Getting non-fancy guppies can be interesting, especially if you can a female or two with a male. Then the Betta can eat the fry and you won't have to feed him for a few days.

You could also look into ghost shrimp but being clear they aren't as much fun to watch.


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

Malvolti said:


> Um, yes they are. Clams are filter _feeders_ which means they eat micro-organisms and algae that floats in the tank but they don't clean the water.
> 
> Getting non-fancy guppies can be interesting, especially if you can a female or two with a male. Then the Betta can eat the fry and you won't have to feed him for a few days.
> 
> You could also look into ghost shrimp but being clear they aren't as much fun to watch.


hmm..... the guppies might be interesting, and needing only a few i wont need to fill my tank to capacity. 
are there any cleaner things like cories that don't feel lonely?


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## Creat (Dec 6, 2010)

4-5 tetra would be fine escpecially if you get hardy ones. Harlequin/ Rasbora tetra are super hardy and wont cause harm to your betta and will make a nice school. Shrimp are lots of fun I suggest those if your going low maintenance. But I think that those would do better with plants.


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Im pretty sure tetras actually like being in larger groups (6-8 at minimum) to feel their most secure, and to watch schooling behavior. Of the smaller tetras, lets say neons or cardinals, you might just get away with adding this number to a 10 gal with ONE betta. Nothing else though. OR I also suggest 1 betta + 3-4 cories OR 1 betta + 3-4 platies. In my experience, platies are excellent algae eaters. Tankmates however, all depends on your betta's temperament.


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## JKfish (Apr 8, 2010)

I've got harlequins, let's just say they need to be an a school of 6 or more, and they're active little buggers in desprate need of a 20 gallon...

From my personal experience (though yours might be different) I'm going from now on with less schooling tankmates, unless the tank is big enough.

Guppies are good idea, though keep an eye out for agression on your betta's part.

With any tankmate, you'll want to have plenty of hiding spots so one or the other can get away from the tankmates in case of agression or stress.


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Hey What kind of Fresh Water Clam do you have? Is it the Golden Asian Clam? If so it's only be about 2 inches, if not it'll get bigger, much bigger. Be prepared.

Here's a page (or hub? I've never used that site before. :/ They call everything hubs apparently.) that has some nice information on fresh water clams.

You might want to follow her instructions and keep it in a small apple juice container filled with sand and holes poked in the side because some guy's muscles put their "feet" (what?) in-between the silicone and the glass of their 200 gallon aquarium and shattered it. :/ 

So yeah. I highly recommend her method with the apple juice container. 

Fresh Water Clams produce ammonia and nitrite just like any other animal so you might want to take their size into consideration and use the 1 gallon per inch rule as you would with any other fish. I'd say that this probably limits you to some snails and shrimp depending on what species you bought. I'd find out soon how big it's gonna get.

But yeah until you fins that out I'd wait on planning to stock your aquarium further.

Btw how are you setting up your tank? Are you cycling, planting, or both?


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

um im slowly cycling it, useing some boosters for it, and doing a 20% change bi weekly. plants im gonna add bamboo latter


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Ah yeah then I'd definitely find out how big your clam is gonna get first before stoking it further. Plus it's easier to fish-in cycle when the bioload is low. =]

I'd add tank mates after it's cycled. =]

Good luck with your tank! =]

(Sorry if I sounded weird earlier. My family was constantly bugging me in the middle of posting and in the stress I forgot to add my usual happy emoticons and I misspelled some things! XD)


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

no problem lol. im sure he/it? is a golden.


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

A 20% biweekly change is not enough for a 10 gal. ESP whole it's cycling… you may get away with that if your tank is already cycled and its only inhabitant is a betta. so bump up those changes to 20-50% once a week before adding more fish. My fully stocked 10 gal gets a 50% weekly water change with a vacuum cleaner.


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

er i meant twice weekly lol, not every other week?


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## wallywestisthebest333 (Nov 30, 2009)

Well as long as you keep doing the 20% changes twice weekly you should be fine in a 10 gallon while fish-in cycling. You'll definitely want to buy the API Liquid Master Test Kit when you can. They're much more accurate and extremely useful while cycling. =] Then again if you live close enough to a pet store that you can get your water tested there once a week then you'll probably be good to go. =] Having the test kit is just more convenient. =]

Good luck! =] And tell me how keeping your clam goes! =] If I see them on sale I might pick one up myself one day for a small NPT that I plan on doing. =]


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

yeah the lps charges $1 but 30 min away is petsmart that does it for free. i think i'll wait longer to let things cycle thru. i wanna borrow parent's camera so i can post pics :3


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

It might be abit late for this but...no tetras in a 10g tank please! Tetra *require *at least *6* of each kind. The only tetra that are suitable for a 10g, are the ones that are too small to live with bettas. Neons aren't really suitable for a 10g, and bettas will kill them. etc.

I also don't recommend guppies w/ bettas. The betta often mistakes the male guppy for a male betta. It isn't a great mix.

Just get your betta and a *small *type (not too small) of cory cat (they need at least *4*). Bettas will kill GS alot of times, so start out with 1 or 2.

I am not trying to be rude, I just put stuff in bold so it would be easier to read.

Hope this helps!


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## crezelda (Dec 17, 2010)

hehe okay, i'll wait some more... too bad albino cories get big i heard


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

yeah, too bad. Albino cories are so cute! But today, I measured my biggest one, and it was 2 1/2 inches long (full grown)! You heard correctly, they just get too big for a 10g tank.:-(


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## Alex09 (Aug 9, 2010)

Get Julii's  Mine (which I have had for several months) are only 1.5 inches and are ridiculously adorable. This little guy was the first to find the shrimp pellet. I can imagine him saying "hee hee, Found if first!" *chews*


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## small fry (Oct 14, 2010)

I just got one of those the other day! It is with 3 albinos, and I will get 2 more as soon as they come into my lfs. 

(BTW, a rule of cories is, 1 species and you have to have 5, 2 species and you have to have 3 of each species. I did not make that up, I learned it from an expert.)


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## fishfinatic (Dec 21, 2010)

I just some Julii's yesterday that were at least 3 inches, if not bigger, so they all don't stay small.


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