# Potential TankMates for 10 gal - Ember Tetra



## IsaiahKey (Sep 5, 2015)

Okay, so I was doing some research and I have conflicting reports, so I thought I'd throw this to the forums.

I have a 10 gal tank that I keep up with. It's being cycled currently and is home to a betta and two nerites. I know that it's not ideal, but I stay on top of the water changes and there are several anubias, a java fern, and a marimo moss ball in to help offset any ammonia at least a little bit. 

This tank is kept at a steady 80 F and, as mentioned, I go in and do 50% water changes at least once a day. Ammonia is usually .25 PPM after 24 hours (an improvement from being .5 every 12 hours!). I gravel vac carefully, especially when Roanoke misses some food, but I do drop food for the snails (they tend to ignore it). 

I have another 10 gal tank home to four guppies. And a redtail, but it was an impulse buy from my friend and I already told her that the tank is too cold and too small. He's going home, and I'm probably going to pick up a heater for the tank anyway over the next few weeks. I just ordered some anubias petite and java moss from ebay (to be split between Roanoke's tank and a gumball machine plant tank), and I am going to be getting guppy grass and duckweed for Roanoke's tanks. I'm hoping to get some frogbit too, but I have to wait to hear back on it. All that will be divided between the two 10 gal.

I was wondering if, after my 10 gal cycles, if I could get afford a few tankmates for Roanoke, be the snails moved to the guppy tank or remain. I was looking at a school of ember tetras most recently since they seem fairly small and quick, and my tank has a significant amount of plantage so far to provide plenty of hiding places (I also have a lot of silk plants). 

Roanoke is a fairly normal behaving fish. He'll flare at his reflection and likes to wedge himself in leaves that press against the glass while I watch. He's a beggy guy too, so I'll have to make sure the tetras get at their food. The only time I've seen him be aggressive at anything besides his reflection is when I tried fasting him and he knocked over Houdini the snail. He did examine Horny when he was added to the tank, but he didn't try to bite at him. 

I'd rather not stress any fish, and I have a third, much smaller tank just in case the embers don't do well with the guppies or with Roanoke. But if it's just generally a bad idea, I'd rather get it out of my head now than cause any fish stress being shipped here and then transferred between multiple tanks before being put in a smaller tank until I got a fourth one that's a good size.


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## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

Good grief that's a lot of ammonia in 24 hours. Is it filtered? Java fern and marimo moss balls don't really grow fast enough to do much to ammonia build up.
Btw, is this the tank the guppy grass and duckweed are going in? If so, they are MUCH faster growers and will help suck up ammonia like little chemical sponges while it cycles. 
Some bettas do well with friends. Some really don't. It's largely a craps shoot. 10 gallons isn't huge. Some ppl have good results, some don't. Some bettas like friends, and some will attack a rock.


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## IsaiahKey (Sep 5, 2015)

Yes, it is filtered, and it's the main tank I'm working on planting. I'm getting some frogbit and java moss as well to split between a guppy tank and this.

I know .25 is high, but it's a new tank I wasn't able to fishless cycle because no matter where I went I couldn't find actual ammonia without surfactants. I work pretty hard on the tank to make sure the ammonia doesn't build up too much for Roanoke. I also did want the extra plants to provide for more ammonia sucking capability and to keep Roanoke enriched in his environment. 

It might also help to know that the tank has had a fish for 13 days and the ammonia buildup dropped in half about 5 days ago. Since kind of taking over care of the guppy tank upstairs, I found a bottle of pretty new SafeStart and plan on dosing the tank with that too to see if it helps.

I also don't know how this got posted into this part of the forum. I clicked on the appropriate one, but it's the second time my post somehow has ended up in the wrong place. I'm probably going to reset my browser to see if I have any code messing me up.

Edit: After doing some research, I might just get a sponge filter. I had gotten some ceramic media to stuff into my HOB, but I constantly worry that the snails will figure out how to get up into it and die or Roanoke will get trapped by the baffle since he likes to swim under it. It'll also give me a filter for my teeny backup tank that'll work short run. I just need a sponge filter, some tubing, and an air pump right?


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