# 10 Gallon Stocking Plans



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

Hi Everyone!!

I have just gotten my first tank! It is a 10 gallon planted tank that is currently in the process of fishless cycling. I wanted to have some people look at my stocking plans before I actually do anything. My pH is 7.6, and my ammonia and nitrites will be 0 and nitrates reasonable before adding fish. This is what I am thinking for stocking:


2 amano shrimp
4 Dwarf Cory Cats (I will get more once I get better filtration. Would the Habrosus be OK in a pH of 7.6? If not, I will get the Hastatus.)
1 Zebra Nerite snail
1 male betta

What do you all think?

Thanks!


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Hi there!

I got to say that I love my Dwarf Cory's, I also have a pH of 7.6 but the one problem is that they are very active swimmers so they might get stressed in a smaller space. When they are happy they are swimming up and down the tank walls and then munching on the algae that's on the plants and playing in the sand. You can still try them but just be warned is all.

Also, they do well in sand or a smaller smooth gravel because in regular gravel their barbel's can get hurt and that's no fun for the little guys.

You can get more than 2 Amano, you could actually have about 10 in there and it would be great, Shrimp have very small bio-loads so you don't have to worry about them pooping all over the place like snails lol.

But a Nerite is a great choice in snail! It has the least amount of bio-load and cannot reproduce in freshwater! So I think 1 will do you great, remember you also have to acclimate them the way you'd acclimate a fish. Shrimp are very delicate and sensative so I would recommend Drip-Acclimation for them 

And 1 Betta, that sounds great to me! The Amano's will stick up for themselves generally if the Betta decides he wants a snack, however still be warned, your Betta might still want a midnight snack! So plenty of hiding places for the shrimp is good, lots of pants for them to munch about and hide.

Over all looks great


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

Thanks! That is very reassuring. I have this gravel:

http://www.petco.com/product/107319/Petco-Dark-Blue-Aquarium-Gravel.aspx?CoreCat=MM_FishSupplies_GravelSubstrates

Would that be OK for the Cories? Someone said they had the same but in a different color, but everyone else says cheap gravel is bad. What do you think?


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

It _might_ be okay for them, I personally wouldn't use it but you can certainly try it and see what happens or start a new thread asking that specific questions so others might be able to chime in


----------



## Bombalurina (Oct 10, 2011)

I want to warn against gravel for the smaller cories. I had small smooth gravel in my tank with panda cories, and they couldn't move it around properly (bear in mind that they are larger than the dwarfs). I wasn't able to vacuum properly as my tank was heavily planted and I would have uprooted the plants. As a result, some detritus built up in my tank and when a cory did manage to turn a pebble, he got a blast of anaerobic gas to the face which destroyed his barbels. Another damaged his barbels simply by hurting them on a pebble. Definitely go for sand if you can.  

Another advantage of sand is that it is hilarious to watch the wiffle through it.


----------



## 10asartin (Mar 28, 2013)

+1 to the others that caution against gravel with cories. I highly recommend sand with them and honestly I like the look of sand better because it looks more natural.


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I also find that sand is easier to take care of. Instead of vacuuming out like gravel you just hover the siphon over the sand, occasionally going in circular motions to stir up the stuff. And then about once a month (I do part of it at every water change) you just have to churn the sand a little so that gasses don't get stuck like Bomba had mentioned.

I've got Black Tahitian Moon Sand and I love it, it's also easier to plant as well. But I'm in the process of changing all my gravel tanks over to sand :-D


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

Goals for this weekend: 1) study for exams 2) convert tank to sand


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Woot! Good luck on your exams! You'll do great :-D


----------



## RussellTheShihTzu (Mar 19, 2013)

lilnaugrim said:


> lots of _pants_ for them to munch about and hide./quote]
> 
> Sorry, Lil, but some typos are priceless....:twisted:


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

RussellTheShihTzu said:


> lilnaugrim said:
> 
> 
> > lots of _pants_ for them to munch about and hide./quote]
> ...


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

Thanks! I will tell you all how it goes!


----------



## Gallium (May 14, 2013)

+1 to the sand for the cories. 

Your stocking plans seem fine to me, just be sure to test the betta before popping him him. I'd put him in a small heated tub for a few days with some ghost shrimp to see how he'll react to them. Some bettas like to munch on the poor guys.


----------



## Nicci Lu (Jan 7, 2013)

Someone mentioned earlier that you won't have to worry about amano shrimp poop everywhere. Just wanted to warn you so you're prepared...

None of my livestock poops as much as my 4 amanos, not even my otos and pleco. My 20 is constantly littered with little black shrimp poops everywhere, and it's impossible to completely clean them up. They show up like magic right after a WC. I'm really starting to wish I had chosen black sand over white. 

Not to dissuade you from them. They're great little shrimps, funny and they clean the tank. And the poops are small enough that it won't be a strain on your bioload- they're just unsightly, is all.


----------



## Kalari32 (Jan 10, 2013)

When I had a 20 gallon tropical community tank, I had gravel, and my cories didnt get injured at all.


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Kalari32 said:


> When I had a 20 gallon tropical community tank, I had gravel, and my cories didnt get injured at all.


Not saying your a lair or anything, but did you inspect them frequently? Sorry, I just want to make sure.

Yes they can have smoother gravel but even then it's not the best for them. Same as a human can walk over sharp rocks and might not get cut by them but surely walking over sand feels a lot better, you know?


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

I think I am still going to change to sand--better early than late! I will make sure it is black so the little shrimpy poops don't show!


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Coolio!

There's a few different options for sand as well.

You can go to Petsmart and get a 20 pound back of Black Tahitian Moon Sand (my personal fave) for about 20 bucks but it's much easier to clean IMHO.

Or, you can go to Tractor Supply or something similar to get Black Diamond Blasting Sand. It's pretty cheap for a 50 lb bag but you need to wash it really, really well.

So two pro's and con's there, price vs. washing. But they both look great, so it's up to you which one ^^


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

I was thinking this sand. 

http://www.petco.com/product/115883/Petco-Black-Aquarium-Sand.aspx?CoreCat=MM_FishSupplies_GravelSubstrates

I saw it in the store when I bought my gravel (now I wish I had just bought the sand--I had been considering it) and it looked good.


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

I read the reviews and looked up some other info about it and all reviews are looking good! So if that's what you want, go right for it!! :-D

I assume you've already opened and used the gravel? Otherwise I was going to suggest returning it lol


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

Yeah. Sadly it is sitting in the cycling tank right now.


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Ah yeah...well that's okay, you can use it for a different tank when you get that set up XD haha


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

I still have 2 years of high school plus 4 years of college. It might be a while before I can have two, but maybe I'll convince my roommate to get one and give her the gravel...


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Or you could find one of your friends and convert them haha.

I know how it is though, I've got 5 tanks at the moment and I'm in my 3rd year of college, still got 2 more though.


----------



## hopeful fish (May 29, 2013)

Oh man. I will be facing this problem with 2 years of boarding school--what do you do during the summer? Do you move them all or live close to the college?


----------



## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Oh...yeah, I'm a commuter. I live 20 minutes from college so I just drive back and forth and have my tanks at home. But there are plenty of college kids on here who move with their tanks! So I'm sure they'd be full of advice! We just had the end of most of our semesters so if you look a little back in the forum you should be able to find some of those threads!


----------

