# Rethinking 10g



## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Okay, so I think I'm gonna leave out the betta for the 10g especially since we don't know if we're moving or not when our lease is up.

I'm still gonna have the 3-4 loaches, dunno exact number just yet - that'll be closer to the 20-21st. I still have Honey. I just want to do something other than a betta right now. I'm thinking maybe a couple of otos and something else. Honey's still growing strong and I really want her to have some buddies. She's the only one in a big Aqueon 10 right now 

Would a small shoal of neons be alright with some orange pots for hides? I would think guppies, but... fry. Unless Honey or the loaches would nom fallen fry I don't think it'd be a good idea. And I know cories wouldn't be a good idea since I've already got some bottom-dwellers coming, I finally have that in my head.

Right now it's not planted but once we get it figured out _what_ we're going to do with the lease I'll be shooting for getting the plants in it.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

there's a really easy solution for not having guppy fry... Bachelor tank! ;-)

I think Neons need more space than a 10 because of their activity level, and even if you DO go with male guppies or female guppies, you can only fit like 4-5 in there.

what about a nice shoal of pygmy cories? you can fit 6 in a 10


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

Leaving the betta out will certainly open your options up a LOT. And really if you are that unsure about your future I would just wait on this tank until you have a little more certainty about your future. 

As for the plants, honestly do those first if you plan to do them at all. Any fish you get will thank you for being in an established, planted tank. Add the plants, then stock the tank. You will have much less issues with cycle blips when you add new fish. And planting the tank will give you something to do while you think about stocking.

As for the fish, you could do neons, but they are so weak from disease and inbreeding. Glowlight tetra would work, too. Male guppies would work, and they wouldn't overload you with babies. Kuhlies don't eat babies. Or you could look for some of the small shoaling fish that easily fit in a tank like that such as the micro rasboras, BUT those guys will basically need a nicely planted aquarium to feel safe and not stress themselves to death.


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

*@Skye*
I'm getting a bottom-dweller species already, otherwise believe me I'd be all over cories. I think with neons that was when I first got the inch/fish ratio... but even with Honey in mind at minimum I def need bigger than a 10. If I didn't have her, then they might be good.

*@koimaiden*
Yeah, I would love to get a betta, but I'm just getting super impatient on getting something going on with my tank since I was wanting to get the loaches before I got the betta so it'd be less stressful on the betta if it were the other way around. I just really want to get Honey a companion (or six) and we don't just yet have the space for another tank (but I swear I will _make_ space _somewhere_ if I get my mitts on another before this sale is up).

I'm figuring, with the NPT, that if we do move we've got some RUBs I could throw together for them while the plants settle if I have one NPT and one not.

My mom bought... three I think, one wound up forming without one eye but seems to be perfectly fine without it.. But what about cherry barbs? They are seriously pretty cool. The idea "fish" shape, imho, if you know what I mean. You think they would work just fine with the loaches, Honey and maybe a couple otos? Or would that be overstocked? I know my boyfriend was interested in Glofish, but I'm not sure if I want the danios (had good experience with them) or the tetras... What about the "new" ones? The ones with the stripey look to them, tetras? Or do male guppies fight amongst themselves?


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

I think the biggest problem you're going to run into is crampedness (it's late and I lack creativity right now lol). Cherry barbs are nice fish and would go great with loaches, but they are active. A 10 gal tank really isn't that large. That's the same problem with glowfish; they are really active fish. In a 10 gal you are limited to calm fish that stay small.


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Ahh, okay. I'll keep this in mind then. The ones my mom had were in a 10 with a mix/match of others (I'm trying to teach them about water changes and whatnot) and with their size it seemed like it'd be a good size for them...

I'm primarily looking for some mid-/upper-level fish and I'm not really sure what to look for. I definitely don't want to wander PetCo/-Smart for what would look nice and wind up with something utterly wrong. (As much as I would absolutely love to anyway - be a reason to definitely get another tank because I'm like that.)


Blaaaaaah. Mm. What if I got... 4 males, 2 females, fancy guppies? They would spawn, a little, but the fry would be eaten, yes? Or is it the females that eat the fry?


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

I think in a planted tank, the loaches and snail and guppies woud be perfect. 

Its a bummer that 10 gallons is in reality so small. 29 is small too! That's what my community is in. Seems like small fish shouldn't need so muh room. but i guess its like keeping a puppy in a closet. while he fits spacewise, he can't really do what he's meant to do.

good luck!
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

you want to keep your guppy ratio 2 females for every male. Males are very driven to reproduce, and even with our tank having 3 females per male, we've had males chase females to the point where they get sick and die from the stress.

Male guppies don't fight amongst themselves, females do though.


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## thekoimaiden (Oct 19, 2011)

It is a shame that places like Petco and Petsmart don't give more accurate information about their fish, but thankfully we have good online resources. This is one of my favorite places to look up information about fish. It is run by the same people who run this site, so it's very accurate. It always helps to double check before you buy. 

It's starting to sound like a handful of male guppies will be your best choice, but that's not really a bad thing. Guppies are very pretty! If you're lucky your Petsmart should have a good selection of colors.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Guppies are really a good bet on peaceful, beautiful fish for small spaces. Ours are pretty neat other than the fact that our males have a one track mind. You feed them, instead of eating, they use the distraction to their advantage with the girls! LOL


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

*@Skye*
So that's the ratio it should be instead xD I always forget with guppies. What if I got a lot of hides for the fish? Would they get a breath in and a brief respite from the males? Or is it pheromone tracking with them?

*@koimaiden*
Ooh, thanks much!! I've got my first smartphone on the way so it'll be really handy if I happen to get indecisive on what I want to get.


What would be the max amount of guppies, you think, I could put in with the loaches and Honey? Female considered since they're supposed to be the larger half of the two. I've still got the same heater and filter. I just want to know about how much the limit would be so I don't send my tank into a death spiral, lol.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

They'll hunt them down. We added a ton of plants and they still don't catch much of a break!

But yea, 2 girls per guy. you could just do a trio, and feed babies to your betta. The parent's don't always eat the young... our tank a few months ago was a good example, we had over 150 babies. Our frogs were very happy for the next few days... lol


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Thing though is that I'm not going to do the betta this time, Skye  Not unless it could happily live in a 1 1/4 gallon container with no filter and a Petsmart-carried betta heater. I've got that tall Utz container, but it's 14 inches to the very, very top of it. I think it might be about 4g, but not sure without empty milk jugs.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

our bettas are quite happy in 1.5's, as long as they're warm and clean, not everyone has the space for 2.5 each. (1 gal is the minimum requirement)

but if you don't have a way to get rid of babies, I would suggest a bachelor tank


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## WolfHhowling (Apr 10, 2013)

I wouldn't go with the guppies. They don't do well with long fins, they like to nip betta's to death, if you decide to add one in later. It might not be such a good idea.

Neons are also very tasty snacks for betta's, angle fish, and anything that can fit it in there mouth.... which includes platies lol

I have danios and Cherry barbs. the Cherry barbs, don't like overly planted tanks, and some times don't even like being in schools. The two I had were sold to me cheaper because she couldn't keep them in with the others of there kind. 
Danio's like schools of five or more, but play nice in groups of two. As long as one is female. ( not really good for a ten.... but it is there min requirement so says five cites I checked) danio's wouldn't be good in with long fins, they are nippers. Cherries seem to stick to themselves or harass the danio's 

But that is just my experience with fish. You can get some Endlers they are like guppies but I think they have better color, and temperament. They are also very cheep at petco.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Endlers would be a good one.

Also, Bettas are more likely to attack the guppies than vice versa. Our guppies live happily with our sorority of girls, the bettas break up any territorial behavior from the guppies (How dare they have turf battles when my girls rule the roost?! lol).


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

I thought that Endlers got a bit big? 

But yeah, there's not going to be a betta in the 10. It'd get cramped fairly quickly with the loaches, Honey and anything else I threw in there.

I've had experience with danios, though I'm not too keen on getting any... We had some that lasted until the last which was about four years it feels like, but might be a bit less. (And somehow that one developed an odd hump to its back.)

Mm.. I'll see if I can drag my boyfriend out to PetCo today before work and see what we come up with. (And I might be getting another tank today, too  No idea what size, other than bigger than 10 xD)


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

WEEEELLLLLL


We got six male guppies, one under inch long oto and a 40 breeder. And some TetraColor flakes because I vaguely recognized the brand. And some more algae wafers. And a floating plant without a definitive name. The rep said it was like captain's beard. The plant is floating freely, the fish are floating in their bags, and I intend on going back for a buddy for my oto when they have more available.


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## Skyewillow (Dec 28, 2012)

Sounds like a good setup so far!

We had Danios in our 30 gal... they were such a pain in the butt! They'd ram into all of the other fish, and our poor guppies were frazzled!

About 6 of our guppies are currently stalking me from their tank, they think they're starving to death, despite that I fed them an hour ago! lol They're friendly and will nibble on you and make a general nuisance of themselves when you're doing any maintenance that requires hands in their tank. ^_^


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## djembekah (Feb 13, 2012)

40 breeder is a great size! You can do a lot more with that.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Yeah. We're gonna put the loaches in the breeder when we can get a stand for it. ... Maybe.


So, we have Sun, a yellow-orange little guy, round tail, with a reddish stripe behind his eyes and darker red-orange ringe on his tail.
Cardinal, a red/blue wide-belted guy, round tail.
Moon, smallest of the bunch, with very dark navy to black body, almost piebald with silver for the front half of him. Veiltail.
Then a pink/purple guy, almost purple almost blue stripes in his tail, spade-like.
A yellow/blue, almost scarf-tail. Primarily yellow, but his front half is a blueish color. Looks like a spadetail.
An older-looking fellow with faded red tail, deep blue body and a cyan head. Not sure if he's a veiltail or fantail.


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## Chevko (Nov 15, 2012)

Will my guppies cause havoc on Honey? I'm nervous about them making a habit of swarming her and picking at her...


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