# 10 gallon fish tank



## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)

Hello all,

I am starting up a 10 gallon fish tank and am wondering what type of fish to put in it... I would really like to have 2 dwarf gourami, but I am not sure if they are suitable. Any suggestions?

Thanks!


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## CAangels16 (Dec 24, 2011)

If you want to put two dwarf guaramis in the ten gallon i wouldn't add anything else that as big as that. To fill in the rest of the available space, your best bet would be to get some small tetras, such as cardinal, neon, glowlight, bloodfin, or rummynose. Rummynose are one of my favorite tetras because they will form a tightly assembled school. 
Also make sure that you provide some good hiding places with drift wood and plants


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## Fishguy2727 (Dec 22, 2011)

If I were doing a ten gallon I would paint the back black, have black sand, and make it densely planted (easy on a 10). I would stock galaxy rasboras and fancy shrimp. If you like small gouramis I would add the dwarf honey gouramis, not the red/turquoise dwarf gouramis. They stay smaller and would be a better option for that size tank.


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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)

Thanks for the feedback.. Do you think I can add anything else with the 2 honey gourami? If so, what would you recommend?


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## Fishguy2727 (Dec 22, 2011)

I think you could do all three, the honey gouramis, fancy shrimp, and the galaxy rasboras. Just keep up a healthy water change schedule.


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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)

what about the sex of the gourami's? I have been doing some research and some people recommend a male and female... others say two males... so basically i am getting mixed reviews... what do you think?

Also, I am going to be adding a floating plant. What do you think would be a good choice for a 10g tank? 

(as you could probably notice I am new at this)


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## Fishguy2727 (Dec 22, 2011)

I don't think you should have an issue either way. 

If you do shrimp I would definitely have some hornwort, it will float.


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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)

Hello again,

So, today i purchased 5 (smaller) pepper cory's and 1 otto. I am kind of thinking I should have bought another otto. What do you think?

In a couple of days once these fish get settled I am thinking of adding a few more. Either 2 honey gourami OR 2 sparkling gourami OR 2 scarlet badis. Which would you suggest?

After those 2 I am not sure if I would be able to add any more. If I could I might add a few dwarf rasbora (depending on my research of how many fish I can add in a 10 gallon).


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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)




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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)




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## MinaMinaMina (Aug 28, 2011)

Welcome to fishkeeping, and to TFK!

Is the tank already cycled? How long has it been set up?

If you click on the shaded name Pepper Cory, you'll see that they require a larger tank. So, with just them in an unplanted tank, you're almost fully stocked. You may want to consider returning them and re-evaluating your choices.

AqAdvisor.com is a decent resource for stocking plans. Its not perfect, but it will alert you to big problems in your stocking ideas before the fish are in your tank. AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor

The Oto Catfish need to be kept in groups of at least 3, and need to have a plentiful supply of algae. If you can't meet their needs on both acconts, you may want to consider returning them.

If you can tell us how long your tank's been set up, how long its been cycled, and what the values are for ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, hardness, and temperature, we could better help you to find suitable fish.


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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)

well there is no returning these fish, they were a final sale as the store was closing out...looks like these will be the only guys i have in the tank until i buy a bigger aquarium... I have tested the levels before putting the fish in there and everything was suitable for there needs. I kind of wish I would have seen the lnk you attached before I purchased these fish, but oh well... they seem really happy in the tank and like I said they will be the only ones in there. 

Thanks.


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## Fishguy2727 (Dec 22, 2011)

Just keep up on the water changes. You should keep the nitrate under 20ppm.


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## MinaMinaMina (Aug 28, 2011)

So does that mean you did a fishless cycle (with an ammonia source) and are getting nitrate readings? I ask because, if you haven't cycled fully, your care of these fish will be vastly different for a while than if you'd previously cycled. Have you seen this link? http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-articles/bacteria-freshwater-aquarium-74891/


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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)

I have not cycled the tank fully. I have had it running for a couple of months and then added in plants (fake and real) and a piece of diftwood. I left that for a couple of days and added in the fish. I understand that I will need to test the water everyday to make sure all the levels stay within there ranges. I have a PH testing kit and a ammonia testing kit. Do I need anything else?

P.S. Thanks for taking the time to help me, as I am new at this.


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## fish monger (Dec 29, 2011)

Don't worry about the fishes settling down as much as letting the water stabilize. Wait at least a week before adding anything else. Don't over feed and maybe do a 10% water change where you take out a gallon and add back a gallon in a few days. After a week, do the water change again. Gourami males are tough on the females, but it looks like your plants will give her good places to hide. Wait another week, do another water change and add a few colorful platys that will stand out. Then you'll have activity in all levels of your tank. I understand the excitement of adding new members to your tank, believe me, but take it slow. It will pay off. Good luck !


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## MinaMinaMina (Aug 28, 2011)

We were all new at some point! :-D We're just glad to see people that want to learn, and do the best thing for the beings in their care!

So...
Cory cats aren't well suited to an uncycled tank. Oto cats are especially bad. Honestly, I wouldn't expect the Oto to survive in a new tank and without a good algae supply. Is there anyone you know who has an established tank that could take him?

I would advise to have liquid tests for Nitrite and Nitrate, as well. The test stripes are notoriously inaccurate. The API Master Kit is what most of us here use, and is accurate when performed correctly. (Though, the instruction advise shaking the #2 Nitrate bottle and the test tube for much shorter than necessary. I would shake both for 2 minutes. And I mean _really_ shake them! I beat mine against a table.)

You'll want to have both of those test kits so you can both watch your cycle progress, and so you'll know when to do 50% water changes (i.e. when you have Ammonia or Nitrite readings above 0ppm, or Nitrate readings above 20ppm, or weekly, whichever comes first). You can pretty much expect to do a water change at least once a day for 6 to 8 weeks while the cycle runs its course.

Five small Cory cats is a pretty hefty load on an uncycled 10g tank. I would expect the Ammonia, etc to spike early and pretty high. I would start doing 50% water changes daily while you're waiting to purchase the tests.

There are two other very helpful things you could do. The first is to get lots of fast growing plants to help suck up the ammonia, etc. The faster the plants grow, the faster it uses the ammonia, etc before it gets a chance to harm your fish. Examples of good choices are Water Sprite, Brazillian Pennywort, Hornwort, and Duckweed. (Though, be warned that some people conisider Duckweed a pest, and its true that it can be hard to get rid of once you have it.) But before you choose your plants, we can help you look at the type of light you have and pick plants that will be appropriate. What plants (and how many of each) do you have already? How many and what type of bulbs do you have? What do the bulbs say on them? How long do you have them on each day?

Another helpful thing you can do is to borrow something from a healthy, established tank that will have beneficial bacteria on it. This is called a "seed". This will help jump start your cycle. Things such as a used filter cartridge, used bio media, or used gravel/substrate wouldl be good choices. You can either place the seed in your filter, sprinkle the seed substrate on your substrate, or place the seed in a well-rinsed (no soap) knee high or cut off pantyhose leg and set in in your tank. Sometimes a LFS will give you seeding material, but I think this is suspect. I mean, any LFS or chain goes through a lot of fish, and is therefore exposed to a lot of fish disease. Problems like Ich can be transmitted via gravel, etc. So I would be more inclined to get seed from an individual, or possibly someone from a local Aquarium Society. Or you may get lucky and find someone on here that lives near you, if you feel comfortable with saying what city you live in. I'm in Cincinnati, myself.

I know its a lot of information, but you'll get it. And in the meantime, we're here to help. TFK is a great resource, and there are a lot of very smart cookies here, and very experienced and very nice to boot! We'll help you any way we can! :-D


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## fishies1234 (Dec 24, 2011)

I just did the PH and Ammonia tests and here are my results...
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It looks like my ammonia has increased to .25 (it looks a little darker in the picture than what i see). The PH is relatively the same as before. I am going to do a partial water change. 

I do not know of anyone else who has a healthy tank, so borrowing an item from a established tank is not really an option. (so neither is giving away my otto)... I did some more reading and it looks like i can feed him some veggies. I just added some spinach and am hoping he will eat it.


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