# 10 gallon choice - what do you think?



## grannyfish (Jul 14, 2012)

I am currently cycling a 10 gallon tank. 

I would like to get feedback about what to ultimately stock it with. I have a good number of plants in it now with black sand and a nice piece natural wood. 

Would this be reasonable:

2 honey gouramis
8-10 Celestial pearl danios
3 kuhli loaches OR 3 of the smallest cory cats

what do you think??


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## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

I think that this would be overstocked in a 10 gallon tank. . . You might be able to get away with a pair of Dwarf Gourami. . . but not with everything else, I don't think. Kuhli do best in groups of 6, and need a longer tank than a 10g, and Dannio are also very active and though you might be able to pull it off, they'd really be happier in a longer tank. . . 

Also, do you know what type of water you have - if the water in your tap is hard or soft makes a big difference in what type of fish will do best for you. Gourami and Kuhli prefer softer water, while I think that Danio like it a bit on the harder side.

I'm new at this, too, and not the best to give advice on stocking - I'm sure someone else will be by who can give you better direction. Check out AQAdvisor.com - it's a site where you can put in what you want to stock, and it will let you know some of the possible problems that may occur. It's not 100% perfect, but it's nice to use as a guide. 

Great work getting the tank cycled and ready to go, and doing research on the fish before buying! :-D Makes me very happy! I can't wait to see what you end up with - good luck!


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## allaboutfish (Jul 16, 2012)

to give you an idea, in my 10 gallon i have
6-cpds
1-male endler
6-pygmy corys (although i can only find 4 at a time)
this is fully stocked, i would take out 2 cpds and add atleast one more pygmy cory. kuhlis need a larger tank.


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## tweet0302 (Jul 20, 2012)

I have one dal molly i want to put in two more dalmation mollys, 1 blk molly, corys,1 bottom feeder i have two small live plants is this a good idea cuz I'm new to the tank hobby
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## allaboutfish (Jul 16, 2012)

tweet0302 said:


> I have one dal molly i want to put in two more dalmation mollys, 1 blk molly, corys,1 bottom feeder i have two small live plants is this a good idea cuz I'm new to the tank hobby
> _Posted via Mobile Device_


depending on the bottom feeder and corys all of those fish will probably be too active/ large to be in a 10 gallon


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## tweet0302 (Jul 20, 2012)

The guy at store said get oto i think this that's what it's called or can you tell me what will be the best bottom feeder
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Pearl2011 (May 21, 2012)

Otos need to be in groups of 6, I believe ans should only be introduced to a matured tank with lots of algae.
Pet store people aren't always that reliable.


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## tweet0302 (Jul 20, 2012)

So what kind of fish can i put in with 2 dalmation ,1 blk mollies,1 bottom feeder
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

I have Mollies - I love them, and I tried to start off with a 10g, too. . . fact is that Mollies need a minimum of 20 gallons to be kept happily, a 10g tank is too small for them. . . I'm really sorry to say. If you have one Molly and ONLY one Molly, and no other tanks, and no way to return or give away the Molly or get a bigger tank, I'd have to say that you shouldn't add anything else into this tank until you find it a new home or a larger tank. . .


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

grannyfish said:


> I am currently cycling a 10 gallon tank.
> 
> I would like to get feedback about what to ultimately stock it with. I have a good number of plants in it now with black sand and a nice piece natural wood.
> 
> ...


I would not have Honey Gourami in a 10g. Same goes for kuhli loach. The Celestial Pearl Danio are fine on their own, or with the corys but increase the cory group to no less than 8 or 9 (of the "dwarf" species). More info in the profiles, click shaded names.

Byron.


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## grannyfish (Jul 14, 2012)

OK. What do you think of sparkling gouramis? Would it be OK to keep 3 - one male & 2 females - if they can be sexed, if not, what would you suggest? along with the sparkling gouramis I would like to have some small corys. 

What do you think about keeping sparkling gouramis? I don't really care if the spawn. 

I now realize I am VERY limited with a 10 gallon tank. I will probably upgrade to a 20 in a year or so, but that is all I have room for or want to deal with....I have had saltwater and reef aquariums before and will never go there again. I want a simple, attractive, active planted community tank. I just added some Java moss to my Java ferns, small cryptos and anubia.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

grannyfish said:


> OK. What do you think of sparkling gouramis? Would it be OK to keep 3 - one male & 2 females - if they can be sexed, if not, what would you suggest? along with the sparkling gouramis I would like to have some small corys.
> 
> What do you think about keeping sparkling gouramis? I don't really care if the spawn.
> 
> I now realize I am VERY limited with a 10 gallon tank. I will probably upgrade to a 20 in a year or so, but that is all I have room for or want to deal with....I have had saltwater and reef aquariums before and will never go there again. I want a simple, attractive, active planted community tank. I just added some Java moss to my Java ferns, small cryptos and anubia.


This is fine. A trio (1 male, 2 female if you can, but at the small size usually seen in stores this is tricky), some corys, and some other fish, perhaps one of the "dwarf" sepcies of rasbora in Boraras? Assuming you have soft water or at any rate water that is not hard as rock, there are quite a number of choices.

BTW, if you have male and female of gourami, they wil spawn, unless they are not happy.;-) Like cichlids, spawning is pretty much a guarantee, and the male gourami will guard the egg nest.


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## grannyfish (Jul 14, 2012)

My water isn't extremely hard, but it is not soft either or acidic. The pH has been staying at 7.6. I have put some bogwood in and I can do some RO water with wter changes, but I guess I would rather not have to alter what it is extremely. 

I know I can get the Celestial pearl danios but on the fish profiles it says they need extremely soft water - dGH below 5! Is that true?? I don't know if that is possible here.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

grannyfish said:


> My water isn't extremely hard, but it is not soft either or acidic. The pH has been staying at 7.6. I have put some bogwood in and I can do some RO water with wter changes, but I guess I would rather not have to alter what it is extremely.
> 
> I know I can get the Celestial pearl danios but on the fish profiles it says they need extremely soft water - dGH below 5! Is that true?? I don't know if that is possible here.


When one has to give numbers for GH and pH, which is the only way to narrow it down, I try to be as liberal as I can in the Profiles while remaining with the recommendations of knowledgeable biologists. There is always some flexibility/adaptability. But soft water fish tend to not last long, or be as healthy, in water that is hard. Depending upon the species somewhat.

It also depends upon your actual GH. I have fish that prefer GH near zero, but I keep my tanks between 5 and 6 dGH for the plants. But this is still very soft to soft. If your water is around 9 or 10 dGH you are probably OK. If it is around 18 dGH, not so. Any idea what it is? You can find out (or should be able to) from the water supply folks.

Byron.


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## grannyfish (Jul 14, 2012)

I still do not know how to figure my dGH. The local pet store's worthless test strips and my worthless test strips say total Alk between 80-120 and total hardness between 75-150 so what does that tell me??


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

grannyfish said:


> I still do not know how to figure my dGH. The local pet store's worthless test strips and my worthless test strips say total Alk between 80-120 and total hardness between 75-150 so what does that tell me??


The KH I don't care about, it has no impact on fish [it does serve to buffer pH]. The GH is the hard mineral, and 75-150ppm is equivalent to 4 to 8 dGH, so that is very soft to soft. No problems for these fish.:-D

Byron.


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## Chesh (Feb 17, 2012)

Byron is right - assuming that those 'worthless test strips' are correct. 

My friend was using test strips (I think by API), and according to those, and to the fish shop's strip tests, she had hard water. . . I finally convinced her to get the API Gh & Kh liquid test - turns out she's had soft water all along! Of course now she's dealing with hard-water fish in a soft-water tank, and figuring out how to fix problems that she thought she wouldn't have in the first place!

I really have to recommend you get a more reliable test, if you really want to be on the safe side. The water hardness test by API is only around $7, and it's worth it to know for sure where you stand, I think.



I can't wait to see what you end up with in this little tank, I'm sure it'll be great! Once again, kudos to you for asking all the right questions_ BEFORE_ you buy!







Wish we all could have been so clever!


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## Aqua Jon (Apr 8, 2010)

+1 to you for doing your homework first! And I second the decision to plug 30 bucks into a "master" kit for some of the basic stuff. They last a long time and may be cheaper in the ultra-marathon run. 

My experience with adding cory cats was not good :\ I thought I had space for them, but didnt have enough shelter for them. With 7 danios in my 10g I thought that a group of 3 small corys would be okay. Hindsight, they are shy fish, danios are the kid with ADHD, lock em up in the same room together and things dont go well. Maybe other's have done better with them or i've done something wrong myself.

-edit- and they are zebra danio, not CPD, so they are twice the size of CPD i believe.


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