new 10g stocking

[metsrangersfan15]

having had successes with a 55g freshwater, a 35g brackish, and a 15g mudskipper tank i have decided to revive my 10g aquarium and wanted to hear your thoughts on my ideas.

my stocking ideas are as follows:
1 dwarf gourami
1 FEMALE betta
1-2 platys (if more than one, theyd both be female)
3-4 otocinculus - for the glass and algae, which always seems to spring up in that tank
4-5 cherry shrimp for general cleanup

i took sprouts of established plants from the 55g but theyll take a little bit to grow, though 2 are fast growing, which should compete with the algae.
i might add a floating plastic plant

like i said, its still cycling, so i want to hear all of your thoughts.
shoot.

 

[Kiara1125]

Gourami + any gender Betta = Disaster waiting to happen. Gouramis and Bettas naturally don't like each other. You can get more than 1 female Betta, but not a Gourami, even iit is a Dwarf. Although I would rather go with a Dwarf Gourami because the female Betta could have a bad disposition. Plus male Dwarf Gouramis are colorful and fun to watch. Good luck and keep us updated on your thoughts.

I think that I might get a Dwarf Gourami, but around here they're $7. Wow.

 

[metsrangersfan15]

yeah if i cant have both i'd definitely go with the gourami as i've loved them for a while and miss having one.
could you suggest any tankmates then? i like the platy there, and i could go with a few more, but if you could make a few suggestions that arent so "common", i would appreciate it.

be creative

 

[Thyra]

I have no experience with gouramis, but I do have a community tank with various tetras, an angel fish and two female bettas and there has been no problems with the angel and the bettas. Actually I am surprised at how beautiful the bettas turned out. They were barely over an inch with I bought them and they are now about 2 inches. One is red with hints of orange and the other is iridescent dark blue with red fins. A 10g tank would be a little small to mix any fish that might be aggressive.

 

[Kiara1125]

For something unique, but still suitable in a 10g, I was thinking something small but colorful. Killifish maybe?? I don't know all that much about their personalities, but I think that there can only be 1 in a 10g. What about male Endlers?? They're small, colorful, and can't breed with the platies. Also, how can you have 7ish snails?? Lol it made me laugh. XD

Question: I really want an angel. What size tank do I need for just 1?? And should I keep it alone or with some other fin friendly fish?? Thanks.

 

[Fuzz16]

choose one or the other with betta or gourami, killis tend to hang out at the top more so and not super active. so id go with a dwarf gourami.
1-2 platys is fine, but go with males. that way theres no chance you have prego females from store, but with the other fish in the tank, you could easily do a trio (1M-2F) and maybe one fry out of 300 will survive the filter, other fish, and eachother.

I say 29g MIN for an angel due to height and size. there are a lot of other options with a 10g you could look into also. dwarf cichlids(minus kribs) or crayfish with ditther fish.

serpae tetras, or black skirts could hold their own against a gourami, may be better off wit smaller tetras though. also, you could do a male betta instead of a gourami also, save one from a lil cup death

 

[Kiara1125]

Thanks fuzz for the angel information. But even if the platies had fry and got sucked up in the filter, wouldn't it be bad for the filter?? Like, wouldn't it hurt the propeller from chomping so many fry bones and such?? I just imagine that it would wear down quite quickly.

 

[Fuzz16]

nope, itd be fine, the fry are barely visible to you, and sometimes they live and youll find fry in the filter lol..ive found a few

 

[metsrangersfan15]

haha we started with 7, dont know if tis shurnk or not.

as for the angel, it needs to be a tall tank. so even a 20 gallon hexagon tank would be enough for a single angel. the biggest thing with angels is the height of the tank. We have had success with angels when grouped with swordtails/platys. the danios dont care about them, and visa versa. The hatchets leave them alone. When cared for correctly, angels can be one of the most rewarding fish to have in the tank.

we have had a lot of fry survive, and they, in a big tank, can be fairly adept at surviving.

i really lake the crayfish idea. if the tank ends up getting stocked i might have to go with that idea. and would that work with a gourami?

 

[kenny1tothe6]

Gourami + any gender Betta = Disaster waiting to happen. Gouramis and Bettas naturally don't like each other. You can get more than 1 female Betta, but not a Gourami, even it is a Dwarf. Although I would rather go with a Dwarf Gourami because the female Betta could have a bad disposition. Plus male Dwarf Gouramis are colorful and fun to watch. Good luck and keep us updated on your thoughts.

I think that I might get a Dwarf Gourami, but around here they're $7. Wow.

I've had male and female bettas around male DGs before with no issues. http://i225.photobucket.com/albums/dd304/pk2_06/FurrrballUMB-1.jpg

That's just my experience and I have had some of the most EVIL bettas ever[even tho it's not common, it happens] but the DGs are friendly and more suited to a community IMHO. If you wanted to "risk"[try, really] getting a [single] FM betta, just keep an eye on them to make sure there's no conflictions, have the tank set up with lots of hiding spots/sight breakers and you're set.

Other notes is that RCS would definitely be eaten by fish. In the wild, they are fish's natural food so they are best kept in their own tank.

HTH

 

[Fuzz16]

i wouldnt have anything that swims slowly wit a crayfish, so no on the gourami...big vine bred blue crays, but i think he left the forum and i am no expert on them at all.

 

[Kiara1125]

My lfs keeps blue crays with gouramis. The key is to have rock shelters for the crays. They seem to ignore the gouramis and stay either in or on top of the rock shelter.

 

[metsrangersfan15]

ok ok im liking all of the input and ideas

 

[metsrangersfan15]

yeah so i think the blue lobster might be out of the question. if i get the tank going i need something to handle the algae, which wouldnt get along with the lobster.

Im back to gourami, platy(ies), otos, and maybe corys or shrimp for cleanup.
Simple, can be colorful. We'll see.

 

[Fuzz16]

snails work great for algae and the cry wont bother them.

you can also get bamboo shrimp which look pretty neat filtering the water

 

[metsrangersfan15]

went to my LFS today, came home with 3 otos and 1 red honey gourami. next week i will head back for 2 small corys and a platy or 2. any ideas to go with these?