10 gallon tank

T

Tooj

Medium Fish
#1
Apr 9, 2011
61
0
0
Vancouver, B.C.
#1
Hi there. i recently aquired a 10 gallon tank for my desktop. i have black sand substrate at the moment with no decorations (work in progress - once i figure out what im putting in there)
i am interested in setting up a cichlid tank, although from what im reading a 10 gallon tank is somewhat small
Some people are suggesting that some dwarf cichlids (not too many...) will work in that size of a tank
im a real newbie when it comes to cichlids, and im not sure what type to get? its alot more complicated then i thought it would be.
my understanding is not to mix cichlids from different regions....and thats about all my brain can take it
theres TONS of biological names that i cant seem to sort out in my head....not as simple as calling one species "guppies" lol
so anyways...can anyone set me on the right track? i want colourful ones that can survive in a pH neutral tank and are actively working the sand that i already have set up
any suggestions? preferably small....like under 4 inches...leaning more towards 3 inches so i can fit at leats 2 or 3 in there
thanks for your suggestions
 

Kiara1125

Kiara1125

Superstar Fish
#3
Jan 12, 2011
1,142
0
0
Florida
#3
T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#5
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#5
You might be able to put about four of the high fin red tetra minors in your tank (Serpaes) They are colorful and active and I have found them very hardy.
 

T

Tooj

Medium Fish
#6
Apr 9, 2011
61
0
0
Vancouver, B.C.
#6
i have a 29 gallon tropical community tank full of all sorts of stuff at the moment
it does seem like anything around 4 inches isnt going to work
however, i did drop by my LFS and saw dwarf white parrot cichlids
aparently theyre new or something? SOOOOO CUTE btw <-ive only said that with 2 things. pygmy corries and these new dwarf parrot cichlids
max size is 1.5 for males and 2.5 for females
some shell dwelling cichlids would be nice too...but from what ive seen, theyre very hard to get where im from (vancouver)
anyone know any online stores that would ship to canada for a reasonable price?
 

T

Tooj

Medium Fish
#8
Apr 9, 2011
61
0
0
Vancouver, B.C.
#8
ohhhh now it makes sense....
i was reading online about them...sorta...cuz theres nothing on them....
i didnt think they were the jelly bean variety because they were just white and not all sorts of unnatural colours (which, btw, is kind of twisted how they get them to look like that)

besides shell dwelling cichlids, are there any other ones out there that will stay small enough for my 10 gallon?
even the dwarf variety of say....cockatoo cichlids, grow up to be 4 inches...
 

T

Tooj

Medium Fish
#9
Apr 9, 2011
61
0
0
Vancouver, B.C.
#9
ok so its come down to a few cichlids that may work:

blue panda apistogramma
cockatoo dwarf cichlid
albino krib

assuming the size of the tank isnt an issue (cuz i have bigger tanks availabe to me) are these cichlids compatible? or is the albino krib too big to be pairs with the other 2?
 

Orion

Orion

Ultimate Fish
Moderator
#10
Feb 10, 2003
5,803
3
38
Kentucky
www.thefishcave.net
#10
Male apisto's can be rather aggressive to each other. At best, you might be able to keep one male from each species in a 10. Any more fish from the same species and you might end up with a male/female pair unless you know 100% they are male. And this will just give rise to all sorts of new problems if they spawn, as they will become very aggressive and territorial over protecting eggs/fry and could easily kill off everything else in a tank this small. If you wanted to get some juvies of one species, let a pair form and remove the rest, that might work OK. But I've heard of males going nuts and killing his mate in smaller tanks where she couldn't get away.

Shell dwellers would be the safest bet no doubt. They are more difficult to find in a LFS, so your best bet would be to try and find a breeder that has them. The Multies breed easy, so shouldn't be that expensive. They aren't very colorful, however they are very fun to watch. You could do a colony of Multies in a 10, and a pair or maybe 2 of occies would work.
 

T

Tooj

Medium Fish
#11
Apr 9, 2011
61
0
0
Vancouver, B.C.
#11
so i went and got a pair of albino kribs. im 100% sure i got 1 male and 1 female. i have some white clouds in there as dither fish (excuse the spelling if i got that wrong). i figured that putting in a bunch of kribs into a 10g would be worse then just 2 of them, so im hopeing they would pair (and theyre pretty pricey considering i would return those that did not pair. size not being an issue because if they grow large i can transfer them into another tank)
so another issue now...like you mentioned Orion, the male is freakin nuts. has the entire tank to himself, pushes the female to the outer top corners, and rules the rest. Im assuming that either theyre too young to mate, or theyre not interested in eachother.
Ive heard of ways to decrease the aggression amoung kribs...(rearranging the tank, adding more stuff), but basically theres not much to rearrange in there....its just a plastic tree stump from petsmart, and a small castle in the corner. if they paired it wouldnt be a problem....so my quesion is...

do i take out the male for a while and let the female set up shop? and once the male is back, would he remember that its his turf? bringing everything back to square one?
do i take one out and let them grow up a little bit more? (theyre about 1 - 1.5 inches)
do i add more dither fish? (again, spelling?)
do i wait it out?

i kinda have my hopes set on making a 10 gallon work. that way i can have it on my desk and not in the corner of my room somewhere...
 

T

Thyra

Superstar Fish
#12
Jun 2, 2010
1,891
0
0
Yelm, WA
#12
I only know what I have read about these fish and a 10g tank is way too small. Even if they do pair up and have fry, domestic violence could occur if one parent decided to take control. It doesn't sound like you have any real hiding places for either fish and in a 10g tank that would be difficult. Actually in a tank that size they probably won't spawn because they are uncomfortable.
 

phin

phin

Large Fish
#13
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#13
You might try a pair of bolivian rams. I thing German blue rams are quite difficult to keep. They are very sensitive to the water parameters and don't thrive in water that isn't very soft, clean, and low pH. Bolivians, on the other hand, are more tolerant of harder water.

Alternatively, you might want to look at a lone p. Saulosi. They don't get too large and a single one by himself with some holey rock and sand would do fine in a ten. They are hardy little fish, just have to feed them the right food. They love rock-hard water (35+ gh) but is easily adjusted by adding epsom salt baking soda and aquarium salt.
 

phin

phin

Large Fish
#14
Oct 21, 2009
218
0
0
#14
Replied before I read the rest of the thread... More than one krib won't work in a 10. Eventually the dominant one will kill the other or drive it clear out of the tank. You could get by with just one probably.
 

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