choosing fish?

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bill200

Small Fish
#1
Oct 22, 2002
17
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0
#1
??? , hi again, sorry to ask a dumb question but I really can't think of anything to stick in a ten gallon, white mountain minnows seem to be a good choice but it seems like I need more variety, can anyone help me! Anyways, I found a great LFS store, first time I saw a discus, a very tranquel and mysterious aura seems to cover it for some reason.  :p
 

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WonderFish

Medium Fish
#2
Oct 22, 2002
54
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#2
How about some small rainbowfish?  The dwarf neon or peacock rainbowfish (Melanotaenia pracox) are about 2 inches long.  There is also the Australian or Dwarf Rainbowfish (Melanotaenia maccullochi) that are about 3 inches long.  The Madagascar rainbowfish (Bedotia geayi) also stays around 3 inches, but males can reach 4 inches.  I found this site awhile back that has some really great Rainbow pictures if you want to know what these fish look like:
http://www.sphosting.com/rainbowfish/

This site also has some good information on these fish:
http://members.optushome.com.au/chelmon/Contents.htm

The Melanotaenia species come from New Guinea.  (you'll have to look under this at the first website)

These are wonderful fish and I think you would truly enjoy them.

Good luck!
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#4
#4

10Gs is a little small so I would go into the gourami fish. There are many strains available. The nice thing is that because they are labyrinth, there dont require as much surface area as other fish.

check out:
www.fishprofiles.com
www.notcatfish.com

*thumbsupsmiley*
 

lizwinz

lizwinz

Large Fish
#5
Oct 22, 2002
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48
Racine, WI
#5
if it was me i'd put a male betta (cuz i love them) with some minnows, danios or another small fish that does not have bright colors or long fins but is fast enough to get away from mr. betta if he gets grumpy

i've seen people have bettas in there community tanks with no problems (just a little chasing with no harm done) but i've also heard of bettas being murderers (mostly with neons) so watch them closely if you decide to go with a betta in there
 

R

ronrca

Guest
#6
#6

The first I have heard of bettas being killers. I guess they could especially if the neons are fry. But I know it to be true vise versa especialy with danios. They love the long fins and sometimes that does not have to be the case even. I had a betta in a 30G with neons and barbs. Well, betta lasted 2 weeks, fins all gone and died. Barbs were not too bad but the neons went after his fins. If you keep a betta, please choose other fish with long fins like some gouramis.
 

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WonderFish

Medium Fish
#7
Oct 22, 2002
54
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#7
Betta's can be so different in personallity that it can be very difficult to say what fish they can be kept with.  I abolutely hate man made fish, but I like these long fined colorful bettas because no two are really alike.  Also, danios can be nippy to a bettas fins, if the betta doesn't defend himself and scare them away.  But on the whole usually they aren't.  
 

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Pooky125

Large Fish
#8
Oct 22, 2002
565
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Corvallis, Or
#8
In my 10 gallon, I have 3 sunset platies (female), 2 bronze corys (got only knows), and 1 golden wonder killifish (male). It's a colorful, active tank, thats wonderful to look at!, Just a thought...
 

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Pooky125

Large Fish
#9
Oct 22, 2002
565
0
0
36
Corvallis, Or
#9
In my 10 gallon, I have 3 sunset platies (female), 2 bronze corys (got only knows), and 1 golden wonder killifish (male). It's a colorful, active tank, thats wonderful to look at!, Just a thought... In my 12 gallon, I have 1 blue gouami, 3 neons, and 3 kuhli loaches.. it's a peaceful tank, and the loaches feel comfortable enough to come out during the day, and play...
 

A

aquaticgypsy

Medium Fish
#11
Oct 22, 2002
51
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#11
In my 10 gallon I have a sort of miniature tropical setup. I have some glassfish and long finned rosy barbs and thinking about getting some tetras. A couple plants, ( I have 4) a heater, filter, thermometer and - duh - fish are all you need to set up a tiny tropical (fish) paradise! (That was corny, I'm sorry. Blame it on my dad, I get it from him ::))

                                    ;D ~aquaticgypsy

 I also totally love bettas, maybe you should get one of those, you have tons of options!
 

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colesea

Superstar Fish
#12
Oct 22, 2002
1,612
0
0
NY USA
#12
If you're new to fish and want variety, I would return the 10 gallon and get yourself a 20 gallon tank instead.  Unfortunately you can't just have "One of each kind" since many fish are schooling and ought to be in pairs if not trios.  With a population limit of about 6-8 fish in a 10 gallon tank, you're not seeing much variety there.  A 20 gallon High style tank has good viewing area, as well as more space to hold about 12-15 fish, which means a greater variety while being able to keep them in the numbers appropriate for those species.  

Keeping aggressive speices like gouramis in 10 gallons could lead to lots of bullying when those fish get bigger and become crowded for space. Barbs are sometimes known to be fin-nippers, especially tiger barb varieties, and need to be kept in larger number school (6-8 individuals).  Tetras are usually pretty peaceful and there are a variety of different tetra species.  Livebearers (mollies/Swordtails/Platties/guppies) are also okay in 10 gallon set ups, but you'll have to eventually find a place for all the babies.  Danios are known to be nippy, but if only danios are kept in a 10 gallon tank, they are a very active fish to watch.  Cory catfish also make good 10 gallon tank fish and do come in many varieties

Fish to avoid: anything called a "shark" and cichlids like angelfish or Africans. These fish 1)grow too big too quickly and require more room, or 2)are highly territorial and aggressive, even with each other.

Betta's are a specifically bred fish just as much as a golden retriever is a specifically dog. It is the hundreds of years of selective breeding that have made their fins and color what they are today just as much as new breeds of dog are man-made by crossing two other breeds together (such as the labrodoodle (a lab-poodle cross that is currently being bred for blind people who need the hypoallogenic coat of a poodle with the sociablility and size of a lab).  I have kept them in community tanks with mixed results. If you wish to put a betta in a community tank, his tankmates must be of the seriously laid back type. So far the only fish I've gotten to mix sucessfully with a betta are white clouds and cories.

Taking care of a 20 gallon tank is no more work than taking care of a 10, so if you are really looking to making a nice community, I would upgrade if I were you.
~~Colesea
 

spitfirekitty

spitfirekitty

Small Fish
#13
Sep 2, 2006
23
0
0
#13
In a 30 gallon I have a large male blue gourami in with about a dozen tiger barbs. He was in the tank first for about 2 months and then I added the tiger barbs about 4 at a time. They do not bother him at all. Blue gouramis are one of the more aggressive gouramis, so maybe that is why he can fend for himself with all of the barbs.

They also tend to stick together and don't really venture off seperately enough to cause any problems to the gourami.

Most of them are diff. sized reg. tiger barbs, with 3 albino and 1 green. They all school together. It seems to go more by size than by color variety.

Raina
 

JustOneMore20

JustOneMore20

Large Fish
#14
Aug 4, 2006
237
4
0
Alabama
#14
How about some small rainbowfish?
Click to expand...
Rainbowfish are far too active for a 10g. I think 29g would be minimum for dwarf neon rainbows (praecox)

In a 30 gallon I have a large male blue gourami in with about a dozen tiger barbs. He was in the tank first for about 2 months and then I added the tiger barbs about 4 at a time. They do not bother him at all
Click to expand...
They probably don't bother the gourami because there are a dozen barbs in there. In bigger groups they focus more on themselves and the aggression is spread out in the group, so they are most likely to leave other fish alone. But in a 10g, you can't have 12 tiger barbs...or any IMO. They are too active.

The only cories I'd put in a 10g are pygmy or habrosus cories, because they are the smallest at ~1 inch. They don't stay on the bottom, so the only fish I'd put with them would be a betta or dwarf gourami in a 10g.

A 10g is really small so it limits your stocking choices. I have a male betta and harlequin rasboras in my 10g and it works well. The betta doesn't bother the rasboras and if he were to chase after them, they are fast enough to get away. The tank looks kind of empty, but you don't want to overstock small tanks. The water isn't as stable so it doesn't take much to have some ammonia or nitrites show up.

I'd stay away from any tetras or rasboras that get over 2 inches...they are just too big for a 10g.

Loaches are too big for a 10g...a 20g would be minimum for kuhlis.

Danios are nippy, so I wouldn't keep them with a betta. They are also really active, so IMO a 20 long tank is minimum.

I'd go with a few mollies or platies or or a betta/gourami and some small tetras/rasboras or a betta/gourami and 6-8 pygmy or habrosus cories or a colony of small shell dwelling cichlids like Multies or Brevis.

You would have alot more options with a 20g long tank. A 20g high is only better if you have some top dwelling fish. It is just as long as a 10g, so you don't have any more surface area. Since fish swim horizontally, a 20 long is a better option and gives you more stocking possiblilties. :)
 

Last edited:
mickeymouselvr

mickeymouselvr

Small Fish
#18
Aug 3, 2006
32
0
0
#18
the fish

well in a 10 gallon like everyone else said you are limted to what fish u can have. I myself if you wanted a variety of fish ould go with some gummpies, some neon tetra, and maybe a female betta. In my 10 gallon I have 2 frogs, 4 neon tetra and a couple of ghost shrimp.
 

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