10 gal advice needed

[f_kidder]

Hello, my 10 gal tank has cycled and I have 3 silver mollies who have hung through the whole thing. I have added 1 chinese AE and 2 neons. I want to overstock a little with more neons and 2 gouramis. The "guys" at the fish store said I could probably do this with a more powerful filter. Is this a good idea? If so, how powerful should I go?
Thanks!

 

[Guest]

I think by overstocking an aquarium that small, is just asking for trouble. I think it might be stressful for the fish. Stressed fish are more prone to disease. Also, I believe chinese ae get fairly large. Around 10" and aggressive as they get older. I would stick with the gouramis and tetras. I think mollies would prefer a slightly larger aquarium too. IMHO.

 

[RogerMcAllen]

I will also agree that that sounds like a bad idea. Perhaps now is the time to start upgrading to a larger tank?

 

[urville]

yeah smaller the body of water the easier it s to mess it up. i mean slight overstocking is possible but it's gonna take more than a bigger filter, in any size tank, you have to up water changes, gravel sucking, your increasing the potential for algal and bacterial blooms. i would go buy a bigger tank. say a 20 long, or a 29 or something similar.
then you'll be able to do your thing, and still be understocked, and not have more work than presently

 

[cginflorida]

Welcome to AA, f_kidder!

I agree, don't overstock a 10 gal, it won't be good for the fish or you. Get another (bigger) tank and join the MTS club.

 

[f_kidder]

Darn it! I'd love to get a bigger tank and perhaps I will once I prove to myself that I can keep up with this one! So maybe I'll do that in 6 months or so.

I had NO idea that Chinese aes get that big. Why the heck did she sell me 2? And better yet, why did I BUY them???

Ok, so if I do some shuffling around with an aquarium buddy, off load a ae and the mollies maybe I can do the gourami, neon thing.

Any ideas on good ways to find used aquarium set ups that you know are just gathering dust in peoples homes?

Thanks for your thoughts on my previous post.

 

[pkremer]

Well, don't panic yet! Those chinese algae eaters won't grow that big in the next couple days! I have had a golden chinese algae eater in my 10 gallon for months now and he is maybe 2" right now? As far as chinese algae eaters go, they are very efficient, which is maybe why she recommended them. With two of them in a 10 gallon, odds are you won't see any algae, and may need to supplement with algae wafers.

Something else to realize is that "overstocking" doesn't mean having more than 10" of fish in a 10 gallon. Overstocking has to do with which fish you choose! Put 15 neon tetras in a 10 gallon, and I doubt people here would think it was overstocked. But put a 5" Oscar in there, and the people here would scream at you!

The mollies and neon tetras should work in a 10 gallon, but gouramis are trickier. I can foresee issues for two gouramis getting along in a 10 gallon. They are very territorial!

As for the guys at the LFS, they aren't wrong...you probably could jam all those fish in with a more powerful filter and they wouldn't die from poor water quality. But I'm almost positive you would have territorial aggression problems with those fish you mentioned if they are all jammed in there. You need to decide if your LFS is just trying to sell you things and turn a profit or if they are legitimately concerned about you enjoying your hobby.

Paul

 

[f_kidder]

(You need to decide if your LFS is just trying to sell you things and turn a profit or if they are legitimately concerned about you enjoying your hobby. )

They are obviously concerned with me enjoying my hobby and me not murdering fish. In my first few days and weeks of cycling my tank, you know, when you WANT FISH, darn it, they said "don't do it" and I listened. I was just there Friday fixing to buy 3 more neons and some PH stuff. No neons. No PH stuff. I told 'em, "I want yous guys to SELL me something!" I left being sold nothing. I thought that was cool, even though I was kinda pissed. Actually, I found it rather refreshing!

Thanks for your thoughts, Paul.

 

[pkremer]

Well, that's good. Many here will attest to some LFS in their area just trying to turn a profit. I've heard stories like a young boy being sold a 5 gallon tank and 5 male bettas!

The nice thing about this forum is being able to get second opinions. Even if a LFS has yours and the fish's best interests at heart, odds are that the employees there don't have first hand knowledge and experience with every type of fish and definitely don't know how every fish will interact with every other fish. When you post here, odds are someone has tried what you want to do before and will give you their experience. Also, the group here will be concerned first about the fish, even to the point of being a bit conservative at times (which is good for fish).

Paul

 

[Menagerie]

Any ideas on good ways to find used aquarium set ups that you know are just gathering dust in peoples homes?

Check out Bargain Hunter type papers, or Penny Savers. Also, the classifieds in the regular newspaper may have something of interest.

BTW~
[center:263e25032a] Welcome to AA, f_kidder! [/center:263e25032a]

 

[Lance M.]

I overstocked my ten gallon.
Here's what I got-
3-white clouds
3-rummynose tetras
3-glow-light tetras
1-pencilfish
1-spotted dojo loach (6-inches)
1-farlowella acus (6inches)
1- flying fox
1- clown pleco
2- african dwarf frogs
15-ghost shrimp
about 18- trapdoor snails
unknown amount of mts in the gravel

The thing with overstocking the aquarium is checking the water conditions about at least every three days, keep up with gravel vacuuming, and the water changes. Also if you have lots of plants it makes it easier. I have a penguin mini-filter and a 10-20 power filter. the plants I have are and amazon sword plant, many pieces of ludwigia repens, and giant hygro. It's been set-up for about a year and a half.

 

[aquahungerforce]

Craigslist.com has lotsa listings....good deals!!