Centerpiece fish for a 10gal

[CollinT]

I recently set up my first freshwater tank. It's ten gallons, fully cycled and moderately planted. It currently houses 6 neon tetras. However I would like to add one more slightly larger fish to top it off so to speak. I realize with a ten gallon tank my options are limited (I may be overstocked already im not quite sure). I was thinking about a German Blue Ram, but I don't know if my tank is big enough to house one successfully. Any other options? Would a beta fit? Or would it be nipped at by the neons? Any help or advice would be great. Thanks in advance.

 

[Toirtis]

Dwarf gourami.

 

[gheitman]

I agree with Toitis' recommendation of the Dwarf Gourami. These are beautiful fish that are well behaved, easy to care for and won't harm plants (unless it is trying to build a bubble nest to spawn). German Blue Rams are notoriously sensitive to water conditions and I wouldn't recommend one for your first tank. Neons are more likely to have their fins nipped by other fish than they are to nip fins themselves.

 

[Rxblade123]

I thought Blue Rams were the sensitive ones, since they are wild caught, and the German Blue Rams were raised in tanks, so they should be a bit hardier. Gourami's are cool except I think the Dwarf Gourami's look like they had their body shrunken length wise, but then again that's why it's called a Dwarf Gourami XD.

 

[gheitman]

In my experience the commercially bred German Blue Rams are still sensitive to water conditions although they may be hardier than the wild caught specimens. I wouldn't recommend them to someone setting up their first tank. I should have mentioned earlier that the Bolivian Ram is closely related to the Blue Ram but is less demanding and is recommended as an alternative to the Blue Ram.

 

[Rxblade123]

I have 3 German Blue Rams and they seem pretty much hardy to me, but Blue Rams should probably be tried when you are more experienced.

 

[Menagerie]

[center:e2af4b2718] Welcome to AA, CollinT!! [/center:e2af4b2718]

 

[CollinT]

Thanks for the advice and the warm welcome everyone. I don't think ill go for the German Blue Ram then. So it looks like it'll be the dwarf gourami. Thanks again everyone!

 

[TankGirl]

Let me just say that I kept a DG in a 10-gal with 5 cardinal tetras and you would never know there was a cardinal in the tank - they hid constantly from him behind plants and a cave structure. They were not happy until I put them in another tank away from him. This same DG went into the 55gal with the cardinals and other small fish and everyone was fine, but the confines of the 10 were too much.

I also kept a DG in a 15gal and he actually killed every single tetra tankmate I tried; the cory cats were the only fish to go unmolested. This was a tank at an elementary school, so it was somewhat distressing, and the attacks were unfortunately witnessed. I finally gave up on mid/upper strata tankmates for that fellow, and he continues to reside there in relative solitude.

I don't think I'll keep a DG in a small tank with other fish again - but my experiences do not reflect the norm - just a grain of salt to toss into the mix

 

[aquazen]

I don't have tetras, but I keep two dwarfs in a 10 gallon tank with several guppies and 2 corys. They all get along just fine. In fact, they drink together all the time.

 

[severum mama]

You may have room for 1 Bolivian ram. They are much hardier than blue rams and very interesting fish. I have 4 of them. They get a little bigger than blue rams though, so I don't know if a 10 gallon would be big enough for them. I think a betta would work out fine. I used to keep one with neons and had no trouble.