suggestion for non-school first fish

[kiki]

I am trying to find fish which will be happy as single or couple. This will be my first fish. Any suggestion besides siamese fighting fish? My tank size is 10 gallons.

My concern for school fish is that some easily breed. I don't have the time or money for take care of offspring for hardy fish like platy.

Thanks

 

[Sponge Bob]

Cory's?

 

[azn dreamer]

Um...i would reccomend you getting one platy so they don't mate and they will start off the cycle and have a chance of surviving. Plattys do breed a lot but they don't school. THen after the cycle, get some good looking ones like plecos but don't get livebearers

 

[tkos]

Ummm, I don't recommend using fish at all for cycling. If you stick with tetras the chances of them breeding are pretty slim. Most schooling fish don't end up breeding in a small aquarium, and those that do end up eating their eggs quite readily.

Also do not get a pleco in such a small tank. Fist off they don't swim around much, but second the smallest ones get 5 inches long while the biggest ones get 24 inches long. And they produce a ton of waste.

Cory catfish on the bottom (like three or so) would be nice. And if you do like guppies then it is easy to not breed them by only buying males. This is easy to do as the difference is unmistakable.

 

[Zic]

If you want platies, get platies. If they DO breed, the young will get eaten, unless you either seperate the fry, or privide a place the fry can get to that the parents can't. So, the fish breeding can take place with out any extra effort on your part.

When I bought two mollies and two zebra danios (to cycle my ten gallon tank), the clerk told me, "The mollies will breed, but you probably won't notice, because the young will get eaten unless you intervene." I have chosen to intervene.

 

[Allivymar]

You may want to consider a dwarf gourami and a small school of corys.

Gouramis do fine as single fish, in fact, unless there are plenty of places to hide (like a well planted tank) 2 may wind up beating each other up. With a gourami you have a fish which occupies the middle/top of the tank.

You'll probably want a bottom feeder as well, to grab any of the food the gouramis miss (although you will have to feed them as well); corys are a fine choice. Small, active, and will provide some interest on the bottom of the tank. I'd suggest at least 3.

Neither make good fish to cycle with; but if you can get Bio-Spira from a lfs, it will kick start the cycle and your fish will not have to suffer thru it. Do make sure you pick up tests for ammonia and nitrites, so you can be sure you aren't poisoning your fish. Nice article about the "cycle" here: http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

 

[Catalina]

Yes, it's not a good idea to cycle the tank with fish, although it is a mistake many have made! I'm in the middle of dealing with it right now, and although the fish are okay, it would be so much less stressful if i just knew they were in a fully cycled tank.

But when the time comes, i would have to agree with Alli that a dwaf gourami is a great choice if you're looking for a single fish. They are beautiful, and mine is very responsive. Without fail, he swims to the front of the tank whenever I come over. They also have an interesting ability to squirt water (like an archer fish) which is really funny. If i put my finger over the water he will squirt it, and if i put it in the tank, he will nibble it like crazy. Corys would be the best for the bottom. I have 2 currently with my dwarf gourami, and because they are the only other fish with him, he occasionally spends time with them on the bottom looking for food. But he is mostly on the top/middle of the tank. Corys are a schooling fish, in the Amazon they are found in schools of hundreds. You definitely need to get more than one for them to be happy, but i agree with everyone else that you don't really need to worry about breeding. If you have a gourami and few cories, I would think someone would make a snack out of the eggs before they develop too far!