What is a hardy cheap and small fish?

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imtcurveball

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Hey I'm thinking of setting up a 10 gallon for my 6 year old niece but her dad said that it's got to be small and easy since he knows he'll be taking care of it completely. Any suggestions? I'm a cichlid and native fish keeper. Thanks for anything. I'm thinking of giving her a guppy from my breeding tank. I breed feeder fish for my cichlids and the hillbilly guppies have probably inbred enough now. I'm going to start completely over with them but I've grown attached.
 
I've had good luck with White Clouds and with Harlequin Rasboras. Just do 5-6 of ONE species. Keep it a little understocked and it will have a buffer. You could add a cute snail.


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Don't do zebra danios in a 10--they are too active. White clouds are active but not manic. They are fine in a ten. Ditto on the single species school. Coursair's advice is right on!
 
You could do zebra danios in a 10 gallon ! Yes they do better in a bigger tank but you could get 4 of them with maybe 5 mountain minnows and they will be fine and both these species are virtually indestructible !!! If you do go for the danios make sure you have a closed lid set up as they are very prone to jumping ! So if you get 4 danios and 5 minnows that would make a nice grou of 9 fish in a 10 gallon and the inch of fish per gallon rule can be discounted as both these species are slim bodied so that would be my recommendation ! Let us know what u decide to go with
 
Don't do zebra danios in a 10--they are too active. White clouds are active but not manic. They are fine in a ten. Ditto on the single species school. Coursair's advice is right on!

Why is it great advice on having a school of one species ? I really don't understand that ! A bit of variety in the tank is much more interesting and the suggested danios and moutain minnows will be perfectly happy tank mates together
 
I also say no to the danios they are SO active. Very hardy though. Platy fish are brightly colored and very hardy (medium small). You could do 3 or 4 of those in a ten gallon, no problem. They are also pretty cheap.

+1 to understocking and leaving a buffer zone.
 
The inch per gallon rule is completely useless and i'm not sure what a slim body has to do with anything. Stick with the minnows or fish like celestial pearl danios. A 10 gallon tank isn't big at all and overstocking such a small tank isn't a good idea
 
Why is it great advice on having a school of one species ? I really don't understand that ! A bit of variety in the tank is much more interesting and the suggested danios and moutain minnows will be perfectly happy tank mates together

Of course mixing species is always more fun, but with a small tank and a child who may not know how to properly care for the fish, it makes the most sense to understock the tank. Water changes may not be very frequent.

Since many of the easiest fish are schoolers, having five or six of one species is necessary. Adding another species would make the tank heavily stocked. Platys can be easy, but they can also suffer from poor water conditions (clamped fins/shimmies), so probably not the best fish for a child just starting out.
 
Of course mixing species is always more fun, but with a small tank and a child who may not know how to properly care for the fish, it makes the most sense to understock the tank. Water changes may not be very frequent.

Since many of the easiest fish are schoolers, having five or six of one species is necessary. Adding another species would make the tank heavily stocked. Platys can be easy, but they can also suffer from poor water conditions (clamped fins/shimmies), so probably not the best fish for a child just starting out.

Wouldn't schooling fish be prone to the same thing (honest question)?? The reason I suggest platy fish (or guppies) over schooling fish is because, as a mom of a small child, I've found that they are much more enraptured with a larger colorful fish they can see/name/identify, then a school of fish they perceive as one moving unit. Just my experience. My dad started me on guppies when I was a little girl and they seemed to do fine under my haphazard child hands :) I think platy would be fine, also the OP mentioned that 'Dad' would be the one taking care of the fish most likely.
 
Why is it great advice on having a school of one species ? I really don't understand that ! A bit of variety in the tank is much more interesting and the suggested danios and moutain minnows will be perfectly happy tank mates together


Personally I think one big school is much nicer looking than 2 small schools. A personal preference for me I suppose.
 
The inch per gallon rule is completely useless and i'm not sure what a slim body has to do with anything. Stick with the minnows or fish like celestial pearl danios. A 10 gallon tank isn't big at all and overstocking such a small tank isn't a good idea

Simply because a deep bodied fish produces more waste than a slim bodied fish so you could get away with more fish if you stick with slim bodied species, yes the inch per gallon rule is useless but a lot of fishkeepers stick to it religiously when there is absolutely no need to so i was just trying to get that point across
 
Wouldn't schooling fish be prone to the same thing (honest question)?? The reason I suggest platy fish (or guppies) over schooling fish is because, as a mom of a small child, I've found that they are much more enraptured with a larger colorful fish they can see/name/identify, then a school of fish they perceive as one moving unit. Just my experience. My dad started me on guppies when I was a little girl and they seemed to do fine under my haphazard child hands :) I think platy would be fine, also the OP mentioned that 'Dad' would be the one taking care of the fish most likely.

Forgot that Dad would do the care (one would hope!). I also started with hardy wild-type guppies as a child and they were pretty indestructible, but modern day fancy guppies and platys seem to be a heck of a lot less hardy. Maybe a single or two colorful platys (same sex) would work with five white clouds . . .
 
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