College 10 Gallon Questions

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sharky246

Aquarium Advice Newbie
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Hey all! I am planning to bring a 10 gallon tank with a Penguin 100 filter to my dorm in the fall, and since this will be my first community fish tank I have a couple of questions. My plan is to stock the tank with 6 neon tetras, 4 panda cory cats, and 1 betta. Would this be overstocked? My parents are also concerned that having an aquarium will lower the air quality in my dorm, because the water evaporates with water conditioner and other additives. Is this concern justified? Any advice is appreciated!
 
Hey all! I am planning to bring a 10 gallon tank with a Penguin 100 filter to my dorm in the fall, and since this will be my first community fish tank I have a couple of questions. My plan is to stock the tank with 6 neon tetras, 4 panda cory cats, and 1 betta. Would this be overstocked? My parents are also concerned that having an aquarium will lower the air quality in my dorm, because the water evaporates with water conditioner and other additives. Is this concern justified? Any advice is appreciated!



i cant answer about the stocking because im very uneducated about it, but from what i do know that sounds high. i think the 6 neons and a betta is max for a 10 gal. anyways, the humidity i dont think is a problem i have a fairly warm room (75°) and a bubbler therefore the evaporation is increased and there hasnt been a change in humidity at all! i think youd be fine.
 
Hey all! I am planning to bring a 10 gallon tank with a Penguin 100 filter to my dorm in the fall, and since this will be my first community fish tank I have a couple of questions. My plan is to stock the tank with 6 neon tetras, 4 panda cory cats, and 1 betta. Would this be overstocked? My parents are also concerned that having an aquarium will lower the air quality in my dorm, because the water evaporates with water conditioner and other additives. Is this concern justified? Any advice is appreciated!


yes that would be overstocked. for a 10 gallon 6 neons and 1 betta would be proper stocked. you can push that just alittle more and do maybe 2 corys but i personally dont like trying overstocked tanks. rule of thumb is 1 gallon per inch of fish(this isnt a 100% rule but works well) at full adult size, not the size you got the fish at. your betta will probably max at 3-4 inches and each neon will grow to just over 1".



:::looks around the room at 5 aquariums::: if having an aquarium is lowering air quality then i think im screwed :lol:. no it shouldnt be lowering the air quality unless you are breeding something awful in your tanks. also dorms have industrial sized air units that are cycling the air very quickly.
 
yes that would be overstocked. for a 10 gallon 6 neons and 1 betta would be proper stocked. you can push that just alittle more and do maybe 2 corys but i personally dont like trying overstocked tanks. rule of thumb is 1 gallon per inch of fish(this isnt a 100% rule but works well) at full adult size, not the size you got the fish at. your betta will probably max at 3-4 inches and each neon will grow to just over 1".



:::looks around the room at 5 aquariums::: if having an aquarium is lowering air quality then i think im screwed :lol:. no it shouldnt be lowering the air quality unless you are breeding something awful in your tanks. also dorms have industrial sized air units that are cycling the air very quickly.



conveniently im doing this same stocking almost, except im doing 3 neons and 3 cardinal tetras and a female betta, its pushing the stocking a tiny tiny bit.
 
i dont know if it’s reliable or not, but i use aquadvisor.com
 
Bettas are unpredictable at best. I wouldn't really test one in a community, and the absolute minimum to try that would be a 20 long or a tank 30 inches in length. Neons and pandas aren't temperature compatible with bettas anyway (bettas ideal temp is low 80's, the pandas and neons would thrive in the mid 70's). The inch per gallon rule is also inaccurate. I also wouldn't put either panda cories or neons in a 10 gal, both require a decent school and room to swim around.

I know this sounds pretty negative, but you can do a small community in a 10 gal. But if you want a betta, it's got to be the only fish.
 
Bettas are unpredictable at best. I wouldn't really test one in a community, and the absolute minimum to try that would be a 20 long or a tank 30 inches in length. Neons and pandas aren't temperature compatible with bettas anyway (bettas ideal temp is low 80's, the pandas and neons would thrive in the mid 70's). The inch per gallon rule is also inaccurate. I also wouldn't put either panda cories or neons in a 10 gal, both require a decent school and room to swim around.

I know this sounds pretty negative, but you can do a small community in a 10 gal. But if you want a betta, it's got to be the only fish.



female bettas are okay for communitys. people even have community betta tanks with 5-10 female bettas.
 
Bettas are unpredictable at best. I wouldn't really test one in a community, and the absolute minimum to try that would be a 20 long or a tank 30 inches in length. Neons and pandas aren't temperature compatible with bettas anyway (bettas ideal temp is low 80's, the pandas and neons would thrive in the mid 70's). The inch per gallon rule is also inaccurate. I also wouldn't put either panda cories or neons in a 10 gal, both require a decent school and room to swim around.

I know this sounds pretty negative, but you can do a small community in a 10 gal. But if you want a betta, it's got to be the only fish.


guess im just completely wrong here. disregard anything i said previously and good luck. o/
 
female bettas are okay for communitys. people even have community betta tanks with 5-10 female bettas.
Female bettas do better in communities than males, yes. I still wouldn't test it. They're territorial fish, and if the betta feels the urge to attack in a 5-10 gal tank, there's not a lot of room for the other fish to run. It's just not a good idea
 
With regards to air quality, the only thing that will happen is a very small increase in humidity due to evaporation, and that's totally harmless and might even be beneficial, depending on your normal humidity.
 
I'll throw in my 2 cents. Your stocking would be maxed out but doable with frequent water changes......like 40% twice a week IMO. Personally, I would keep the Betta out. If you're adamant on keeping a Betta id get a separate 3 gallon tank for him. You could try to keep the Betta in this particular tank. I don't believe Bettas are fast enough to keep up with tetras or Cory's. That doesn't mean it wouldn't constantly try and harass the heck out of them. As far as evap from a tank in your room.....I think you as a college kid leaving old stinky clothes around and farting would be more of an air quality issue than your tank [emoji16]
 
If it were me I'd say get a betta and dwarf cories, not regular cories and call it a day. Just have a backup plan in case the the betta is a jerk
 
Wouldn't be concerned with air quality but mostly concerned about your prior experience with keeping neon tetras. I have kept tetras successfully for several years. Also lost quite a few learning how to be successful with them.
 
I think others are right about over stocking. I have overstocked a 10g before and it dosn't end well. You could consider some low light plants like swords. This will help, but it's no fix all for over stocking. I had some Amazon swords that grew like crazy in a 10g.
 
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