Looking For fish

[FishFiner123]

Well obviously keeping a bass in a 10g tank is not a good idea, but can you guys reccomend a fish that is better suited for a 10 gallon tank, i want soemthign that isnt too expenzive or hard to maintain,
Thanks alot to anyone who can help.

 

[SCFatz]

Lots of choices out there...really.Most FW fish are cheap.

Head back to the fish store and get some ideas.Pay attention to the full grown size of what you are considering and as to wether or not the particular fish is a schooler (prefers more of its own around to feel safe).

The very basic guide line is 1" per gallon of water,but this can very greatly with some species.

After you get some ideas bump this thread with what interests you.The help in count and selection will follow.its a great site.

In the mean time read read read....particularly this forum...go back in the pages looking for posts simmilar to yours...it will help get your thinking right before deciding.

HTH and welcome to AA.

 

[FishFiner123]

alrite thanks

 

[gheitman]

There are a lot of fish that will do fine in a 10g tank. My own preference is for dwarf cichlids although some species are higher maintenance than others.

 

[FishFiner123]

are dwarf cichlids a high maintenance fish, and how many can i keep in a 10 gallon or so tank.

Also - do all fish require that long cycle, any shortcuts?

THanks

 

[sirwired]

There is one, and only one, shortcut to a cycled tank. It is called "BioSpira". It runs about $15-20 US. It is a refrigerated live bacterial culture. There is litterally nothing else on the market that can speed that up. Not "Cycle", not ANYTHING else. If a store doesn't have it, don't let them sell you something else. It won't work.

SirWired

 

[dskidmore]

I personally like tetras like neons and cardnals that stay fairly small. A school of 6 or so with some kind of bottom feeders like snails and shrimp...

Barbs are also easy to care for and like to school together.

Cichlids can be territorial. You could have maybe a male and 2-3 females? It would be hard to mix anything else in the tank though. My Cichlid kept killing any tankmate I put in a 10 gallon with him. I couldn't find a female of his species to add in...

Make sure you look at pictures ahead of time and can identify the genders yourself, I've had salespeople try to give me all males because they don't know any better.

All fish require the long cycle. The cycle is the time where you're building up the beneficial bacteria that can support fish life. You can sorten the time by using a dirty, bacteria laden, filter cartridge from someone else's established tank.

 

[SCFatz]

You can sorten the time by using a dirty, bacteria laden, filter cartridge from someone else's established tank.

I'll take this option over bio spira any and everyday of the week.
Bio spira may the best product (I agree) but it itself can be all go or all no.Sometimes it simply does not work.

Bacteria transfer is the single best option ime.

 

[JRagg]

For dwarf cichlids, usually just a pair or maybe 1 male and 2 females in a 10g tank. Right now I've just got a pair and they're doing very well. I'm more than happy with them. I really enjoy watching the courting behaviour, and they had a successful spawn about 3 1/2 weeks ago.

 

[shsean]

in my opinion, guppy, neon tetras or marigold swordtails besides gouramis can do well in 10 g. they are inexpensive , hardy and easy to care.

 

[DetroitRockCity]

I recommend Bio-Spira, I just recently used it to get my 55gal going and it worked great. I would also recommend a school of tetras, maybe Bleeding Hearts, Gold Pristellas or Von Rio Flame. All of these fish have great colors, or maybe some silver dollars, but you could only have about 3 of them. Good luck and let us know what you decide on.

 

[severum mama]

IMO bleeding hearts and especially silver dollars would grow too large for a 10 gallon. Gold pristellas or Von Rios would be ok, as well as glowlights, neons, and other small tetras. Harlequin rasboras would be nice too.

What I've heard about BioSpira pretty much goes along with what SCFatz said; it can really be hit or miss. The most foolproof way to cycle quickly IMO is to use established filter media to seed the new tank. This will not result in an instant cycle, but it will be much abbreviated.

 

[sabbott1877]

I recently got some Harlequin Rasboras and I like them a lot.

Do not rush the cycle, make sure you read lots about it, particularly fishless cycle, and be sure that it is done before adding fish. This will greatly reduce the chances for fish loss. It is hard to look at an empty tank but it will give you time to figure out exactly what you want. Browsing through your LFS helps to get an Idea of what is available and what things look like.

Like SCFatz said, once you come up with ideas, people here will really help you figure out any potential problems etc...

P.S.
Welcome to AA and I hope you find it as useful a resource as I have!

 

[RoK]

Zebra danios are another hardy and cheap fish that stay small enough for a 10g.

 

[niks93gt]

I just added 6 l/f gold danios to my tank. They are a joy to watch and never stop moving.

Nik

 

[Burks]

Danios are really hardy and breed somewhat easily. You'll enjoy them!

 

[sabbott1877]

I Have some gold zebra denios in my tank as well, they are active and look nice; But I think they are sensitive to chloramines

 

[dskidmore]

I Have some gold zebra denios in my tank as well, they are active and look nice; But I think they are sensitive to chloramines

Most fish are sensitive to chloramines. You need a tap water conditioner that breaks down chloramines into a less toxic form.

 

[meegosh]

I just wanted to say that I just started to cycle my ten gallon tank with two zebra danios. They are doing very well at this time. I hope they continue to do good! They are cheap, 2 for $1.69 at PetSmart. They have more expensive ones (1 for $1.39) of the long tailed zebra danios. I figured I would go with two of the $.79 ones to cycle my tank.

Very hardy, easy to care for. These buggers never stop moving either! Enjoy!

 

[dskidmore]

If you're going to use fish to cycle a tank, make sure to test daily for ammonia, underfeed the fish, and do as many water changes as necessary to keep the ammonia level under 0.5.

Cycling with fish is way too much work for my taste! I'd much rather do a fishless cycle.