New Tank Advice

[dudeofrude]

I'm considering starting a new small show tank in my spare room, something around 10g. I'm looking at a single male fighter for it and am just wondering if that's enough room for it. Or what other interesting fish I could have in a small tank?
Also any interesting ideas on aquascaping a small tank to make it simple yet eye catching.
I already have a 30g community in the dining room and I'm sick of not being able to have the fish I want due to incompatibility. So will be nice to just find something exotic and colourful without having to worry about what its going to eat lol
So any help or opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks

 

[dudeofrude]

I'm considering starting a new small show tank in my spare room, something around 10g. I'm looking at a single male fighter for it and am just wondering if that's enough room for it. Or what other interesting fish I could have in a small tank?
Also any interesting ideas on aquascaping a small tank to make it simple yet eye catching.
I already have a 30g community in the dining room and I'm sick of not being able to have the fish I want due to incompatibility. So will be nice to just find something exotic and colourful without having to worry about what its going to eat lol
So any help or opinions would be appreciated.
Thanks

Also I want to keep it freshwater not brackish if possible

 

[fort384]

Are you talking about a Betta? 10gal would be perfectly suitable for a betta.

You could consider adding live plants to the mix to create an eye catching scape. There are a lot of low light plants that require very little maintenance to keep them healthy, and some may even grow with the stock lighting depending on the bulbs and strength.

 

[tyspot1000]

A 10 gallon should be perfect for a Single male fighter, It will give him some room to roam. If you want a Pretty looking one, look on aquabid.com <- They have some great looking bettas.

If you want some tank-mates with the single betta, try Neon tetra, Glowlite tetra, Cherry barbs, or Cardinal tetra. Just make sure to have some kind of cover to block the line of site between the tank-mates and betta (Really, bettas are not the best community fish, but it really depends on their personality). Also, Make sure to have a back-up plan if anything goes wrong.

If you want to leave Betta out of the question, You could try: Sparkling gouramis, Celestial Pearl Danios, Endlers livebearers, Pygmy Cories (Need well established tank before adding) or neon tetra.

How about an Asian look as far as the theme goes? What Kind of Substrate are you going to use (I recommend sand; Make it look more natural)? There are many Low-light plants that would look great in that kind of set-up.

 

[dudeofrude]

Yeah I'm talking about a betta, I've always loved them but as I said I've got a community tank so haven't been able to get one. I'm not really great with plants, I've tried pretty much everything in my 30g and it died so will probably stick to artificial ones. I'm thinking of a different substrate this time, thinking sand. Is that ok with a betta or is it not important?

 

[Corbo]

Actually, Bettas do rather well in community tanks. Unless they're just determined to be hateful. My Bart (betta) lives in. 10 gallon community with cories and zebra danios. It's a very happy and active tank. No nipping, all joy.

 

[dudeofrude]

Yeah I know its all about temperament and mood but my tank is mainly guppies so they're too colourful. I even tried female bettas but they killed 2 small guppies. Still I'm open to the idea of some tank mates for a betta. Is 10g too small for 3? (1 male & 2 females)

 

[Corbo]

Hmm. 10g is debatable for 3 Bettas. The male would probably get all cocky and try to mate with the females often. I hear that they kill each other like that often. If it were a bigger tank and there were multiple females (a sorority 5 or more I think) then it would probably work better.

 

[dudeofrude]

Ok I'll leave that idea alone and stick to a single male