new to aquaria

[mumrah]

Greetings all,

My girlfriend and I recenlty bought a 10g tank from a local pet store with the intention of getting a fancy goldfish. The intrigue of all the possibilites of tropical fish was too enticing, so we went that route.

We initially got 3 neon tetras, 1 small pleco, and 1 clown loach.

All was well untill i added a java fern that brought ICH with it. All but the neons died.

So we're restocking. We just added a pleco today, and are waiting on some loaches to arrive in the pet store we frequent to get 2 clowns.

I came across this forum and decided to ask the following:

is a 10g tank large enough to support 1 pleco, 3 neons, and 2 small loaches?

Also, two of our tetras are lookin pretty fat latley. I might be overfeeding them, but is it possible that they are pregnant? And if they are, how can i tell for sure?

Thanks,
David

 

[Jchillin]

Welcome to AA Dave!

Sorry about your lost fish.

You have placed FW fish into what originally was supposed to be a goldfish tank? Did you cycle your tank? The answer is no. They wont stay this size forever.

Lastly, do you test your water parameters (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph), perform water changes, etc?

 

[Jchillin]

Oh...clowns are SW fish.

 

[mumrah]

the tank was intended for goldfish, but never used as such. I did let the tank cycle before adding fish (about 2 weeks), and they were fine until the ICH showed up. My water parameters are as follows:

nitrite: 0
nitrate: 20
ph: ~8
kh: 200
gh: 150
and i do ~10% water changes weekly
all whatever units are standard. ppm or something

So my new question is, what (beyond the 3 neons and 1 pleco) can i add?

 

[mumrah]

Oh...clowns are SW fish.

i meant clown loaches, sorry

 

[BrianNY]

Well David, clown loaches are fw. They do better in groups of 3 or more. The problem is they will outgrow a 10g tank. Just not a good choice for your size tank. I'd suggest increasing the neon number as they are schooling fish, and adding some pygmy cories.

A tank full of schooling neons makes a great looking tank.

 

[mayreee]

I would definitely take the pleco and clown loach back they can get about the size of a 10 gallon tank.

 

[mumrah]

would a pair of zebra danios and say, 3 more tetras be fine? not overloading the capacity of the tank?

 

[tetrin]

if u really love the clowns ...who btw are funny ...u can keep 3 of them as brian had said till they grow up ...and they do grow slowly... and then return them to the lfs for credit or more fish ...

 

[smallfry]

Danios are happiest in groups of 5 or more.....I would take Brian's advice. Increase your group of neons to 6 or so....and get 3 or 4 pygmy corys (or panda corys). That's about all your tank can handle. HTH

 

[jibboo]

rule of thumb is about an inch of fish per gallon

also, ich is very treatable ... so if you ever notice that again, it only takes a couple days to clear that up with some meds that should be readily available at your lfs (or walmart for that matter).

A pleco will be ok, depending on what kind you got. A common brown pleco will definitely grow (in time) to be too large for your tank, but there are quite a few species of plecos considered dward plecos that stay under 4 inches. ie: i have a gold-nugget pleco who is only about 2 inches long and he likely won't grow too much bigger than that.

I have no idea how fast clowns grow, but I had 3 yo-yo loaches in my 10g for a couple years (at which point they were really too big for the 10g), and they seemed happy and ran around the tank non-stop. So, instead of a clown, maybe check out some of the other species of loach as a bunch of the others stay much smaller than clowns.

Plus, remember ... even if you get a fish that will outgrow your current tank, you have options. Its not like the world will end just cuz your fish grows too big for the tank. You can always take it back to the lfs (which may or may not give you any credit for it), or if you really enjoy keeping fish, then consider getting a bigger tank. I went from a 10g to a 55g cuz my fish grew too big for my 10 and I was ready to move on. So, consider that you will likely have options. Plus, there's got be ppl out there looking for a nice big fat clown loach (ie: my friend is always looking for a nice 4+" one) I've seen some large clowns in stores selling for $20+

 

[Menagerie]

[center:cd0ae9549c] Welcome to AA, mumrah!! [/center:cd0ae9549c]
There are some smaller loaches, like the yo-yos or khulis. Personally, i like Brian's idea of neons and pygmy cories. I recently added 15 pygmies to a 50 gal and they are so fun to watch.
Also, jibboo is right, there are options. Getting a bigger tank is definitely an option. My husband and I went from 29 gal to 80 gal and them added 6 more tanks! We love our fish!

 

[mumrah]

well, for the time being, space is a limiting factor. We're currently sharing a rather small apartment. I did add the 3 more neons, and i love them! There's 6 total now. I've been thinking about putting about 3 glofish in the tank, but i know danios like to be in schools of 5? or more. Also, i cant find any pigmy cories locally.

-David

 

[aquazen]

If you want cute little colorful fish that swim around like idiots, get a pair of guppies (one male and one female). That's all you'll ever need because they pop out fries faster than McDonalds. Oh, you'll probably need to buy a new tank...like I did. Grrrr.... But I love those little buggers.

About the pygmies, I have trouble finding them myself. Try aquariumstuffers.com. But I warn you. Shipping is hella-expensive.

And Menagerie. I now understand why you chose that as your forum name. You've got quite a ginormous collection there.