10 G Questions

[JMeyer]

I bought a 10 gallon tank the other day with the intent of taking it with me to college in the fall (10 g is the largest allowed size). However, I'm getting it up and running now. Without further ado, here are my questions:

What are some good tank mates for a male betta? I'm looking for something kind of unique here.

Is it normal for a new HOB filter to run a touch loudly? It's been a while since I set up my 29 g tank so I can't remember if that filter was a little loud at the start before it got settled in. It's an AquaClear Fluval power filter if that matters.

Finally, is there a way to speed up the process of cycling my tank so I can get some fish in there? I'm usually pretty patient but not when it comes to buying stuff. I like to get out and shop. Maybe a fish-in cycle?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Hi! Some good tank mates for a male beta in a ten gallon tank would be a group of 3-5 small tetras like neons, glow lights, or pristellas. In response to your filter question, usually a new power filter will run a little loudly until the housing gets a nice coat of biofilm growing on it dampening the sound. With your cycle, I honestly think that you'd be fine adding in just the male betta and just having him for about 3-4 weeks and then you could add your tank mates. A ten gallon tank is definitely large enough to have a male betta in there during a fish in cycle.

 

[Anna94]

If you have another cycled tank you can take some of the filter media from that tank and put it in the filter on the 10 gallon tank. That will really help speed up the process. You can also use bottled bacteria: API Stress Zyme, Seachem Stability, Dr. Tim's One and Only, etc. There are others, but those are the only ones I know of off hand. The bottled bacteria will help boost your biological filtration.

 

[JMeyer]

[emoji1360] I'll toss some stress zyme in there tomorrow and my betta in a couple days. Good news on the loud filter. Thanks guys

 

[justinmo]

Only some species of tetras can live in a 10 gallon remember to look that up and also the compatibility. I don't know if I would go for tankmates in a 10 gallon with a betta especially without a backup plan. You could divide the tank and have 2 bettas!

 

[TheSmallFish]

I would think that some platies are good with a betta, and some cool shrimp.