10 gallon stocking idea

[nohika]

Hi guys! My ten gallon tank is pretty closed to being done cycling. Currently all fake plants, but thinking of doing some low light plants but dunno if the light is good enough.

So! I'd like to think about stocking. I already have neons in another tank and would rather not have any more. Ideas?

 

[Galligak]

What type of tank are you thinking? One species or community tank?

 

[siva]

You could do a mix of small fish like Boraras briggitae aka mosquito or chili rasbora, celestial pearl danios, ember tetras, pygmy cories suchs as hasbrosus or nanus, dario dario aka scarlet badis, sparkling gouramis, dwarf shrimp like RCS, dwarf cray like CPO's.

 

[nohika]

Probably either. XD Not that that helps. I'm open to anything.

 

[nohika]

Would pygmy cories be okay with gravel? I was thinking ember tetras or or the rasboras but we don't have any here...

 

[siva]

If you don't want to do fish you could do an ADF tank or turn it brackish and do a fiddler crab tank

 

[Galligak]

Another thing to add would be my favorite... Duh duh duh duh DWARF PUFFERS!!!! They're a little hard but you could do 2 or 3 of them. They eat live food, some eat frozen and they need lots and lots of coverage

 

[siva]

Would pygmy cories be okay with gravel? I was thinking ember tetras or or the rasboras but we don't have any here...

I found my embers down in Medford one day..but I did have to order my mosquito rasboras. Pygmy cories are OK on gravel as long as it's smooth and not sharp or jagged. There are four types I know of: hasbrosus and nanus are bottom shoalers like most cories but hastatus and pygmaeus actually shaol mid tank.

Sparkling gouramis and scarlet badis are both just gorgeous. They would have to be my fav pics for 10 gal tanks.

 

[nohika]

I'm just finishing at work and have to get some groceries on the way home, but I'll look at pictures first thing when I get home. Any good sites to order from?

Edit: So with cories and tetras would I be able to have a centerpiece fish?

 

[siva]

I have two tanks that are just stocked with nano/pygmy fish. In one the centerpeice fish is sparkling gouramis, and in the other is scarlet badis'. I think you could mix those smaller fish with a larger centerpeice fish but I haven't tried it.

Franksaquarium.com is a good site. He's charging $4 ea. for his embers which is alot. He has other great nano fish too though. Severum mama said when she has embers in stock she sells them for $2. She doesn't have them in stock right now though. She also sells the sparkling gourami but again she doesn't have those in stock right now. If you're interested in either of those two I might send her a PM and see if she knows when she expects to have them in again.

I would think you might be able to find some of these fish locally though. If not see if an lfs can order them for you..that way you don't have to pay shipping.

 

[nohika]

I really like the chili rasboras...they're pretty.

Would something like:

6 pygmy/salt-and-pepper corys
6 chili/mosquito rasboras (or ember tetras if I can't get the rasboras)
1 sparkling gourami or scarlet badi

work okay?

Also, the nearest LFS is like 20 minutes away and right now due to drama I can't really make it out there...I think if Severum Mama ends up with the gouramis in stock by the time I need one, that's what I'll go with. They're super pretty.

Does that stock list sound okay?

Edit: Just checked the gravel. It's smooth - I think it was put through a tumbler.

 

[siva]

Almost...I'm not exactly which species is the salt and pepper? As long as it's hasbrosus, pygmaeus, hastatus, or nanus that's a yes. And you can do 12 of the mosquito rasbora. No, I'm not joking. They are freaking TINY. At full grown they are the size of 1-2 wk old platy fry...if that helps..probably skinnier. You could do 3 sparkling gourami with the others, get one male and two females. Or 3 scarlet badis..you'll prob be stuck with 3 males on this one..females can be tough to find. The males are the beautiful ones anyway. If you wanted to do just one scarlet badis that would be fine, but the sparkling gouramis will do better in the trio

 

[nohika]

The site I'm looking at says salt-and-pepper corys are Corydoras habrosus. They get less than an inch long - like 2cm or something.

So I'd be looking at like:

6 cories (pygmy or habrosus)
10 (12?) chili rasboras
1 scarlet badi

? Would that be fine in a 10 gallon? It seems like so much.

Someone suggested two GBR, but I don't really think that would work in a 10 gallon...

 

[siva]

Well hasbrosus will reach about an inch, but their body mass is teeny tiny.

This is one of those things...it looks like a lot in writing when you don't yet have experience with nano fish, but once you actually have the stock in your tank you will laugh that you ever thought it might be overstocked. If you have to order your scarlet badis and pay shipping, get atleast one more to make it worth your while.

This is perfect stocking. The cories will shoal on the bottom, the scarlet badis will hang out mid to bottom, and the rasboras will school top mostly. I have this exact stocking so I can tell you this for sure

Also if you are ordering the hasbrosus I would order a couple extra. I was so sorry I didn't when some of mine were DOA..it's easy to get a refund in these situations but it's not always easy to fork out the cash to get more shipped once your short of a proper shoal. Cories aren't always the best shippers.

 

[siva]

Oh..and my goodness..no way on GBR's. One full grown GBR is the size of like all the fish we are talking about putting in there put together! And then some!

 

[nohika]

That's what I thought when she said that...she also told me if I didn't wait YEARS before trying a SW tank that it would explode and everything would die. Not exactly thinking she's super reliable when it comes to advice...

I was checking the threads and it looks like Severum Mama has carried chili rasboras at one point. If I find a site that has the rasboras, the pygmy cories, and the badis, I'll go for whichever cory I can find.

I can seriously have three scarlet badis with that many rasboras?

So 12 rasboras (super cute little things), 6 cories (hasbrosus or pygmy), and 2 or 3 badis?

I'd also like to go buy an Aquaclear 30 for my tank. Would that be too much? I currently have an aqueon 10 and I don't really think it's enough...

Edit: Also, it looks like the site you listed (Franks aquarium?) has every fish I want.

 

[siva]

I ordered all three of those fish from franksaquarium.com. Check under his nano-fish section and see if they are all in stock at the moment. Franks awesome..easy to deal with and quality fish. You seriously can. I promise. If you add those fish to the tank and think it looks overstocked..well..I don't know..something..I owe you lunch! lol

AC's are great and typically I would say you can never have too much filtration...but...the flow might be a bit too much for such tiny fish. I'm not sure. I have my tank done very similar to this in a 14 gallon Aqueon..now the 14 Aqueons come with the exact same filter as the 10's. I'm using that initial filter, but I've added extra media, as I always do to any filter I can fit it into, in the way of a nylon bag holding filter floss and porous ceramic rings. This way I have more surface for beneficial bacteria to grow on, and can also more easily change some of my filter media without throwing out all of it at one time. I have no problems with this tank. It is planted which helps, but that's what I would recommend for these fish. They'll do better in a planted tank. These fish are so small and have such a small bio-load I don't think the upgrade is needed. I mean if you can get it on there and adjusts it's flow to where none of the fish seem bothered by it, and the expense is no biggie for you, then hey, how could that not be better..of course it is. But is it needed? No, I don't think so.

 

[siva]

Here's the thing tho...brace yourself..Frank is in New York..we are way over here...he ships overnight..it's pricey..

 

[nohika]

I probably need to take the huge powerhead out of my tank, too. Mom's gonna flip, but she's not here so bleh.

He has the badis, the rasboras, and the peppered cories in stock, but not the pygmy ones...I have to wait for a while (gotta make sure tank is cycled) so it may change by the time I order fish. Gotta save up the money, too.

I also have an undergravel filter that my Mom insisted on putting in there. Ugh, I need to find the cap to it - no idea where it is. If they can't handle an aqua clear 30, there's no way they can handle the twice-too-big powerhead.

I'll take some time to look into the plants...I'm not making tons of money right now so it's hard to try and get everything at once. I might (maybe?) be able to do some low-light plants? I'm not sure.

Edit: Ahh. His prices are fairly cheap though...ouch. Is Severum Mama any closer? I might PM her to see if/when she might get rasboras in again, or if she's ever had any pygmy cories...who knows.

If I do order them, I'll probably order the whole batch at once. :/

 

[jetajockey]

I spoke with the guy that runs bobstropicalplants.com a few minutes ago and he said he has a few different nanos available also. He's doing a fishroom remodel so I don't know if his site is up to date with stock lists, but it might be worth it to contact him and see what he can put together. He's in so cal and will ship priority so it'll be a lot cheaper on that front as well.