Am i overstocking my tank???

[Dysosaurus]

Hi all,
I new to the site and I have some questions about my 10g tank. I started my tank with 3 pristella tetras and had them in there while I cycled my tank. After my tank finished cycling I went to my LFS and picked out 2 red wag swordtail and added them to the tank yesterday. But upon further research I learned that the swordtails might need a bigger tank than 10 gallons, or they might produce more waste than my filter can hande. I have a Tetra PF10 power filter. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! thanks

 

[TXaggie]

Hi, and welcome to the forum!


You're right about your swordtails, they are too big and active for your tank to really be happy in it. The best thing is likely going to be to re-home them, unless you're interested in getting a larger tank.

Here's a nice article that lists some good species to try in your size tank:

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/ca/volume_5/volume_5_3/stocking.htm

Be sure to be on top of water changes and water quality in your tank (using a liquid water testing kit like the API Freshwater Master kit is a good idea, check on amazon.com, they seem to have the best price lately). My understanding is that smaller tanks can be tricky because their quality will fluctuate easily, although I have not kept one yet myself.

Best of luck, and this forum is a GREAT place to ask questions.

 

[Rivercats]

Thats a pretty good list but I wouldn't put cardinal tetras in a 10g and definitely not whiptail cats. I actually have 3 whiptail cats and the largest is about 7" long. They are also very rigid bodied fish that have problems swimming and especially turning. Also any of the nano fish such as Ember tetras and Endlers along with many other make great 10g fish and since many are quite small you can have more fish.

 

[TXaggie]

Thats a pretty good list but I wouldn't put cardinal tetras in a 10g and definitely not whiptail cats. I actually have 3 whiptail cats and the largest is about 7" long. They are also very rigid bodied fish that have problems swimming and especially turning. Also any of the nano fish such as Ember tetras and Endlers along with many other make great 10g fish and since many are quite small you can have more fish.

Thanks for the correction to that list, Rivercats! I liked the article when I was first looking at what to stock in a 20 gallon tank. If I recommend it to anyone in the future, I'll be sure to note that about the cardinals and whiptails. Thanks!

 

[Dysosaurus]

thanks for the advice! That's unfortunate about the swordtails, I was really starting to like them . I'll have to see if my girlfriend can adopt them into her tank which is much larger than mine and ill check out that list for fish that would better suit my 10g. thanks again for all your replies!