New 10 Gallon; looking for stocking ideas

[AggieMel]

Hi everyone,

First off, thank you for all the amazing advice you've provided in these forums. I look forward to interacting with you as I embark on this new adventure.

Here's a little info on my brand new first ever (goldfish in a bowl as a child notwithstanding) fish tank! (Pictures in profile)

10 gallon freshwater
Filter: AQUA-Tech 5-15
Substrate: Gravel
Lighting: Two 15 watt incandescent bulbs
3 medium fake plants
2 lily bulbs and 6 Aponogeton bulbs awaiting germination
1 very small Anubias nana
Small cave and sandcastle decor
Currently fish-less cycling with fish food with added substrate from an established tank
Consistent room/water temperature 76-78 degrees

I'm a soil and crop science major specializing in soil microbiology, so the entire cycling concept makes perfect sense to me. (We deal with the N-cycle all the time in soils, but just with different goals...) Here's to hoping I can make it happen. I have been beside myself looking for an ammonia source free of dyes, surfactants, and perfumes, so I've started off by "feeding" my tank with fish food to get things started until I can acquire some.

I am still awaiting the arrival of my Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit in the mail (supposed to arrive this Wednesday).

In the meantime, I'm trying to brainstorm ideas for stocking my tank. I know my options will be very limited, and I would appreciate all the opinions I can get - I'm open to just about anything! Also, for the record, I am slightly partial to dwarf puffer fish, but I've heard mixed opinions on keeping them in such small tanks, and I have been told it would have to be a species-only tank.

Best Regards,
Melissa

 

[TraceyB4602]

Puffers are very aggressive fish they will eat anything. They don't get to big but yet they require a largeer tank. I don't know why this is I would have to guess they are dirty like goldfish or they get board quickly. I do know they need a lot of activity so that would be my better guess. I would suggest to you some dwarf gourami's maybe some panda corys or some shrimp as bottom feeders and a small school of neons. If you use aqadvise.com it will give you a large list of fish that you can choose from I use it for my tanks.

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[jenatron]

You can keep 1-2 dwarf puffers in a 10 gallon. The general recommendation is 1 per 5 gallons. Yes, they are messy and aggressive. They are to be kept in species-only tanks. They typically don't eat flake/pellet foods, they need either frozen or live food. They need lots of plants (real or live).
I haven't scoped this website thoroughly, but at first glance it looks mostly accurate.