New 10 gallon tank help

[almond27]

Hello everyone. This will be the first time I own an aquarium and I'm planning on buying the aqueon 10 gallon deluxe aquarium kit. Aqueon » Deluxe Aquarium Kit | Products

I have some questions that I hope someone can answer.

With a tank this size what would be an average timeframe for a fishless cycle to take? I have a 3 year old that might not understand why the tank can't have fish in it yet.

If I have to do a fish-in cycle what fish would be best to do this with? I already have an api master kit ordered and should arrive next week.

The fish we like are:
cardinal tetra
black neon tetra
blue emperor tetra
neon tetra
cherry barb
panda cory
sterba's cory
dwarf gourami

With a tank this size what would be a good combination of fish for a 3 year old? We like the dwarf gourami because of its size. Is there another fish that might work better, but similar in size?

I'm not sure if it's important info, but starting out we're only using fake plants.

Thanks for any and all help.

 

[azmodan]

I'd recommend a honey gourami over a dwarf gourami. They're slightly smaller, very peaceful, and they are not vulnerable to dwarf gourami disease.

 

[coolbeenes]

I would stay away from the neon and cardinals to do a fish in cycle. Dwarf gouramis are good. They get a bad rap. IMO they are great fish that are pretty hardy. Stay away from putting two in the same tank. They are similar to the betta fish that can breath water from the surface.

Gouramis can survive a fish in cycle, however you will need to keep the water conditions pristine with frequent water changes.

Get yourself some Prime water conditioner.

I would also look into the Marineland 10 gallon Led kit. Aqueon is a great kit, but with Marineland you get led lighting which gives you a cool night lunar mode. Could be cool for your little one. Got mine on sale at Petsmart for $40.

Best of Luck to you.

 

[coolbeenes]

Breath air from the surface, sorry late post!

 

[Musicfreak]

I would stay away from the neon and cardinals to do a fish in cycle. Dwarf gouramis are good. They get a bad rap. IMO they are great fish that are pretty hardy. Stay away from putting two in the same tank. They are similar to the betta fish that can breath water from the surface.

Gouramis can survive a fish in cycle, however you will need to keep the water conditions pristine with frequent water changes.

Get yourself some Prime water conditioner.

I would also look into the Marineland 10 gallon Led kit. Aqueon is a great kit, but with Marineland you get led lighting which gives you a cool night lunar mode. Could be cool for your little one. Got mine on sale at Petsmart for $40.

Best of Luck to you.

I had the marineland 10 gallon kit. I would highly recommend it! I love the bio wheel filter that it has and the LEDs on it are great. It's really a great start up kit.

 

[creic38]

There are plenty of hardy fish out there. The problem with the ones you listed is most of them are schooling fish, which means you would need 6 of them. With 6 of any of those, you would be fully stocked and you wouldn't have any variety.

Both the Marineland and Aqueon are good. I particularly like the Aqueon because the hood provides a large door you can open to do your cleanings, without having to take the whole thing off. Also, the lighting on the Aqueon is sufficient for low light plants, so you wouldn't have to upgrade when you decide to start planting. This is all provided that the Aqueon you are getting is the one with fluorescent bulbs.

 

[almond27]

There are plenty of hardy fish out there. The problem with the ones you listed is most of them are schooling fish, which means you would need 6 of them. With 6 of any of those, you would be fully stocked and you wouldn't have any variety.

Both the Marineland and Aqueon are good. I particularly like the Aqueon because the hood provides a large door you can open to do your cleanings, without having to take the whole thing off. Also, the lighting on the Aqueon is sufficient for low light plants, so you wouldn't have to upgrade when you decide to start planting. This is all provided that the Aqueon you are getting is the one with fluorescent bulbs.

With the 10 gallon size is there a better choice of fish that aren't schooling to get more variety? The honey gourami is a pretty fish as well. If I went with the honey gourami what are some other good fish I could get to complement it?

Thanks for all your help so far. Forgot to mention that the Aqueon does have fluorescent light.