10 gallon student tank

[Helios]

One of my students thought it would be funny to throw a penny into the 55 gallon in the classroom. As a consequence he had to help me clean the aquariums.

Anyway, I moved the fish that were in a 10 gallon into a 30. Once he cleans the 10 out this week, I want to restock it and make it "his tank. " I'm hoping by giving him ownership of the tank, it'll help with the behavior and get him interested in fish.

I would really like something easy to care for, colorful, and pretty active. My standby is platys but I'd like to know if you guys can come up with anything else. The tank will still be in my classroom and I'll make sure they are properly cared for. Just looking for suggestions. Thanks.

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[Specialk302]

Make it a planted shrimp tank. That would be pretty cool. And 2 platys

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[fishboy 1077]

Guppies,swordtails,mollies,danios

 

[mazie51109]

Bettas are SO easy to get attatched to or maybe a few ADFs

 

[Sauroposeidon]

A 10 is too small for a molly or swordtail in my opinion -- size-wise and bioload-wise. 4 male guppies may work with some shrimp.

 

[Sauroposeidon]

Platys, too. Just make sure they don't come with or have babies.

 

[lectraplayer]

I think you cannot go wrong with tetras, especially neons and cardinals.

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[skullminerteam]

You could also do a betta sority

 

[lectraplayer]

I was always one of those who never liked betas. You have to watch for that sometimes.

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[Khuligirl93]

I think male guppies (or endlers livebearers) would be the best option. 5-6 of them. They're colorful, active, hardy, and have lots of personality. Maybe a mystery snail and some African dwarf frogs too.
I agree that mollies and sword tails need more than 10 gallons.
A planted shrimp tank would be beautiful in my opinion, but planted tanks require more work than non planted ones, and shrimp are so small they can be visually lost in a 10g. (I have a planted 10g shrimp tank with a colony of 60+ fire red/cherry shrimp and my family is always telling me how "empty" it is and asking when I'm going to put some fish in it haha). Probably some colorful active fish would be best for a kid who isn't really into aquarium keeping ... Yet
Maybe you could give him a list to choose from (platys, guppies, endlers, neon tetras, etc.) and let him choose. If he took part in choosing them he might be more excited to care for them.
Good luck! I wish my high school science teacher had a tank for me to throw a penny in and get this "punishment" dream come true!

 

[Jev12]

I think endlers or some type of nano fish with some shrimp and snails

 

[Slade]

Danios would be the hardiest and most active. When I started my first aquarium as a kid I liked swordtails and danios the best.

 

[Khuligirl93]

Yes but this is a 10 gallon we are talking about. Sword tails and danios need at least a 20g. Some people would say 30.

 

[robbyno22]

We just got endlers, and they are so cute and full of personality! They make me want to get an endler only tank

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[Helios]

Any thoughts on a school of von Rio tetras? I have a small school in my community tank at home. I like your idea Khuligirl about getting a list for him to choose from. I may do a few stocking options and let him pick one. I'd like to do 5 or so really different groupings. Here's what I have so far.

Tank 1:
4 platys of various colors

Tank 2:
5-6 male guppies

Tank 3:
A tetra school of some form. I love neons but prefer to keep them in larger schools so is like to do something else.

I'd like 2 more setups. I've had a hard time finding endlers so I don't want him to pick that and then not be able to get them. I'm not a huge fan of bettas either. I feel like they don't move around enough. I LOVE the idea of adding an adf to the tank but I know nothing about them. What sort of bio load and considerations are we talking about? We have and axollotl in the room already and the kids love him so I think the frog would be cool.

Anyway, 2 more tank ideas. What about some sort of barb?

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[skullminerteam]

I think male guppies (or endlers livebearers) would be the best option. 5-6 of them. They're colorful, active, hardy, and have lots of personality. Maybe a mystery snail and some African dwarf frogs too.
I agree that mollies and sword tails need more than 10 gallons.
A planted shrimp tank would be beautiful in my opinion, but planted tanks require more work than non planted ones, and shrimp are so small they can be visually lost in a 10g. (I have a planted 10g shrimp tank with a colony of 60+ fire red/cherry shrimp and my family is always telling me how "empty" it is and asking when I'm going to put some fish in it haha). Probably some colorful active fish would be best for a kid who isn't really into aquarium keeping ... Yet
Maybe you could give him a list to choose from (platys, guppies, endlers, neon tetras, etc.) and let him choose. If he took part in choosing them he might be more excited to care for them.
Good luck! I wish my high school science teacher had a tank for me to throw a penny in and get this "punishment" dream come true!

One of my teachers keeps glowlight tetras zebra danios and endlers. Ask fibsog. We alsways watch them they are very fun

 

[robbyno22]

We also have black and red phantom tetras. The black are more active, and don't seem to need as large of a school.

The adf are really cool, but they can carry salmonella... They should be in a pair. They might require hand feeding as well because they are slower to get to the food. Very fun though!

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[Khuligirl93]

Most barbs I'm aware of are very fast swimmers and need larger tanks, but a smaller more peaceful one that comes to mind is cherry barbs. I've personally never kept them but I've heard they're not as nippy as some barbs, and stay smaller. They also have beautiful color (especially males). You might be able to do 6 of them in a 10g.
I completely understand what you mean about the betas- I found them unappealing for that very reason for a long time until I got a plakat beta. Their fins are shorter so they have less weight to drag around and are much more active. I love the one I have now, he has so much personality and is never in one spot for more than 2 seconds!
About the African dwarf frogs (ADFs), I just started a thread about the ones I have now- just got them a few days ago. I have been having a little trouble getting them to eat but feel free to follow along if you want to see how it goes after they've settled into a feeding routine! They are very cute and funny to watch so I hope I have success with them. I'm sure your students would love them.

 

[Jev12]

I have seen endlers at petco and petsmart recently...and as for frogs they aren't very hard to care for you may need to spot feed them to make sure they get enough food but they are interesting little guys

 

[Helios]

Okay he likes guppies and gouramis. I was thinking 1 honey gourami, 4 male guppies, and either a snail or some shrimp. How does that sound?

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