Breaking down the 10G betta tank

[joannde]

My husband bought me two Eclipse 3 systems for my birthday. Since I only have two bettas left in the divided 10G I'll be moving them each to their own planted Eclipse 3. I'll be setting up the Eclipse 3s today and stocking with plants tomorrow. I'll be using filter material from the 29G to cycle the tank.

The 10G will be broken down and cleaned thoroughly to finally get rid of the BGA. Now y'all know I'm not gonna leave that 10G empty for long, LOL. But I honestly don't know what to stock it with. I'll be planting the tank, so I would love some bright color in there. I saw some male endlers at the LFS and was considering them. I'd really love guppies but I've had NO luck with them in the 29G (it might be my pH which is 8.2). Then I thinking Harlequin Rasboras. Then I thought a nice group of neon tetras. Then I was thinking "how about something different" like a puffer. I even considered trying a nano reef.

I'm in a mental battle with myself here LOL. Any thoughts on what I could do with the tank ?

 

[WaterPond]

i would do a dwarf puffer tank, but thats just because they are my favorite fish. How avout 3 dwarf puffers and 3 otocinclus?

Can't wait to see pics of the eclipse betta things. Good luck.

 

[niks93gt]

I have one ten gallon with 6 L/F Gold Danios (and will be adding 4 pygmy cories) and I'm getting the cycle ready for another 10 gallon that will have 3 Dwarf Puffers and 3 Otos. I love watching the Danios... very active and alive fish.

Nik

 

[JohnPaul]

Certainly puffers are cute as heck, just be sure you have a ready source of live food (ideally at least two types that you can mix, so they aren't eating the exact same thing everyday) and lots and lots of plants if you get more than one, as they can be a bit aggressive with each other. Buying them all at once, and getting ones approximately the same size, helps too, as does only getting 1 male (though they are a bit hard to sex, and almost impossible to sex as juveniles). Also, FWIW the one time I tried adding an oto to my DP tank the DP's, um, did not care for addition to the neighborhood...I had to pull the oto out within a few hours or he wouldn't have made it. Others have done it successfully so it depends on your puffers' personalities. Maybe adding them at the same time as the DP's would have helped; in my case I added them a month or two down the road.

An endler tank has always interested me, they are beautiful fish. Just be aware it is (sadly) rare for a pet store to get true, pure-strain endlers...often what they sell as endler's are endler/(wild)guppy mixes. If you went that route, you might want to consider buying some online (aquabid), where it seems you have a better assurance of getting pure endlers. If a LFS near you does sell them, perhaps you could even breed endlers in your 10g and then sell the babies to the store for some store credit.

If I'm not mistaken, neon tetras (and even moreso cardinal tetras) prefer pH's at the lower end of the scale, rather than alkaline. (I'm assuming your pH on the tank was 8.2 because your water is that alkaline, right?)

Did you ever consider getting into shrimp? I just recently set up a 10g tank as a red cherry shrimp-only tank, and am loving it. It has quickly become my favorite tank. A lot of the popular dwarf shrimp species, including red cherrys and snowball, prefer alkaline conditions so it sounds like your water might be perfectly suited for that.

Anyways, you have lots of great options...keep us posted once you make a decision!

 

[Jarred Darque]

I like puffers, they are cool, I used to have a planted 10 gallon with 3 of them. If you want color though, I would suggest GBRs.

If you want a good tip for keeping any type of south american fish in your planted tank, get a few small peices of driftwood. Black water really brings out the colors in my neons and angels. And because less light is permited through the water, my bichir loves it as well.

When I say that less light is let through, my plants dont seem to be affected by it, with 40 watts over the 10 gallon


Of course, there is a 10 gallon nano reefer. Look in the nano tank section and take some pocs of the 5 gallon I am starting up it is just live rock right nw, but the color and variety will prolly make you want to go that route. as I am finding out though, dont do a nano for your first SW tank. I am sure the people on this sight are ready to strangle me for all the quistions I have, becuase I need to keep things in my tank so precise due to size and I am not used to SW at all.

 

[JeffreyL]

joannde

Hey Joannde! An empty tank & you want suggestions from us??? Hehehehehe. Cool. If you want a 'low maintence, low fuss, probably low stress" tank ........ How bout something like this?? I admit it is kinda flashy, goofy, maybe art deco, but it was real easy. lol Can't see em in this pic, but there are some cherry barbs in there. I tried a different light, an Aqua Glo from Petsmart. It is rated as an 18000K light, but to the eye it is a bit dim for a 15W. However it accentuates reds & blues. Really makes the red in the cherry barbs & the plants pop! We are trying to find some nice Harlequins to add, but may have to settle for longfin blue danios.

Just a thought. And it was fun to set up. Our first tank with sand. Found a good deal on Tahitian Moon Sand. Also got enough for an empty 30gal. We are going to try real plants in that one. lol

 

[joannde]

Thanks for the suggestions everyone. I'd really love to try the dwarf puffers but didn't realize that they required live food, so thanks for that feedback.

My tap water is hard and alkaline - perfect for cichlids (which I don't have ! LOL - gotta get a nice big tank !!).

I hadn't considered an invert only tank but thats an interesting thought .... I'm going to give that one some serious thought. One of the reason I considered the nano reef was for the crabs and shrimp - so an shrimp tank would be a nice compromise. I was at an LFS yesterday and saw some bamboo shrimp - they're ADORABLE - love the way they fan feed.

I've decided against the nano reef for this tank since the hood, light and filter would be pretty much useless for it - figured at some point I'd just get a 10G with a decent light and a power head and do the nano the "right" way .....

So right now I'm leaning towards the trio of dwarf puffers - just have to figure out the live food part of the puzzle. That shouldn't be TOO hard since I assume that frozen bloodworms and frozen mysis shrimp would fit that bill (please correct me if I'm wrong).

Thanks again all !!!

 

[JohnPaul]

Many people have gotten their puffers to eat frozen food; mine never did. The only thing I could ever get mine to eat were live bloodworms and live snails. It could be that I spoiled them by giving them live stuff right away; if I had gotten them and only offered frozen at first, perhaps they would have been hungry enough to eventually try it and decide they liked it. As it is now, I can go without feeding them for 3-4 days, and then put a few frozen bloodworms in and...nothing. Not the slightest bit of interest on their part. But many others have had more positive results.

If you want to get into DP's, definitely become familiar with http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/.

If you decide to seriously explore a shrimp tank, check out http://www.petshrimp.com/

 

[joannde]

Thanks JohnPaul. I did alot of reading on dwarfpuffers.com today. I hadn't realized that they eat pond snails - I know I won't run out of those as I remove about 4 or 5 from the 29G every day.

Its funny, the 10G is all set up to become a fairly heavily planted tank - but I STILL haven't made my mind up about occupants. Too many good ideas - too many choices LOL. But after reading about the DPs I'm very tempted to try it. A 1" fish packed with personality ... how can I resist ?? If the LFS has them that may make the decision for me.

 

[fish_4_all]

I really like the idea of an invert tank. Shrimp or dwarf crawdads would be a lot of fun and cherry shrimp will add a lot color to a heavy planted tank. Dwarf crawdads would also be cool but probably never seen in a heavy planted tank. You could still add a small school of neons or endlers to it and the shrimp should be ok if it is planted heavy enough and the have lots of places to hide. Glow light tetras with a few albinos mixed in would be cool also.

 

[joannde]

Well the dwarf puffers are out - can't find an LFS that has any And I was starting to really look forward to raising them.

I've also been looking for inverts - I can only find ghost shrimp and crawfish.

Stocking a 10G is quite a challenge ! I'm now leaning towards the endlers or guppies but perhaps if I can find two female kribs or a pair of apistos I may go that route. I know the LFS has all of the above.

 

[niks93gt]

Both Petsmarts by me keep them stocked.

Nik

 

[WaterPond]

aww, i was hoping you would get dwarf puffersw. I got mine ordered in for me and it is the best investment i ever made in a fish. Simply amazing little buggers.

 

[joannde]

Great news !!!! I called the LFS I prefer and they didn't have the puffers BUT I went to Petsmart to pick up some plants and as it turned out they got 6 in today ! I took four home (unfortunately one died in the bag - I'll go back tomorrow and replace him/her).

YIPPIE !!! I got the dwarf puffers !!!! I'm really happy.

The tank looks great - nice jungle look to it, and the puffers are just about the cutest things I've ever seen. I can't wait until they get a bit bigger so that I can actually SEE them in the tank LOL.

 

[eah]

Can you take some photos of the tank so we can see?

 

[joannde]

Absolutely ! I'll take them this evening after the glare from the sun is gone. I'll put it into a new post when I do. Thanks for asking and thanks to everyone for the help, advice, guidance and encouragement.

 

[WaterPond]

i'm happy for you, can't wait for the pics!!

 

[eah]

Absolutely ! I'll take them this evening after the glare from the sun is gone. I'll put it into a new post when I do. Thanks for asking and thanks to everyone for the help, advice, guidance and encouragement.

Oh goody! I was a big fan of how you had it set up before, but I think this will be wonderful as well!

 

[joannde]

I did enjoy having "the boys" with me at work in the divided tank, but that BGA was impossible to get rid of and I still think that one of the bettas got bloat (and died) after accidentally eating some of it. The dividers cut down on the circulation; if I had to do it again I'd put a small corner filter in each compartment instead. I do really like the Eclipse 3 systems and they look great planted - the boys are thoroughly enjoying themselves in them, even tho I think they miss me as much as I miss them (they are now in the dining room instead of my office).

The DPs are VERY cute and I love the heavily planted tank.

I'm working on the photos as we speak ... new post should be in 10 min or so with the photos