Recommendations for a 10 gallon boys tank

[Corty]

Snails will not live long enough to eat them, you will have to replenish them(snails).

The DPs will eat the little things that live on the plants, but not the plants themselves.

If you have more than one (DP), a lot of plants are a good thing to have.

 

[aquazen]

Will your son like puffers? They are tiny and need alot of room, so the tank may look a bit barren to him. Maybe you should just take him around the LFS and let him point out to you which ones he thinks are 'cool' and go from there? That way you can be sure that he'll like the fish in the new tank.

Btw, I think it's excellent that you're doing this for your son.

 

[gheitman]

Have you looked at perhaps some apistogrammas for the 10 gallon tank? They are small enough that you could put two or three along with some cories.

 

[mattrox]

I got a 5 gal tank when I was in 5th grade with SWORDtails and that it was just the bomb... actually Bodacious or tripendicular may have been the vernacular of the day hehehe

Go with fish.... Puffers... Apistos.... whatever he'll get a kick out of them as long as he is happy with what he gets. Take him to the LFS with a few suggestions and have him choose. Then he has ownership of his choice and he will do right by his fish.

 

[BrianNY]

Here's what I think Fawn. Let him pick out his own fish. He'll have a keener interest if it's something he wants as opposed to something his mother thinks he should enjoy. I was a 13 yo boy once. *LOL*

Before bringing any fish home have him do the research on the fishes requirements. I just think it's better if he learns why he shouldn't keep a school of piranha in a 10 gal tank on his own.

 

[FawnN]

Let him pick out his own fish

I let him do that once Brian, but he picked out the puffers and sharks. He also picked out some of the larger cichlids, but I explained to him that they would be unhappy in a little tank.

I explained to him that if he picked the puffers, that he would not be able to put anything else in with them. He apparently understood and agreed.

I will of course take him with me when we make our final discision and let him pick.

But thank you so much everyone for the input. You all are wonderful!

 

[Phlegethon]

I keep Dwarf puffers with pygmy cories without any problems.
Dwarf puffers are the ultimate cool fish. They are like little torpedoes, vicious little blimps that can blow themselves up, and even if they loose a fight, the "victor" is likely to die of food poisoning. They are crustacean killing machines. Do not underestimate them.

 

[Corty]

I keep Dwarf puffers with pygmy cories without any problems.
Dwarf puffers are the ultimate cool fish. They are like little torpedoes, vicious little blimps that can blow themselves up, and even if they loose a fight, the "victor" is likely to die of food poisoning. They are crustacean killing machines. Do not underestimate them.

And all in the space of one inch.

Never underestimate the little guy.. they have something to prove.

*looks at Captain Kugel*

And yet they look so dopey and thrilled that you're there, or a Danio is there, or a plant is there, or water is there.. OH LOOK GRAVEL! YIPPIE!

Perhaps they are just maintaining the illusion.

 

[FawnN]

Ok, so maybe I shouldn't start my son off with such mean fish. So what else will they eat besides snails?


corty, in your previous post about distinguising male and female. Which one is which in the banner in this link?

http://www.dwarfpuffers.com/

 

[Corty]

Ok, so maybe I shouldn't start my son off with such mean fish. So what else will they eat besides snails?

Why? They're not going to be mean to him unless he eats them.. and frankly, if your son is eating live fish.. well that's probably not healthy.

Apparently it's hit or miss with Shrimp. I wouldn't risk it.

Depending on the fish (slow moving, long finned fish make good targets), he will nip at them and stress the heck out of them until they die. I put Danios in with mine (long finned even), but that's in a 38 gallon tank (and I still look out for nipping).. I wouldn't suggest it for a 10 gallon.

 

[FawnN]

LOL Corty, if my son starts eating fish, I would be more worried about him then the fish.

I will definitely keep them by themselves.

I guess what I meant was, what else should I feed them besides snails in there diet?

 

[Corty]

You hear a bit about them being hard to feed, but this is mostly in planted, snail populated tanks where they don't need any additional food.

Before I moved mine into the 38 gallon, she was stealing the flake food I fed the Danios (and wow is she quick when she wants to be..)!

She's a huge HUGE fan of bloodworms, and also ate Tubifex.

I hear they'll also eat mysid shrimp, krill, glass worms, brine shrimp, and daphnia, but I have not experimented with these.

For snails, pest snails work well - I use Ramshorn snails (heck, you can breed these at home in a half gallon jar). It's important not to feed Malaysian Trumpet Snails, as I've heard their shells are too hard. One accidentally got into my tank a while back, and the Puffer just ignored it as far as I can tell, but why take chances when they're not needed? Ramshorns are cheap gotten off of eBay, and free at most chain stores and LFS.

 

[FawnN]

Cool, thanks a lot for all the great info.

 

[bluefire]

im a 14 year old boy maybe i can help.
either get him something strange, like a bn pleco or something
or
something with teeth!

*edit* sorry i only read the first page

 

[TankGirl]

What about shelldwelling cichlids? A trio of N. brevis or N. multifasciatus, or oscellatus, whatever you can find. They would do great in a small tank and are tough little fish - very cool to watch.

The only problem is the plants, tho - they are diggers and like a sand substrate with shells (I use escargot shells) and rooted plants would not work.

I think you could get away with 4 puffers in a 10 - I love 'em, but I agree that the tank will look a little barren until you look closely, since they are pretty small fish.

 

[BettaLadys]

My son is 9 and always wanted an aggressive fish, like a piranha. Now his mind was set on one the first time he saw them at the pet store. I tried to tell him he could get something more suitable, but I couldn't change his mind. I asked my friend at the LPS to show him something neat about another fish which is just what he did. He show him how a full grown Oscar can eat a cricket whole! Just to show you how convincing little kids can be, he now has his very own fish, an albino Oscar in a 55 gallon in the living room. It's just a baby now but he is so interested in it. I'm sure if you were to get your son a larger tank then 10 gallons you could pick something he'd like better, but a 55 gallon can get expensive. Don't get me wrong though, I love those little puffers too!