Shark for Ten Gallon?

[Gryph]

My son is completely enamored of sharks. Loves them. Thinks I ought to build a tank big enough for a great white. This, um, isn't going to happen.

For Christmas, however, he is getting his first fishtank. He likes the sharks at the pet stores, and I'd just love to be able to get him one. However, most seem to grow far too large for a tank this size. I'm not an expert on sharks by far.

Is there a type of shark that would do all right in this size tank? Most, like the red tails, seem to need at least twenty gallons of tank. I'm thinking I'm going to have to go with some other sort of bottom swimmer (maybe a small corydoras or three, since he likes catfish, too), but I didn't want to rule it out til I asked the experts.

Thanks!

 

[Toirtis]

Sorry, he is out of luck on any of the freshwater 'sharks'....all get far too big for a 10 gallon.

 

[Gryph]

See, that's what I thought. Fortunately, I think he'll be happy with some "red fish" (that's his specification...red fish) and some corys. I'd hoped there was a small shark species I didn't know about, but he can have his shark as an aquarium decoration.

Thanks for the reply!

 

[rich311k]

Platys are red and will fit nicely in a tank gallon try to get all males unless you want a population explosion. Serpae tetras are red as well.

 

[nitrous]

also u may think about some dwarf puffers. i think they will fit in a 10 gal they do take a little bit more effort in the brackish end of it but they r cute looking fish and are fun to watch and maybe ur son will like that

 

[Blazeherd2306]

I don't know of any sharks/cyprinids suitable for any tank under 20 gal, but there are many other fish to choose from.

If I were you, I would probably get a pair of Bolivian or German Blue Rams.

Dwarf puffers are completely freshwater and are a good choice for a 10 gal, too.

 

[Gryph]

Thanks a bunch for the thoughtful replies! I really appreciate it.

He's probably going to get either some serpae tetras, or some cherry barbs. I'd do rosy barbs, but they seem to get rather larger than a ten could comfortably handle. I'm leaning towards the serpaes.

The fun is going to be setting up a ten gallon tank on Christmas Eve while he sleeps, and not waking him up while we do it. I have to take the kids for a visit to Grandma's house, dash out, buy the fish, stow them in a two gallon in my room for a couple hours, put in gravel and the decoration, get the kids to sleep, then creep in with the tank, fill it, dechlor it, put in the fish, and creep back out so he can see them when he wakes up the next morning.

Oh, the joys of playing Santa.

 

[nitrous]

lol sounds like a fun little plan im sure he will be happy to see the tank

 

[mrcrazypants05]

Sorry I have to ask but what about cycling?

 

[jcarlilesiu]

could always as the pet store she is getting the fish at for a few gallons of their water, or filter media. That way the fish at least arn't starting a bare cycle with all the stress associated. I just tore down my 10 gallon, because my christmas present was a 56 gallon, and i put all 10 gallons of water in the new aquarium, plus I ran the old filter on the 56 for a week. I saw a slight spike in ammonia and nitrites with-in the first couple of days, but have leveled off at zero and nitrates are building. Just a suggestion.

 

[Gryph]

I have three established, cycled aquariums, and I've been running a spare filter on one of them just for this occasion. I'll also be testing daily and using Prime, so it should all run smoothly in case something spikes.

And, if it all goes south, there's a store that sells Bio-Spira. But I expect it'll be just fine.

 

[rich311k]

Thats good to hear. I hope your son loves his new tank.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Cherry barbs are red too, and the females are more brownish, so you can tell them apart.

 

[Gryph]

Well, I did a pet store survey today, or a "Tour de Pet" as we call it. Petland has the best fish in town, but they didn't have serpae tetras or cherry barbs. In fact, the only red fish were the rosy barbs. Really nice looking, but I think six would be too many for a ten gallon.

Petland has serpae tetras, but half their tanks are "under observation" and aren't being sold out of. I don't think I want to buy anything from there, under observation or not.

Petsmart has cherry barbs, and I think that's going to be my best bet. Small, very red, and should catch his eye. They also had some panda corys that my son thought were cool. And, best yet, it had one of those tacky shark decorations that hooks up to an air pump and opens and closes its mouth!

 

[rich311k]

Sounds like a plan. Cherry barbs and pandas are pretty liitle fish.

 

[severum mama]

Good idea with the spare filter! Everything should work out just fine, just make sure to add the fish as you are adding the new filter (or soon thereafter) so the bacteria will have a food source. You will probably see a small ammonia and/or nitrite spike for the first couple of days, so be prepared to do a couple of pwcs. After a few days, everything should level off so you probably won't need the Bio Spira.

Cherry barbs and panda cories should be pretty active fish, and I'm sure your son will love the new tank. Good luck!

 

[RoK]

Much better to go with the cherry barbs over the serpae tetras. The serpaes are a bit more nippy in smaller tanks and do best in a tank of more than 20 gallons IME.

 

[Gryph]

Just to let everyone know, my son absolutely loves his tank!

It took some doing, setting up a ten gallon with a sleeping five-year-old in the bed not five feet away. Creeping in with the tank was fine. It's perfectly garish, with red and black gravel, some anacharis, and a shark bubbler that opens and closes its mouth. The challenge, of course, was filling it.

Bottles make too much noise. When fully filled, they suck air in noisily. Using half-filled bottles was better, but would have taken too many trips. When he got too restless, we had to take a break, then went back at it with the Python.

My husband told me to wait for him to give the sign to turn it off. I made a small mistake. We had a small puddle. Then we had to take a break to go into the bedroom, shut the door, and laugh like fools. Oh, was it funny!

It was a comedy of errors, but finally, we had six cherry barbs (we decided to let him pick out his second kind of fish himself) swimming happily about in the tank. And when we got up this morning, he was jumping up and down, crowing about how Santa had brought him the fishtank and red fish he wanted. It was Christmas magic.

Thanks to all who gave advice again. You helped make a very, very happy little boy.