Starting over with my ten gallon

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fissyfriend

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jun 4, 2013
Messages
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Hello fellow fish enthusiasts. I am restocking my ten gallon tank. I currently have no fish in my tank but I wish to have a small school. I know the basic rule of thumb is one fish inch per one gallon of water.

I have a ten gallon freshwater tank. I have not done a water test in some time, so I do not know my exact water parameters, however, the last time I did check my pH it was about 8.0. I know it has gone down some since I checked it last, I am just unsure just how much it has gone down. I have some Java Ferns and an African Anubis, I also have three pieces of drift wood.

I am so sorry for the long post. I wanted to provide as much details as possible.

Any and all advice is much appreciated. Thank you! :D
 
Nope, you need to look more at the sizes, bioloads and behaviors of fish to determine your stocking. First off, is your tank cycled. Are you re-stocking an existing that already has an established biofilter? That will depend on how long the tank has been without fish, and thus no ammonia to feed the bacteria.

Any of the small shoaling fish would work, ember tetras, galaxy rasboras, etc. You could keep a larger number of those, likely around 7-10. you could also split them up and do two small shoals, top, and bottom, or middle and bottom. you could use Endlers or dwarf cories, probably in a shoal of 4, with 5 tetras in the top/middle provided you had adequate filtration and tank maintenance (water changes, testing, etc.) on a weekly basis.
 
My tank is established. I have had it now for a little over a year. More like 17 months, give or take a few. I gave the last of my fish away today so it has only been a few hours without fish. I plan on going to look at and or purchase fish tomorrow.
I had tetras in my tank before they left my care, so I am looking for something a little different, though. But I am happy to have tetras if I can't find anything else. My friend has gold tetras and neons and they look cool together. :)
 
Cool, then you're all set to go. I have a 10 running with 5 glowlight tetras, 4 otos and a dwarf gourami. It's pretty well planted with hornwort, moneywort and a medium sized anubias as a centerpiece, along with a long, low mopani driftwood structure. The DG keeps thing busy moving among the hornwort on the top, while the glowlights like to spend more time in the lower to mid levels, working there way in and out of the plants. The otos are generally everywhere working the algae in the biofilms. So far it's a nice, peaceful little community tank.
 
Guppies would be fine. Zebras are generally a more active fish and most recommend at least a 20L so they have a full 30 inches of horizontal space to swim.

You might also look at endlers, a wild type guppy, smaller than a fancy guppy, but very colorful active. you could a larger group of endlers than guppies and they would do fine in a 10 gallon tank.
 
How do I prevent breeding? I do not by any means need the responsibility of fry. Can all females live together, or will that cause issues?
 
Okay, awesome. Thank you so much. What kinds of plants do they like? I would like to get more but am unsure as of what to get. I have an African Anubis and two Java Ferns. What other plants can I get for my low light tank. I have an external light for plant growth as well.
 
Both those plants are fine. For stemmed plants, anacharis gorws well in low light, either planted or free floating. Hornwort also grows like a weed and is a free floater so it would be ideal for top swimming fish. There's also frogbit, which floats on top and loks like clusters of small lily pads.
 
Awesome! I will definitely look into Anacharis and Frogbit. Thank you so muc for your help!
 
Oh I know. :) I have a friend and his tank is filled with them. That is how I got my two Java Ferns. I have wanted my tank to be semi-heavily planted for a while. I want to be able to have my tank be as low maintenance as possible because I am busy. So I am looking for good plants that are low light that will do great things for my tank inhabitants and water quality. I will obviously still do water changes religiously but would like some help from plants. :D
 
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