10 gal. children's tank.

[zarmalar]

I'm new to having fish as pets but I wanted to get my daughter a fish tank as her first pets. I researched a good starter fish and decided on zebra danios for their high activity and hardiness. I've gotten the tank set up and have 3 ZD in the tank to start out and establish. I want to get 3 more ZD or glofish. So that way there is a school. But I don't want just 6 ZD ... I was looking at a dwarf gourami b/c they don't get very large and would do well by itself. Then to get 2 cory cats to help with clean up and give movement to the bottom of the tank.
Being as I'm new to this, does this all seem possible? Or is it too much?
Any advice appreciated.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

to AA!

I'm new to having fish as pets but I wanted to get my daughter a fish tank as her first pets. I researched a good starter fish and decided on zebra danios for their high activity and hardiness. I've gotten the tank set up and have 3 ZD in the tank to start out and establish. I want to get 3 more ZD or glofish. So that way there is a school. But I don't want just 6 ZD ... I was looking at a dwarf gourami b/c they don't get very large and would do well by itself. Then to get 2 cory cats to help with clean up and give movement to the bottom of the tank.
Being as I'm new to this, does this all seem possible? Or is it too much?
Any advice appreciated.

Make sure this tank is cycled first. You could do fish-in or fish less. Most prefer fish less due to no deaths.

IMO zebra danios do not belong in a ten gallon, they are far too active. The only danios I would recommend for a ten gallon are CPDs, which are hard to find sometimes.

DGs are very unhealthy due to inbreeding and poor conditions at fish stores, ex. Petco. I wouldn't suggest one for ten gallons because IMO with danios they'll get stressed out. Honey gouramis are a better choice, healthier and calmer.

Don't count on cories to clean the tank for you. They MAY eat uneaten fish food on the bottom, but that's it. No fish eats fish poop, that's what water changes are for. If you go with cories I would only recommend pygmies. All the rest get too big and active. I would also recommend six. The more you keep the more you'll see them.

JMO. Good luck!

 

[giants1249er]

A good cleaner would be ghost shrimps. They've cleaned up leftover food and eaten some fish poop (you can see the food eaten since you can see right through their bodies) and my water is very clear. Of course, you have to see if they are compatible with the fishes you want to have. They get along with my platies as they "fly" over the tank and take "kangaroo" hops along the bottom. However, with my red eye tetras in the other tank, they're more timid since sometimes the tetras poke at them so they hide in my pineapple hut (SpongeBob) or in the fake trees and come out occasionally.

 

[zarmalar]

So would a honey gourami be comfortable size wise? I chose a dg because they don't get very large and I worry about how many fish I'm going to be keeping. Then if I have 6 ZD then the gourami but... Then 6 pygmy cory cats all in a 10 gallon. Is that really not too much? I planned on the pygmy cory cats anyways just because I know the tank isn't huge and I realize they won't clean it for me but "help" was the word I used to describe part of their purpose.

 

[librarygirl]

How long has the tank been set up? Personally I wouldn't add any more fish until the tank is completely cycled. Doing a fish-in cycle is doable if you start with a small amount of fish and if you're committed to daily testing of the water and water changes as necessary. There's a link in my signature called: new tank with fish. It'll guide you through what you need to do to keep your current fish safe during the cycling process. Good luck.

 

[zarmalar]

Yes I am adding fish slowly and won't add any more untill its cycles ect. But I'm asking about after its all said and done, looking at the big picture of what I want to accomplish. And getting to that goal.

 

[zarmalar]

So I looked more into a honey gourami, but the problem is that it was recommended that you have more then just one. what attracted me to the dg was that there should be only one, especially in a smaller tank. I'm worried that my goal for what I want in my tank will be too much.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

So I looked more into a honey gourami, but the problem is that it was recommended that you have more then just one. what attracted me to the dg was that there should be only one, especially in a smaller tank. I'm worried that my goal for what I want in my tank will be too much.

You can keep honey gouramis alone. It's a lot more advisable to because most of the time you will end up having two males. Make gouramis are territorial and usually if you don't have a big enough tank to spread their territory out they fight a lot. Which is why one is fine.

 

[Danny-O]

Ghost shrimp and/or a snail (I recommend nerites) would not add to the bioload significantly, if you want more "life" in a small tank. And they are interesting to watch, IMHO.

 

[zarmalar]

would shrimp be ok with a honey or DG? I know it would be ok with my ZD but I thought I had read somewhere the gouramis may try to eat shrimp.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

would shrimp be ok with a honey or DG? I know it would be ok with my ZD but I thought I had read somewhere the gouramis may try to eat shrimp.

Depends. Try some inexpensive shrimp first-ghost shrimp are usually cheapest-and see how they do with the fish.

As said, I wouldn't recommend ZDs for a ten gallon, far too active. Try Celestial Pearl Danios, or CPDs, if you wanted danios. Some other options also are ember tetras and harlequin rasboras.

 

[Sisserydoo]

Dwarf gouramis are smaller, do fine alone, and have a beautiful red, blue and silver coloring.

 

[LyndaB]

I want to cast another vote for the 10 gallon tank being too small for zebra danios. This species is psychotic. They need lots of room to zoom plus, if this is for a child, I will warn you that mine were always tearing into each other. Not a very peaceful species.

 

[Sisserydoo]

Yes, zd are crazy! I've got 5 in my 20 gallon. I had one completely vanish once. I think the others killed him in the dead of night!

 

[zarmalar]

The 3 I have so far seem pretty happy . The male is kind of aggresive to the 2 females. They all Chase eachother but the male has gone further then just the regular Chase game.