10 Gallon bedside tank

[Donkey Gun]

So I've had a 10 gallon tank sittin empty on my patio for months...

I've decided to make a nice little FW tank out of it for my bedroom. I'm imagining LOTS of plants and some shrimp and small fish.

I'm just looking for some cool stocking ideas. I'm open to anything!

 

[Donkey Gun]

here's my idea.. tell me what you think.

1 Male Honey Gourami, 1 Female Honey Gourami, 4 Tail Spot Pygmy Cory, 4 Male Endler's Livebearers

 

[absolutangel04]

IMO, honeys are too big for a 10g. You could do dg, but I would only suggest 1, not a pair. Sometimes, a pair of dg can work in tank that small if its really well planted, but I still don't personally recommend trying it. The croaking gourami is also suitable for a 10g, so are sparkling gouramis.

 

[Donkey Gun]

cool, I'm down for anything... I do plan on it being a heavily planted aquarium. not sure what plants.

 

[absolutangel04]

You should definitely look into the sparklers or the croaking gourami. Both are beautiful, and not as common as dg.

 

[Donkey Gun]

Will do! I haven't even filled the tank yet, so I've got plenty of time to figure this out.

Now, I'm still a total noob on starting tanks. I think I just got lucky with my 29 gallon. So, do you know of a guide online that will take me through the proper startup procedures for a small tank? What to use for proper cycling and what substrate to use for heavily planted tanks... etc.

I ask for a guide because I'm sure people on here are tired of repeating themselves

 

[absolutangel04]

Read the stickies in the getting started section. There is a cycling article in there I know.

 

[siva]

If you have a 29 gallon running currently, you can remove some filter media from that and place it in the filter for the 10, and immediately being stocking slowly.

For plant specific questions, you can ask those over in the plant forum if you want to really hit up the experts. I can tell you I use all types of substrates in my planted tanks, so it depends on if you want this high or low tech. For you first planted tank, I would probably recommend pool filter sand.

I would do 8 of the "tail spot", which I believe are hastatus, because they are super timid, and as suggested, pair them with sparkling gourami instead of a larger gourami so you'll get to see them more.

Those fish choices are temperature compatible, which is ideal, of course. You'll want to keep that tank about 78-80.

 

[Donkey Gun]

If you have a 29 gallon running currently, you can remove some filter media from that and place it in the filter for the 10, and immediately being stocking slowly.

Great! May be a stupid question, but how do I put the media in from a larger filter to a smaller one? I imagine I'm cutting something out of the filter...

Also, my 29 gallon is planted, could I move a plant from that tank to help with seeding, or will this kill the plant when the tank spikes?

I really like the look of those small plants that can cover the bottom of an aquarium. srry I don't know their name..

 

[picture_117]

If you have extra media to spare you can move that but if not just cut out a piece of sponge.

& the plants won't have any seeding material, they'll absorbs nitrates and ammonia though.

 

[Donkey Gun]

If you have extra media to spare you can move that but if not just cut out a piece of sponge.

Sorry but this confuses me more.. I don't think I fully understand the term 'media'. In my 29 gallon, there are 2 inserts the water flows through. One of them is a black mesh material which I never replace, just rinse off. In front of that there is a white insert with carbon inside of it, which I replace every month.

As for a sponge, are you saying just cut any sponge and put it in my 29 gallon filter for a bit, and then place it in the 10 gallon filter?

Again, I apologize for my ignorance.

 

[picture_117]

Yess you can purchase a normal sponge or insert. And place it at the end of the filter where the water exits, this will seed but will take some time. You can cut a piece of the black one that doesn't have carbon to and add it to the new filter.

Media is just what's inside your filter; sponge, cartridge, insert.

IMO I wouldn't replace that other cartridge or replace with a carbon one unless you're trying to remove something from the water. Just get a sponge or biomax and leave it in there, no need to replace anything inside your filter.

 

[siva]

OK, so in your 29 gal, you have cartridge style media I'm guessing, right? So it's probably like a fiber material wrapped around a plastic frame, with some carbon floating around the middle. Rip about 1/3 of that fiber right off and place it in your new filter, along with the new filters cartridge. Then rip the rest of it off and do the same thing in your 29..place that used fiber in with a new cart. You always want to do this when changing your carts. That used media helps to quickly seed the beneficial bacteria on your new cart. Another method, which I use with my cart style filters, is to place a nylon bag with some filter material like fiber floss and/or ceramic rings in the filter along with the cart. Almost all filters have room for atleast a small bag. Then when it comes time to replace media (or steal some for a new tank), you can remove one or the other while still leaving a good seeded material behind. Oh and you can move a plant over whenever you want.

 

[Donkey Gun]

I am officially in the know! Thank you!

After my coffee, I'm heading to Home Depot for some pool filter sand. Since I will be also performing a pwc on my 29 today, could I also put some of the siphoned water into the 10? Obviously, not what I vacuum out of the substrate, but maybe from the water column?

 

[siva]

I hope your home depot has it. Mine doesn't carry it. Nope, not necessary at all on the water. Sometimes you might do something like that, if you are transferring a fish over, and want to replicate it the conditions it came from, but not needed on a new tank. Start with new water since the old holds almost none of the bacteria you need and you are already set on that with your filter media, and so that you are starting fresh with 0 nitrates. You want to begin stocking this tank like the same day you put that used filter media in the cart because it needs an ammo source to stay alive. Either that or dose it with a source of ammonia.

 

[absolutangel04]

It won't really help to transfer water. The beneficial bacteria live on surfaces like the filter media and gravel and decor, not just floating in the water column. So, you may as well just use new water in the new tank.

 

[Donkey Gun]

Great! Then my plans for today are Home Depot, Gamestop (mw3), and finally LFS. I believe your the same ones following the stocking thread... thank you again.

Now, out of my stocking choices, 3 sparking gouramis ( if they have them) an the 6 pygmies, which should I start off with? This choices of course may change, all due to what is available at LFS, but I know he does have an incredible collection. Thank you Steve jobs for your apps..

random question, does this leave room for any inverts?

this will be heavily planted..

 

[absolutangel04]

Great! Then my plans for today are Home Depot, Gamestop (mw3), and finally LFS. I believe your the same ones following the stocking thread... thank you again.

Now, out of my stocking choices, 3 sparking gouramis ( if they have them) an the 6 pygmies, which should I start off with? This choices of course may change, all due to what is available at LFS, but I know he does have an incredible collection. Thank you Steve jobs for your apps..

random question, does this leave room for any inverts?

this will be heavily planted..

I don't think it matter which ones you add first in this case, so I recommend just seeing what the store has.
Yes, IMO it leaves room for inverts. A couple snails or else some shrimp. Since the tank will be planted, you may be able to keep some shrimp successfully.

 

[siva]

I agree. You can definitely put a couple nerites in there, if you'd like, but I would wait until the tank is more mature for that. Nerites really only eat algae, and they can be hard to impossible to supplement, so you want some algae present for them before adding them. I wonder how sparklers will do with shrimp. I did suspect mine of killing one of my dwarf crays. So I would add shrimp with a bit of caution, and not add any too expensive.

 

[absolutangel04]

I agree. You can definitely put a couple nerites in there, if you'd like, but I would wait until the tank is more mature for that. Nerites really only eat algae, and they can be hard to impossible to supplement, so you want some algae present for them before adding them. I wonder how sparklers will do with shrimp. I did suspect mine of killing one of my dwarf crays. So I would add shrimp with a bit of caution, and not add any too expensive.

Thats a good point. You can always test it by adding ghost shrimp and seeing how they fair, and if that works you add rcs or something cool like that. The sparklers will eat shrimplets, but rcs breed a lot, so thats not really a huge deal.