Next fish for my tank?

[meegosh]

Hello again everyone,

Right now my 10 gallon has two zebra danios, two albino cories and two ghost shrimp. The tank has been running for a month now and I'm ready to start thinking about what all I can add to the tank.

I wanted a rainbow or red tailed shark but I hear they will be too big for a 10gallon tank.

What would be some other good choices, hardy fish espeically. I was thinking somewhere along the lines of a Dwarf Gourami or something similar.

This may be a dumb question but everyone keeps telling me to add a male betta to the tank since I have colorful decor (check my gallery or other post in Show off - Photography). Don't betta's become very aggressive and eat other fish? Why would I want to add one?

Any pointers regarding fish, especially the sharks, would be greatly appreaciated. Thanks in advance!

 

[Asher]

From my experience redtailed sharks will not only outgrow your tank, but can be agressive. I have kept one with a tank of cichlids before and they hold their own very well. I currently have a rainbow shark that is over 5 inches long in a 55 gallon and I would say that you would definately want to avaoid them in such a small tank.

As far as the betta goes, I have one in my secondary freshwater tank (a 10gal) and he does great with the other fish! Just don't put him in with another betta, nippy fish (barbs) or another fish with long fins.

Getting a dwarf gourami would be an excellent choice too. I would recommend some neon or rummy nose tetras too. Platties are also great for color and they are peaceful. Just remember that you don't want to overcrowd your tank and make sure you have plenty of filtration! Good luck with you next choice of fish!

 

[JohnPaul]

A betta (either one male or one female) would be a fine addition to your tank, as would a single dwarf gourami.

As for other fish, it should be said that both danios and corys are schooling fish, which means they are happier in larger groups. If you were to add another 2-3 danios and another 2-3 corys, all of them would be much better off. In an ideal world, both should be kept in groups of 6+. Given you area dealing with a 10g tank, shooting to have at least 4-5 of each might be a place to start.

I realize "happier" is a slightly odd word to use in regard to fish, in essence what that means is the fish will feel more comfortable in larger groups, which means they tend to be healthier, eat better, have stronger immune systems (so resist disease better), usually are more active, and exhibit a greater variety of natural behaviors. Schooling fish that are not kept in sufficienty-sized schools tend to be lethargic, more prone to disease, and generally less active, often spending more time "hiding." (This is because schooling is a big part of the safety mechanisms for these fish--the old "safety in numbers" thing. If they don't have a school to feel safe in, they'll do the next best thing they can think of to be safe from all those imaginary predators that might be coming after them--hide.)

 

[ksfishguy]

What about a pair of German Blue Rams?

 

[JohnPaul]

GBR's are notoriously difficult to keep alive, as they are very sensitive fish and even very experienced aquarists often have their GBR's just up & die on them for no discernable reason. They are beautiful fish, among the most beautiful freshwater fish out there (IMO) but just really hard to keep.

I've never tried them, so I'll hold off on saying anything else and defer to those who know more about them.

 

[bs6749]

I had about a dozen ghost shrimp in my 55 gallon tank and they all died over the course of a couple of weeks after I added my eight german blue rams. I am not sure why because I never saw them go after the shrimp. There were plenty of hiding places for the shrimp but they would hardly ever come out when it was feeding time. Maybe they starved themselves to death. I just wanted to let the OP know that this may be a problem. As for keeping GBR's... they are not as hard to keep as everyone claims. I do a 10 gallon PWC every week or two and that is all that they need. They are a really cool fish and they are easy to breed. Raising the fry to adulthood is another thing though...

 

[Gloomy]

What about female bettas? They have nice colors and tend to be less aggressive...you could add a few more danios and a couple more corys probably. In my 10 gallon I have 2 female bettas, and six neon tetras. Its better to have a bigger school of other fish with the bettas...in case they do chase the others around. A dwarf gourami would be cool too. If you look around, you can find a lot of different color variations on those guys.

 

[fish 'n' fries]

As has already been noted...danios and corys are schooling fish so may prefer a few more of their kind. With the danios, my experience has been that if you get a school they are extremely active and fun to watch. You can also mix the kinds (at least to some extent) and they don't seem to notice. Right now I have long-finned zebras with a few "glo-fish" (genetically engineered with RFP so they're red danios) and they school together quite happily.

As for a centerpiece...I don't have anything to add that hasn't been said: bettas, dwarf gouramis...