Stocking question for my mom's 10 gallon tank.

[Pawtrekker]

So, A while back I talked my mom into putting a tank into our living room. Long story short the tank has been running a while with my Betta in it but now, due to a vast amount of tannis in the water that would not go away, I removed the driftwood that was in there and had to do several major water changes to get the dark water clear again. During my cleaning frenzy, I moved my Betta to another tank. Now that my mom's tank is finally empty again, I would like to get her some fish. Don't worry about my Betta, he is very happy in his new tank. Anyway, I've been doing some research on possible fish I could put in there and I came up with the idea to do a Betta sorority but my mom said she wants "nice fish" that won't possibly kill each other. So, back to the drawing board I went. Finally, I found that my mom really likes Endler's Livebarers.

I would like to do a small school of Endler's and a showcase fish. So my question is, what would go well with Endler's? My mom wants it to be colorful.

I told her, we could do Endler's, a bottom feeder, and try either a dwarf Gourami OR a Betta as a showcase fish. If you guys have any more suggestions on stock, let me know. I really do want to keep the Endler's in there though. Oh, and how many Endler's should be put in there?

 

[henningc]

I breed, well they do it themselves, Endlers. You can get away with 6-8 males. Corys are nice, but no flash. Celestrial Danios would look really cool. You can get good stock at selectaquatics.com. Let Greg know craigstropicals@yahoo.com sent you. You could also do some sort of paradise fish, dwarf gourami or pigmy gourami.

 

[Mebbid]

I would suggest you try the gourami over the betta. The betta might show some aggression towards an endler. Cory cats are another favorite of mine and even though they aren't the shiniest fish around they are very active and cute looking to make up for it. I personally prefer the panda cory over some of the other breeds.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Thanks for the suggestions I've been doing some looking and just discovered Scarlet Badis! I don't know if I could find one or not but would it be possible to put one or two in the tank as well as a gourami and the Endler's? I'm thinking of just doing some shrimp and maybe a Nitrite Snail as bottom feeders. Not that I don't love the Cory idea. I have cories in my 20 gallon tank and I love them. I just don't think my gravel is good for cories and I'd rather not put cories in there right now.

Keep the ideas coming guys! I'm working on rescaling the tank right now. Since I took the driftwood out, it looks kinda empty. The driftwood was really my centerpiece. I'll probably end up mixing some silk plants in with my Java Fern.

 

[Pawtrekker]

I hope this works, I'm using my iPad app to attach an image of how my tank looks so far. I'm still waiting on some silk plants that I ordered to come in but I think it's looking good. Sorry if this doesn't work...

 

[Pawtrekker]

So, my idea on stock right now is

5-6 Endler's
1 Dwarf Gourami
A few ghost shrimp
A snail or Otto

Does this sound okay? As I asked before, is it possible for me to add a scarlet Badis or two to the mix or would that be too much? I really do value the opinions I get here on this forum. Thank you!

 

[NinjaNomad196]

I'd say that sounds nice.

 

[azmodan]

So, my idea on stock right now is

5-6 Endler's
1 Dwarf Gourami
A few ghost shrimp
A snail or Otto

Does this sound okay? As I asked before, is it possible for me to add a scarlet Badis or two to the mix or would that be too much? I really do value the opinions I get here on this forum. Thank you!

I'd do a nerite snail instead of an oto and a honey or sparkling gourami instead of a dwarf.

 

[Pawtrekker]

I'd do a nerite snail instead of an oto and a honey or sparkling gourami instead of a dwarf.

Okay, I'll see about a honey Gourami then. I don't think my mom would go for a sparkling gourami but I think they are cool. Do Nerite snails contribute much to the bio load? That was the only thing I was afraid of.

No takers on my Scarlet Badis question?

 

[FishieMomma]

I just looked up the scarlet bandis and they are gorgeous. Sounds like they'd eat those ghost shrimp though!

 

[Pawtrekker]

I just looked up the scarlet bandis and they are gorgeous. Sounds like they'd eat those ghost shrimp though!

Yeah, I can always buy more if that happens I guess. My LFS sells them pretty cheap.

 

[azmodan]

Do Nerite snails contribute much to the bio load? That was the only thing I was afraid of.

Very small contribution.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Very small contribution.

Okay, thanks. I'll have to see if I can find any in my LFS. I'd love a zebra or tiger Nerite.

 

[Pawtrekker]

Well, I'm planning to get my mom's fishies tomorrow. So exited! I told my mom my stocking ideas and she said I was the "Fish Master". LOL! ;D

 

[aquandrew]

awesome!! scarlet badis need a constant supply of live food and can be hard to take care of. i just convinced my mom to get a tank to im going to be building her a 20 long iwagiwum with a couple fire belly newts in it because they are really easy to care for

 

[Pawtrekker]

awesome!! scarlet badis need a constant supply of live food and can be hard to take care of. i just convinced my mom to get a tank to im going to be building her a 20 long iwagiwum with a couple fire belly newts in it because they are really easy to care for

Will Scarlet Badis east ghost shrimp? I may or may not actually get one I just thought one would be really neat to have in there. I haven't had many comment about the Badis. Honestly, I don't even know if my LFS will have them. If I do get one and it doesn't work in the community tank I do have a back up tank I can keep it in.