Just got my first ten gallon tank.

[MrComrade]

This was one of the most helpful sites when I was in the process of setting up my first ten gallon tank l, so I decided to join myself.

I'm just your average college student who always loved having fish for pets growing up as a kid. My first semester I decided I wanted to get a small fish tank I liven up my room a bit, I got a 2.5 gallon tank and had a Betta for about 3 years.

A few weeks before it passed away- I knew it was getting old- I decided I really wanted to own a large fish tank which I never had the money for when I was a freshman. I went out with my friend and together we got the whole tank set up, as well as getting a snail and an aquatic dwarf frog which got along with the Betta just fine.

The Betta died about two weeks ago and all my friends here at college were quite saddened, but a week later, we went out and got three Molly's and I'm planning on getting four more. I'm extremely excited about finally having a full blown fish tank with a heater and all.. It's the perfect size for my room and I couldn't be happier with how everything turned out. I hope I can continue to learn more about caring for fish and hopefully one day become an expert at this myself.

[steveo1313]

What is your tank stocked with?

[MrComrade]

It's stocked with one snail, one frog, three mollies at the moment but I will probably get three more.

What do you suggest?

[steveo1313]

The tank looks great at the moment. I absolutely love dalmatian mollies. Keep in mind that you're already pretty close to stocked in a 10 gallon before you add anymore. Check out aqadvisor.com for more info on that. I hope you're keeping your mollies in 1M:2F ratios to keep them in line, so if you add more be sure to maintain that. Looks great though!

[MrComrade]

Thanks a bunch!

What exactly does 1M/2F mean though? I'm new to the terminology.

[steveo1313]

1 Male to every 2 Female. The males will pursue a female, having the 2 females per male helps keep the males at bay a little bit.

[MrComrade]

Ohh okay I understand, I think I read about that somewhere before. Will the people working at the store know which ones are male and which ones are female? Because they didn't tell me when I got these three if they were male or female :/

[okapizebra]

I would not add anymore. Mollies get pretty big, and are messy fish. I would not normally recommend mollies for a 10gal for these reasons. Usually the minimum for them is 25-30 gallons.

You can tell them apart by the fin under their tummy. Males will have a long pointed fin called a gonopodium. Females will have a fin that's fanned out. You could probably find some pics on google to show differences. It's likely the people at the store cannot tell if it's a regular chain store. Whenever I get any I always find males and females myself and point to the specific fish I want to the guy catching them for me lol.

[MrComrade]

I thought it was only for Lyretail mollies that you needed a big tank, I was told the mollies I have won't grow bigger than 1 1/2 to 2 inches, and that at max I could have six. I'm hoping I wasn't lied to at the store hahah :P

But as for the male and female identification that is extremely helpful thank you!

[MrComrade]

Now I'm just hoping I don't have three males or anything like that haha.

[okapizebra]

Nope, it applies to all mollies... I don't usually trust chain stores and more often than not their info is wrong. While sometimes they may be right, it's always good to go online and get a second opinion.

Here's a link: Tropical Fish for Freshwater & Brackish Aquariums: Dalmatian Molly Livebearers

Liveaquaria is a great site to find out tank requirements for fish and their needs, max sizes, etc. if you ever want to look up specific fish.

Glad I could help!

[MrComrade]

What should I do about the Dalmatian Molly then I don't have the money for a bigger tank.

That's really disappointing I really wanted a fuller tank.

[MrComrade]

But I do really appreciate the help

[okapizebra]

You can still create a full tank! If I were you, I'd re-home all 3 mollies and instead come up with a new stocking plan. There's lots of nano fish available out there, and whereas they are harder to come by, they are just as exciting.

Here's a link with a bunch of fish that would work great in your tank:

Nano-Fish

I'd go with a small shoal of one of the types of cories on there (maybe 4 or 5) and then a school of one of the types of rasboras (maybe 5 or 6).

Or if you wanted, you could do a betta and then add a school of any of those listed on the page (5 or 6 in a school), or even neon tetras, which are super common and much easier to come by than some of those species.

[MrComrade]

Okay thanks for all the help, wish I would have got on this site before I got fish but that's how things go. Everyone makes a mistake at some point

[okapizebra]

Glad I could help!



Don't hesitate to ask any questions!

[CinnamonPearl]

Bring the mollies back to the pet store. The bare minimum for them is 20 gallons. 10 is way too small. I've heard stories of mollies becoming frighteningly aggressive in 10 gallons. A good alternate is platies. They look a lot like mollies, are also livebearers, and can live fine in a 10 gallon. If you get 2-3 platies, you'd be fully stocked.

Edit: Sorry, I didn't realize you were already told this. I should've read the entire thread. Platies would still be a good option.

[MrComrade]

Not gonna lie I'm pretty annoyed with the pet store.. But nothing I can do about it now, hate to see the mollies go they are really kool. But I was close to choosing platys anyways.

I also have an aquatic dwarf frog too and tips or things I should know about them?

[CharlieKlein]

The fish in the second picture looks like a platy to me. Anyone else? An is this petsmart a big chain sorrow like petsmart or petco? I almost never do my shopping there because they are there for 1 purpose- to make money. Whereas local fish stores that are locally owned and single shop, they generally care more about the tanks, give sound advice, have better stock and much much more variety, and also Better employes. I'd also take all of the mollies back. IMO you are overstocked already. If you want a full tank I think 4 small Cory's and 6 small schoolers is the way to o

[MrComrade]

Thanks for the advice! I really appreciate it!

I did actually get my fish from a Petco :/ didn't realize they were that unreliable.. Gonna look for a local fish store and try again.

Ill try my luck with schooling fish and see how it goes! Thanks again everyone. If you have any other advice id love to hear it.

Once again if anyone knows much about aquatic frogs please let me know