Looking for subjective answers: How to start a 10 Gallon?

[SpaceButler]

It's been quite a while since I've been on this board.

I've had a 55 gallon with an oscar for nearly 2 years now. I love it, but the setup limits me in some key ways:

A: I can't decorate, outside of rocks, because Grumbo will lay waist to anything I toss in there.

B: I'm at full capacity and I can't do a comunity setup.

I'm thinking of tossing down a little cash for a new 10-gallon, and I'm looking for some sort of community tank. I would also love to get a planted tank going. So I have some minor questions:

1: Is a 10-gallon enough to have any semblance of a community tank, or do I need to upgrade to a 20?..... Would a 30 be far and away better?

2: For plants, do I need some sort of CO2 device? Do I need special lighting, or what are some good plants that do well in low light.

3: I'm not familiar with community tanks at all, I'd like to hear some recommendations about pretty fish, or good combinations of fish that can fit in a smaller tank.

Thanks for reading.

 

[rich311k]

1. You can do a nice set up in a ten if you like. A 20 gallon long might be a better choice opens up a lot more possibilities with out spending to much more money. A 29 gallon is a good choice as well and most stores have some kind of deal on them.
2. You do not need CO2 for a planted tank, if you keep your lighting under 2 wpg. You will need more light than a standard tank comes with but if you go low light, all you probably would need is a twin tube light instead of a single.
3. Go to your LFS and see what they got and what you like and we can go from there.

P.S. Any full size shots of your O? He looks like a beauty from your avatar.

 

[scalesojustice]

in my 10 gal. i have 4 mollies, a pleco, an upside down catfish and an african dwarf frog. it might be an eclectic group, but they are hilarious. the mollies are always active and at least one of the females is on the cusp of giving live birth (which, i've heard, that it is almost impossible to not have them breed if male and females are together). my frog is probably the most entertaining as he spends much of his time swimming up to the top of the water level then suspending himself, spread eagle until he drifts down to the bottom.

as far as recommendations, i would say some mollies, swordtails or platies as i prefer fish larger than guppies or the like. oh yeah, and pleco's are the best.

 

[Tong]

1. A 10 gallon can make a good small community tank. However, you do have to make your fish choices carefully. A 20 gallon or a 30 gallon would allow you more fish and more diversity. I'd go for the 30 because you'll quickly want to buy more fish than what a 10 gallon can handle.

2. a. If you stick to low lighting you won't need CO2 (although I'd still recommed it).

b. For a 10 gallon, get either the single fluorescent strip (very low light) or an incondescent hood and 2 CF screw in bulbs (low to high - depends on bulbs). For the 20 and 30 gallon tanks, buy the double light strip (low light). Be sure to replace the standard bulbs with daylight and/or plant & aquarium bulbs.

c. Java Ferns, Java Moss, Cryptocorynes (Crypts) and Anubias are fairly common and work well with low light.

3. The only pleco I would keep in a 10 gallon is a zebra pleco and other similar species. Most plecos simply get too big. I'd recommend you take a trip to your LFS, write down the names of the small fish you like, and then come home and research them.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Well remember the bigger the tank, the more small fish you can have.

I'd also suggest going with a 29g or 30g tank. That will allow you options for some great bottom feeders. Most cories found in LFS are the bigger types, so in a 20g you may not be able to find some small enough. I think a good community tank should have some bottom feeders.

I like tetras for my community tanks, especially if you are looking at having more than one school. I suggest lemon tetras, flame tetras, glowlights, black neons, rummynose, cardinals, and harlequin rasboras (which aren't tetras of course). I think in a 29g or 30g, you could pick 2 schooling fish and have 6-8 of each type. For bottom feeders, I suggest cories. Some types to look for a Pandas, Bandits, False Juliis, and Bronze (may get a little too large for a 29g though). You could also get some type of centerpiece fish like a dwarf gourami, honey gourami, or a pair of rams (blue or bolivian). Then you could get you a small pleco (clown, bristlenose, or rubbernose).

Or you could just have a big school of dwarf neon rainbows, plus the bottom guys and centerpiece(s).

I'd go browse at the LFS and see whats available.

 

[eah]

3. The only pleco I would keep in a 10 gallon is a zebra pleco and other similar species. Most plecos simply get too big.

There are a ton of plecos that stay small. Many of them are not easy to find and are quite pricy however. A rubberlip (aka rubbernose or bulldog) pleco may be a good choice for you. They do not get larger than 4" and are pretty widely available. I purchased mine for less than $5.00. If you are looking for more info on plecos, send me a PM and I'll be happy to help you.

 

[JustOneMore20]

Plecos just produce too much waste IMO to be kept in a 10g with other fish. If the pleco was in the tank alone or with a few other small fish, then it would be fine. A 10g tank is less stable than bigger tanks, so it can crash easily. I wouldn't stick a pleco in there because the nitrates would be very high unless you did frequent water changes. I just don't think a 4-5 inch pleco should live in a 10g. IMO thats just too small of a home for them.

 

[eah]

If the pleco was in the tank alone or with a few other small fish, then it would be fine.

I definitely agree with this one. I'm a bit of a pleco fan, so I personally would go for a pleco with just a couple of small tankmates. However, it sounds like that's not what you're going for, so it might be best to skip the pleco if you don't want to do frequent water changes.

 

[JRagg]

I'm going to agree with most of the other people here that a 29g bowfront is probably the way to go. The additional cost for setting up a 29 vs a 10 is very minimal, and it gives you so many more options as to what you can put in there.

 

[fish_4_all]

Get the bigger tank, 20-35 and start with a standard tank, not a tall. You will be much happier and they don't require the eternal attention a 10 gallon tanks requires. I know, I have 3 of them up and running. I only recommend the shorter tank because a deep one will mean getting wet up to your armpit to rearrange plants, . If you like it, go for it. You will also have more room to aquascape in a standard tank.

If you get a 29, I would recommend getting the filter for a 40-50 gallon or two small ones for 10-20 gallon tanks. That is for HOB filters. Canister filters I don't know because I haven't used them yet.

The best advice, be pateint, have fun and get what you need for the tank now if you can. Upgrading later is a pain and only costs a lot more in the long run.

 

[SpaceButler]

Wow, great replies. This is something exciting for me because I'm just so used to one big guy in the tank. I've never known much about plants or lighting at all. As a matter of fact, I'm not sure what to feed small fish. I'm used feeding golfball-sized pellets.

((EDIT: In fact, I'm going to officially ask that question))
1) What sort of staple food would I use? I heard feeding flakes all the time was akin to eating potato chips all the time. Is that true? I'd feed it bloodworms and such too probably.

I think you've convinced me to go to at least a 20 gallon. I can't wait.

Any more suggestions on fish would be appreciated. I plan to hold to the community rule of high middle and low swimmers. Thanks again.

P.S. I'll post a couple recent pics of my oscar later. I'm at work right now.

 

[fish_4_all]

It is really hard to make specific recomendations. I think a list of fish that you are thinking about and then we can let you know their compatability.

I agree with justonemore20, cardinals and harlequin rasboras would make a really cool school of fish although I don't know if they are compatible which each other. If they are, the schooling interaction would look cool.

Corys on the bottom, Julii(C. trilineatus actually) with albino would be cool. maybe 3 of each. They will school together.

Middle fish, I don't know. Gouramis might be too agressive for schoolers, angels definatley would be, Rams I have no clue about. Maybe someone else can give a good idea for a center to top water fish.

As for pleco, I would recommend the same ones but I would say get 2 of them. When mine are alone they just seem to mope. A male and female BN might be good and you might get lucky and get little ones from them. Just add a little driftwood in a spot and they should be happy. Whatever ones you get, driftwood will make them happy and keep them healthy.

Give us ideas of what you like and we will try to help you make decisions that will be best for the tank and the fish.

Just one more thing, fishless cycling is going to be recommended here. Not many here will recommend cycling with fish. The details on the fishless cycle are in the stickys.

 

[joannde]

I believe SpaceButler has a 55G with the oscar .... should be able to seed the new filter using filter material from that tank for the new tank. That should assure a very fast cycle.

 

[JustOneMore20]

I'd get 6 of the same cories...not 3 of 2 types. A 20g (make sure its a long) isn't huge, so I'd stick to small cory types for the bottom...pandas, trilineatus, and bandit cories are the smaller, bottom types. Habrosus (salt and pepper) and Pygmy cories are the smallest types, but are more middle and bottom swimmers (so wouldn't be great for the bottom layer). If you can't find pandas, trilineatus, or bandit cories, then I'd go with a pleco. I wouldn't have 2 plecos though. They are big waste producers so you will have enough to clean up after with just one.

Cardinals and harlequin rasboras are compatible. Both are very peaceful.

Most fish aren't a specific top, middle, or bottom fish. Most of them swim all over the tank. I'd just go with 2 schools of 6 or one big school of 10, a centerpiece of gourami or ram, and some smaller cories or a pleco. I don't go by the layers.

 

[SpaceButler]

Lecturing me on cycling. Psha! I'm so insulted.

JK, but thanks for the concern.

EDIT: Also, here's a picture of my oscar most-recent.

http://img165.imageshack.us/img165/7787/grumboat75inchespose6ur.jpg

 

[JRagg]

I'll be honest, I've never liked oscars... but yours is really gorgeous.

 

[rich311k]

SpaceButler - Nice looking fish!!!

 

[SpaceButler]

Thank you very much.

And thanks for all the help, but I did some budgeting, and it'll probably be a while before I get another tank.