New 10g

[steez]

Told my girlfriend it was a QT tank incase one of our fish get sick, but I'm adding fish to it to keep the bacteria growing


Anyway... It's not going to have very good filtration, it was my first fish tank that I put away in the closet of shame. Aqua-tech 20 filter, very small lights in the hood. I'm thinking about putting this 24" light from my old 20g on it, and putting some live plants. It is a Aqueon Single Tube Light Strip, 24". I know that's not very much info, but would this support any plant growth on a 10g?


I dosed the new tank with prime, after about half hour I used the 10g as my cleaning station for my 2 canisters and other 2 HOB's. After cleaning the pads from those filters the water was soo cloudy for about an hour while the new filter cleaned up all that debri. That will give a nice little jump start on my cycle, I'm going to dose it tonight with ammonia.


I'm thinking that I'm going to put 4 Khuli Loaches in it. I've read that they don't have much of any bioload and should work in a 10g. Thoughts on this?

If not Khuli, I'll do something like 2 shelly cichlids or maybe 1-2 Loaches with a Betta.
Maybe male/female guppy and just let them breed and feed the little ones to my Oscar?
Maybe a pair of Apistogramma?
Maybe a RCS tank?
TOO MANY OPTIONS


Anyway...I'll keep this thread updated with my progress and keep a cycle log going.

 

[Mouth-Brooder-Fanatic]

imo, shelly cichlids(lamprolugus ocellatus) . so cute! or apistogramma, something pretty. haha a qt tank with bacteria growing fish... nice way to say lets get a new tank
yeah the khulis should work but they wouldnt be my choice lol x

 

[animalzrok2]

imo if you get the guppies dont feed them to your oscar. you could just leave them in the tank and get a few guppies out of the batch or take care of them and have a tiny guppy colony that when full grown can put with mom and dad guppies or you can sell them too

 

[absolutangel04]

Personally, I don't think apistos belong in a 10.
Shellies would be fine, but you have to watch the gender ratios with them. You could have a nice little colony of them though if you wanted. But, I know you only want to add a few fish.
Guppies should be in a 1m/3f ratio, not just a pair. Sorry, you have not meant just a pair, but thats thats what I thought you meant. You can maybe get by with 1m/2f, but it depends on the individual fish to see how much the male chases the females. If you go with guppies, you should get a breeder net or something to put fry in or else the parents will eat them all and your oscar won't get any.
Personally, I recommend kuhlis for bigger tanks with a bit more floor space, but I know some people keep them in 10s. To each his own.
My vote is for either shellies or else a betta. My 10 has a betta with embers and I love the combo.

 

[steez]

Thanks guys, made my choice!

First off I got a new AQ30 to go on there with that other Aquatech filter. Running both while new filter gets established. The aquatech has a filter media inside from my oscar tank, it's loaded with BB. Put half tank water from my other tanks, some gravel, a piece of driftwood. Probably will just keep the Aquatech filter on it with the AQ30, in case I need to swap it over to my little QT cube or something. I'll keep an eye on the toxins twice a day for about a week, but I'm sure it's instantly cycled from the filter.


I got two N. Brevis shell dwellers today, one male and one female. They were already paired together at the LFS. (If anyone lives near Spokane, WA. who is reading this, Aquarium Solutions +1. )

I replaced the two bulbs on the cheapo hood with 75w CFL's for lighting. Put a piece of driftwood with some java moss in, and 5 more live plants. I have some gravel substrate by the plants, mixed with PFS. It becomes more pure PFS towards the right side of the tank, where I have their shells at.

I'm posting pictures in a bit when my phone decides to send the pictures, it's taking forever..

 

[steez]

First pic, more to come

 

[eco23]

Looks great man . I love the sand with the separated gravel, very natural.

 

[steez]

Thanks man.. I can't wait for the plants to start growing and start filling it out. I'm most likely just going to keep the two of them alone in there and just let them breed. I'll keep some of them just to maybe add two more females and then sell the babies to the LFS.


My phone is sending these so slow tonight, it's insane.

 

[steez]

The female.

View attachment 57658



Male inside his shell. Shell looks a little small lol.

View attachment 57659



Male out of shell

View attachment 57662


Front shot

View attachment 57663


They are very shy still, which is expected.

I'm going to get rid of the blue background and just make it black.

 

[absolutangel04]

The tank looks great. The fish are pretty cute. I like the shot of the male in his shell.

 

[steez]

Thanks!


They are still really shy, if I approach the tank he hides.

 

[steez]

Hmm. I want to keep just the two Shellies in there because they are already a pair. But I was thinking about maybe adding some sort of Synodontis catfish in there with them?

Keep in mind it's a 10g, so it's small. But these little cichlids only take a territory of about 4-6".

Any ideas, suggestions on what Synodontis to get?

Edit: S. nigriventris (upside-down) would probably work, but how many would I want to get in a 10g?

 

[absolutangel04]

Hmm. I want to keep just the two Shellies in there because they are already a pair. But I was thinking about maybe adding some sort of Synodontis catfish in there with them?

Keep in mind it's a 10g, so it's small. But these little cichlids only take a territory of about 4-6".

Any ideas, suggestions on what Synodontis to get?

Edit: S. nigriventris (upside-down) would probably work, but how many would I want to get in a 10g?

I have kept upside-down cats and I am not a big fan at all. IMO, they really are much happier never being seen. Mine just wanted to hide all the time. I have heard some people have different experiences with them, but like I said, after owning them I am not a fan. I would only recommend like 2 for a 10g, but they won't necessarily be comfortable enough to come out if you just get 2. They might, I'n just saying don't count on it.

 

[steez]

I'm just going to leave the two of them together alone in there.

 

[jetajockey]

Just 2 shellies? Maybe add a few more to the colony?

 

[steez]

Well with the way the tank is setup, i'd have to remove the gravel off the left side and change it to pfs so another male could establish on the other side.


I'm just planning on letting them breed and maybe keeping a couple more females.

 

[jetajockey]

I just set mine in the tank with a bunch of shells, they set their own territories, it's nothing like any of my other cichlids in that regard, since they have that whole colony thing going.

 

[steez]

I can just let them breed and fill the colony, right? I was told they don't attack their fry.

 

[jetajockey]

yes it should work just fine. Mine have a tendency to eat their fry, for whatever reason, so I thinned them out in the hopes that overstocking was the problem, no results yet.

 

[steez]

I've read that they will eat the fry to make room for more fry because they are such frequent spawners