- Thread starter
- #1,241
pinkfox
Super Self-Sufficient
my tanks a 55gal, id love bigger but the cost is just prohibitive so this will be as big as i go for now lol.
i LOVE my fish tanks, they just...its therapy lol.
for a 10 gal be carefull with guppies, 3 guppies tends to turn into 300 guppies fairly quickly when theres nothign else in the tank lol.
you could go all males, lots of flash and color but no risk of practicint the multiplication tables but youll have alot of activity at the top of the tank and not much below...
personally in a 10 gal if you like the guppies, id do 5 male guppies and then a group of 5 glowlight tetras, the glowlights will occupy midspace in the tank adding some visual interest and once they get settled into a tank they have that flash of brilliant orange darting around realy stands out
the guppies then play around the top with thier flashy colors and fancy fins
other mid section choices would be neons/cardinals (though they can be incredibly delicate) .
cherry barbs (a favorite of mine, the males get BRIGHT red while the females are more of a brown orange, they are NOT agressive like most barbs (keep 5 or more)
rosy barbs are pretty too, especially if you have a girl into pink, the males have this cool irridessant pink and gold colration, but they get a little bigger, and 5 in a 10 gal tank would probably be pushing the bioload unless there the only ones in there...
danios are frequently sold as beginner fish (especially the new GLO-Fish (geneticaly enginered zebra danios) however they tend to inhabit the surface of the tank (like the guppies) so they tend to compete and can be nasty fin nippers.
in terms of algea eaters be VERY carefull, the fish typically sold as algea eaters are chinese algea eaters, they get big and agressive, first few years will be fine, then youll find your other fish start to go missing.
plecos are also often sold as algea eaters, there is not a pleco available thats suitable for a 10 gal tank. the dwarf species like bristlenoses need a minimum of 20 gals, the plecos usually sold in petstores however are common plecos, they are "tank busters" will grow over 2 ft long (or die from lack of space long before then) and only eat algea as babies (as they mature they eat wood lol)
look for ottos
http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_otocinclus.htm
there tiny. there cute, and there the best algea eaters ever...they do need to be kept in groups (3 minimum) but ive found thier impact on the bioload to be incredibly minisule (i count 1 inch of otto as 1/2 an inch lol.
no algea in the tank though you will need to feed algea wafers for them.
if your more interested in bottom cleaners than algea issues then instead id go for a group (3 minimum) of corydora instead
http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Corydoras.htm
i LOVE cory cats, there cute theyre active, they dont impact your bioload as badly as some of the other clean up crew does.
or another good option for both bottom and algea control are cherry shrimp, assuming you stick to guppies and small tetras the cherry shrimp will be safe (they tend to get eaten by larger fish lol) and there an AMAZING cleanup crew
theyll take anything that falls to the bottom and theyll also consume any algea that grows...there kinda cute too
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_shrimp
personally if it were my tank, id do 3-5 male guppies, 5 glowlight tetra or cherry barbs, and, either 1 dozen cherry shrimp, 3 ottos or 3 corydora.
and to get the most color out of your fish, go with a dark substrate and background, fish always look brighter against black so i always go black gravel or sand and a plain black background, makes the fish no matter what color REALY pop!
I still need to get the background for my 55, im not paying pet store prices so i have to find a paice of heavy black paper to stick back there to hide the wires and give the fish somehting to pop against
fishy keeping is a passion of mine...i swear if i could get a job setting up peoples fishtanks id be extatic...i loe decorating them, setting things up, figuring out layouts and making them asthetically pleasing as well as functional lol...
and i RARELY use items form the fish store either lol.
gonna post some of my tank pics in a few mins, there not great, my camera isnt exactly "fancy" and doesnt do well in lower light situations (and doesnt like fast moving objects lol)
i LOVE my fish tanks, they just...its therapy lol.
for a 10 gal be carefull with guppies, 3 guppies tends to turn into 300 guppies fairly quickly when theres nothign else in the tank lol.
you could go all males, lots of flash and color but no risk of practicint the multiplication tables but youll have alot of activity at the top of the tank and not much below...
personally in a 10 gal if you like the guppies, id do 5 male guppies and then a group of 5 glowlight tetras, the glowlights will occupy midspace in the tank adding some visual interest and once they get settled into a tank they have that flash of brilliant orange darting around realy stands out
the guppies then play around the top with thier flashy colors and fancy fins
other mid section choices would be neons/cardinals (though they can be incredibly delicate) .
cherry barbs (a favorite of mine, the males get BRIGHT red while the females are more of a brown orange, they are NOT agressive like most barbs (keep 5 or more)
rosy barbs are pretty too, especially if you have a girl into pink, the males have this cool irridessant pink and gold colration, but they get a little bigger, and 5 in a 10 gal tank would probably be pushing the bioload unless there the only ones in there...
danios are frequently sold as beginner fish (especially the new GLO-Fish (geneticaly enginered zebra danios) however they tend to inhabit the surface of the tank (like the guppies) so they tend to compete and can be nasty fin nippers.
in terms of algea eaters be VERY carefull, the fish typically sold as algea eaters are chinese algea eaters, they get big and agressive, first few years will be fine, then youll find your other fish start to go missing.
plecos are also often sold as algea eaters, there is not a pleco available thats suitable for a 10 gal tank. the dwarf species like bristlenoses need a minimum of 20 gals, the plecos usually sold in petstores however are common plecos, they are "tank busters" will grow over 2 ft long (or die from lack of space long before then) and only eat algea as babies (as they mature they eat wood lol)
look for ottos
http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_otocinclus.htm
there tiny. there cute, and there the best algea eaters ever...they do need to be kept in groups (3 minimum) but ive found thier impact on the bioload to be incredibly minisule (i count 1 inch of otto as 1/2 an inch lol.
no algea in the tank though you will need to feed algea wafers for them.
if your more interested in bottom cleaners than algea issues then instead id go for a group (3 minimum) of corydora instead
http://www.fishlore.com/Profiles-Corydoras.htm
i LOVE cory cats, there cute theyre active, they dont impact your bioload as badly as some of the other clean up crew does.
or another good option for both bottom and algea control are cherry shrimp, assuming you stick to guppies and small tetras the cherry shrimp will be safe (they tend to get eaten by larger fish lol) and there an AMAZING cleanup crew
theyll take anything that falls to the bottom and theyll also consume any algea that grows...there kinda cute too
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherry_shrimp
personally if it were my tank, id do 3-5 male guppies, 5 glowlight tetra or cherry barbs, and, either 1 dozen cherry shrimp, 3 ottos or 3 corydora.
and to get the most color out of your fish, go with a dark substrate and background, fish always look brighter against black so i always go black gravel or sand and a plain black background, makes the fish no matter what color REALY pop!
I still need to get the background for my 55, im not paying pet store prices so i have to find a paice of heavy black paper to stick back there to hide the wires and give the fish somehting to pop against
fishy keeping is a passion of mine...i swear if i could get a job setting up peoples fishtanks id be extatic...i loe decorating them, setting things up, figuring out layouts and making them asthetically pleasing as well as functional lol...
and i RARELY use items form the fish store either lol.
gonna post some of my tank pics in a few mins, there not great, my camera isnt exactly "fancy" and doesnt do well in lower light situations (and doesnt like fast moving objects lol)
