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Hopeful Stocking Plans For Poss 10 Gallons!! Advice??

3K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  Lupin 
#1 ·
Okay here we go. I am -hopefully- getting two ten gallons, and here are my plans.

For the first one, the Community Tank, the stocking plans::

--2 female Mollies (I own a male)
--3 female Guppies (I own 2 males and one female)
--5 Cory Catfish (I've read that they do better in groups)
--5-6 Zebra Danios (I think they do better in groups??)
Anything I should skimp on? Go lower on? Any Advice? Yes, intentionally, there will be an undergravel filter and a heater, thermomiter, ect.

And the second one, I'm hoping to turn into a Betta Tank. Only housing two fish::
--Pez, 1.5 inches, female
--Undecided female betta
Any advice? Is it safe to house a two females in a 10 gallon tank? Should I start with a Divider with small holes in it so they could get used to each other?

Any Advice would be greatly appreciated!! Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
Mollies require much harder water than the others listed. They are Brackish water fish as well.

For the Guppies, you will have A) a ton of babies and then B) death of the female. I would only get males if you want guppies. You need to have at least 2 females per male to spread out "aggression". I personally think Guppies are the most boring, overbred fish you can have (no offense).

Cories sound fine.

Danios need a much longer tank than 20", because they are complete spazes and need to swim. Take those out.

If it was me, I would ditch the mollies, guppies, and danios (they need to go), and get 8 Harlequin Rasboras. They look great with plants and in a shoal of that number.

Second tank:

You cannot have two female bettas together. The reccomended minimum is 4, with 6 being ok in a 10G tank. Females can and will be as aggressive as males. I would do no less than 4 in that tank. Provide plenty of hiding spots and sight-breakers to reduce aggression. You need to add them all at teh same time as well.
 
#3 ·
My only problem is this:: I already own 3 guppies and one molly. The betta fish is officially going in my 1.5 gallon, with some upgrades, if I get the bigger fish. I am probably going to find a home for the female guppy, and get another male. Maybe a Pleco or two, and 3 Danios.
 
#4 ·
Three male guppies is defianltey better than 2 male with a female. Good choice. :) A Molly would be fine if it has been raised in FW (which most are).
As to plecos, I would only get one. Make sure it is a Bristlenose or Clown Pleco, because they stay under 5". You would need to have wood for them, though, so pick up a piece or two of driftwood. Common Plecos will grow to 18", which is the most seen in stores.
If you are dead set on Danios, then get 5.
Are the cories still in?

Is this your stocking idea?
-3 Guppies
-1 Molly
-5 Cories
-5 Danios
-1 Pleco
 
#7 ·
Three male guppies is defianltey better than 2 male with a female. Good choice. :) A Molly would be fine if it has been raised in FW (which most are).
As to plecos, I would only get one. Make sure it is a Bristlenose or Clown Pleco, because they stay under 5". You would need to have wood for them, though, so pick up a piece or two of driftwood. Common Plecos will grow to 18", which is the most seen in stores.
If you are dead set on Danios, then get 5.
Are the cories still in?

Is this your stocking idea?
-3 Guppies
-1 Molly
-5 Cories
-5 Danios
-1 Pleco
Accually, the Cories are out, and my betta is going solitary. She is staying in the 1.5 gallon, and there will be some improvements made. Probably, if possible, i am probably going to have 2 gups, because my mom just told me that I am buying the fish that I want with my Christmas Money. So only 2 gups. It'll probably look like this

-2 Guppies
-1 Molly
-5 Danios
-1 Pleco

2 questions:: (1)What is a FW? (2)Cody, you had said this::
If it was me, I would ditch the mollies, guppies, and danios (they need to go), and get 8 Harlequin Rasboras. They look great with plants and in a shoal of that number.
Would they still be do-able?

and other updates:: I have two 1mth and 11day old (not sure yet, may be gups)Molly babies to be added to the bunch.
 
#5 ·
That will be a very heavily stocked tank. It might be do-able, but I would definitely advise a lot of filtration on that tank and diligence about water changes. Really, mollies and any sort of pleco (even the smaller ones) are too big for a 10g tank and should be in a 20g minimum, but they might do ok in the 10g.

To reduce the bioload, you could just keep the single female betta in the second 10g along with the cories and only have the guppies, molly, danios and pleco in the other 10g. Or, you could keep the cories in the community tank and move the pleco to the betta tank. Actually, you could probably do 4 or 5 females and the smaller pleco.

As Cody pointed out, you can't have two female bettas in an undivided 10g or one will kill the other eventually. You need either at least four females, or a divider to keep the fish from getting at each other.
 
#6 ·
Female Betta's must be kept in even numbers , with four being the minimum kept together. If they are in odd numbers, the odd one out(usually being the weakest, or the youngest one) will be killed.
 
#9 ·
FW is Freshwater.

And what would be doable? The Rasboras? If you want those, they would have to be the only fish, unless you get cories or ottos really. They need big groups.

So no Rasboras. Okeh. Any chance I could squeeze some Platys in there? They are rather attracive fishes. I can take a no, and stick with plans of the previous post, if that's good.

P.S. Any ideas on plants? I'm going to have to stop by and get some pics/names of the plants and prices, and start making a budget.
 
#10 ·
sorry on the double post, I hit refresh.. haha
 
#11 ·
Platies produce a lot of waste, and breed a ton. One could get in, maybe two if your tank cleaning schedule is religious and your filtration is good. No more.

Forgot to mention... The guppies may interbreed with the Molly if it turns out to be a female. They are related.

Anyways, live plants is all a matter of what you have.
Bulb type?
Type of Fixture?
Dosing CO2?

Many other things, but those are the main.
 
#12 ·
Guppy, if I were you, I'd skip live plants for now and just get fake ones. Just get a handle on your fish first. Really, if I were you, I'd get your 10 gallons... cycle them, and for now just keep your guppies/molly and betta and get them situated in their respective tanks. No need to rush things. :)
 
#13 ·
Honestly, if I were you I'd do this:

Tank 1: Put your guppies and your molly in. Then you could get 6 pygmy cories (they stay small and are light on the bioload). Lastly, you could either get a small school of the rasboras OR a few more male guppies or mollies. That would put you at the limit your tank could take.

I would not do the pleco, they simply get too large and produce a lot of waste relative to their size.

I would also not do the danios, they are just too active for a small tank.

Tank 2: Get a divider and make sure that it is secure. Then put your female betta and another one in each side. Cut the opening part of the lid in half or keep the water level low to prevent jumping during feeding time.

I would skip the live plants. Go for silk, they are much less of a headache especially if you are new to keeping fish themselves. Maybe later on when you have the fish thing down pat you can upgrade to planted tanks.

Hope this helps.
 
#14 ·
I would agree with kim. The cories themselves are very active and will be fun to watch. i would try instead of the Harlequin Rasboras, a small school of neons or cardnal tetras they are nice to look at and will do well with the other fish in my experience. I had a similar situation:

In a 12g
4 pygmy cories
1 female betta
1 gourami
3 mollies (1 male, 2 females)
5 neons

I had a rated 20 galloon filter and another separate sponge filter this tank was in the same state for a whole year with no deaths. If it were me i would stock a tank like this:

The 3 guppies
the 1 molly
5 pygmy cories
5 neon tetras

Then look for a powerful filter. Good Luck!

~Cam
 
#15 ·
Thanks for all of the advice. Its a shock, but my MOM accually is now concidering a 29 gallon. Anything I could do, stock wise, to add on? Add back in the Danios, anyone?
 
#17 ·
If i would get a29 gallon, it would be a family activity, and they could still be considered my fish but I think that I would open up and let my family pick the pleco. I think the Pleco might be named by my littlest brother, and he likes the names "Niko" and "Elmo". I wonder what it would be named? Hmm...

lol
 
#20 ·
If I have a 29g, I'd take advantage of getting some monster snails such as Pomacea canaliculata and Pomacea insularum. They're illegal to ship in USA but legal to own and obtain personally in-state or outside other states. These ones eat plants though so they're not suited for planted tank setups. They however will last several years and since these are sexual, they need a partner to mate. They lay clutches of hot pink eggs above the waterline containing 50-200 eggs. I find myself in a dilemma at the moment with my canas as I am expecting 300 babies this month.:mrgreen:

The other alternative would be Pomacea bridgesii. They're available in several colors with gold being the most commonly available. They won't eat plants. These are also sexual and lay peach to white eggs. Provided your pH is 7.0 and above, the snails will be fine. You can add calcium on their diet or use calcium enriched foods to maintain a very thick healthy shell. Keep the eggs in warm humid conditions to be able to hatch them.
 
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