New to aquariums need a few pointers!

ChrisK

Hey everyone, my name is Chris. I recently bought a 10gallon tank had it cycle properly and everything just needed a few pointers on some problems i've been having. The tank is currently stocked with 1 Tiger Barb, 2 glowlight tetras, 3 neon tetras, and a Cory catfish they all seem to get along fine.


Here's what I need some help with:
Whitish slime on artificial plants - i've been getting this for a few weeks doing routine water changes of about 25% once a week and vacuuming the gravel while doing so but it's seems to come back.

Trouble keeping more than one Tiger Barb. I had three but two died.

Lastly my filter I have a tetra whisper i10 I don't think it's quite adequate looking to upgrade

Any advice is greatly appreciated

Jbrofish8

Im not sure about the slime, but there are a couple issues I see right now.

The tiger barbs should not be in such a small tank, They need at least a 30gallon tank, and they like to be in groups.

This leads me to the next issue. Tetra are shoaling species, they like to be in groups of 6+ to feel comfortable. You could probably pull off a small group of either the glowlights or the neons, but having both I feel is pushing it a little bit. Someone else may be able to help you better here.

Corys also like to be in groups, 4-6 of a single species makes these fish happy. With a 10 gallon I'd opt for the smaller dwarf species of cory that way you can have about 9 in the tank comfortably.

What are your parameters? Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, pH, temp, soft/hard water?

BarbH

Welcome to TFK Jbrofish has given some good advice. Also with the Tiger Barb they too are a shoaling fish and need to be kept in a larger group. Tiger Barb is a notorious fin nipper, and when kept within a smaller group this behavior will be shown even more. A good place to start to find out information on the different fish would be the tropical fish profiles. This can be found at the top of the page second tab from the left. The profiles will give you needed information on size tank needed, if they need to be kept in groups, compatibility with other fish and other helpful information.

ChrisK

Thank you for the input! I do understand that most fish need or should have more than one of the same species in the tank but being that they are in a 10g leaves me kind of limited with the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule. They are all pretty healthy. As for my water parameters ammonia is 0 pH is about 6.5 nitrite and nitrate readings were 0 last time I checked and I run the temp around 76 degrees. As far as hardness I don't have a test for that but the tap water I'm treating before I put it in the tank I'm guessing is hard. I'm treating it with api ammo lock and also I forget the name but it's tap water dechlorinator removes heavy metals and such.

KendraMc

with the Tiger Barb, the one you have left could easily have killed your other two. they should never be in groups smaller than 5, and even that isn't always enough. they are really aggressive. if i were you, i'd return that one and get more of the other kinds you have.

ChrisK

I think I will return the barb and possibly get something else maybe two more tetras or maybe another Dwarf Cory like the one I have

KendraMc

cories also like to be in larger groups, i usually see at least three recommended by people who have had them. just something to think about.

ChrisK

Beside what was already talked about any advice on a filter upgrade I do think think the whisper i10 is enough

ChrisK

Well after looking at some reviews I went and bought a aqua clear 30 which is really nice and its adjustable

ChrisK

Bought three plants today one kyoto plant, a "tropical fern" and a Java Fern. I trimmed all the brown off of them an planted them in my tank ill try to get a picture of the my tank. Also I brought my one Tiger Barb back to the store