10 gal Stock. . . Not a Betta

flukez88

Hi all!

I'm new here and looking for some advice.
I used to have a beautiful bright red crown tail betta, but he sadly expired after 4 years in my care :(

Alas, I'm starting fresh with a brand new 10 gal tank and looking for thoughts on a community tank!
I've had 2 bettas now, both of which were endlessly aggressive. What are peoples thoughts, opinions, and experiences for 10g community tanks?

EQUIPMENT
- 10gal tank with lighted hood;
- Filter
- Heater
- Sand/Gravel
- Two small live plants
- 3 small fake plants
- A sponge-bob tiki head

CURRENT FISH
- 9 WCMM for Cycling
- 2 Amano Shrimp (Looking to get at least 4 more)

WATER
Temp: I've got it down to a steady range of 78-80F
pH: Neutral
Hardness: Unknown
(Planning on taking in a sample to my lfs before stocking)
Misc: Our tap water here is remarkably clear and clean

OTHER
The filter creates a fairly strong current . . the current WCMM have a bit of trouble in it, from what i've read though it will likely kick the bucket, so i'll eventually be replacing it.

Thanks ahead of time!

SomeDudeAtHome

First off I prefer the fishless cycling method just so fish aren't hurt. But anyway some guppies would do well in your tank. There's also other dwarf species of fish but knowing your hardness would really help to decide since some like really soft water but others like the guppies need hard water.

Byron

Yes, the hardness is important, as it will determine how much (if at all) the pH may lower too, and these can affect fish. You can find out the hardness from the water supply people, they may have a website, or they can tell you. Get the GH (general hardness) and KH (Alkalinity) if you can.

There are lots of options for a 10g tank, remaining with small fish. Some have specific water requirements, so knowing the hardness will help us point you in the right direction.

And welcome to Tropical Fish Keeping forum.

Byron.

GwenInNM

What about Endlers? They are so small and cute, but very colorful. Check out the profile of them and see what you think.

Gwen

flukez88

and for the helpful people out there:
pH: 7.4
GH: 3.1

And for those concerned about the WCMM being used for cycling, they're feeders for the piranha where my sister works

Byron

From those numbers, the pH will most likely lower naturally as the aquarium matures, so I would look at soft water fish. Hard water fish (livebearers, including Endlers) would not do well long-term.

flukez88

So what would be examples of soft water fish? I believe guppies aren't in that category.

If I want to go with guppies and amano shrimp, how difficult is it to treat the water to the parameters that are ideal?

Byron

Can't say on shrimp, some manage in soft water (I have some, came by accident with fish, no idea what they are), others don't.

Livebearers need medium hard to hard water for the mineral. Livebearers include Guppy, molly, Platy, Swordtail, Endlers Livebearer, and some less often seen. Easiest and least expensive way to provide hard water for these is with calcareous substances like dolomite, aragonite, crushed coral, limestone, marble. You can buy gravels and sands composed of several of these substances. CarribSea make crushed coral sand that contains aragonite. Dolomite and aragonite are the best as they include both calcium and magnesium. Crushed coral alone is just calcium. Both minerals are important.

The substrate can be composed of one of these sands or small gravels; or you can add a mesh bag of it to the filter chamber. It doesn't take much, and it lasts years before having to be replaced.

Soft water fish are most all of the characins, most cyprinids (with a few exceptions), many catfish, badids. The profile of each species here gives the preferred water parameters.

Byron.

flukez88

So I've gone out and purchased some new test kits to get better results on my water:

pH: 7.4-7.6
dGH: 4.48
dKH: 2.52
Ammonia: 0 - 0.25 ppm

whiteslate

i had a 10 gallon community tank and they are way fun, only a few things
1) water levels can change very fast
2) guppies are the best :D
3) try to keep small amout of fish because tanks that small that are stuffed with fish are insane to care for