Planted 10 Gallon

Angel2poohbear

I'm going to start a planted 10 gallon. I have a kit and some supplies on layaway at Wal-Mart. (I'm not buying the fish there btw). I already have a banana plant I'm going to transfer from my 5.5 that I'm taking down...the Goldfish are finding a bigger home with someone who has a Goldfish tank. I'm looking into what other plants I may want to add...some floating cover maybe.
As for fish my dh wants guppies so I've been doing my research on them. We're definately not getting the 3-1 female-male ratio (small apartment, limited resources). If we go with guppies it'll be all male. They sound like fun and have such a variety of foods you can feed them to make them healthy. I'm also trying to find out what else I can house in the tank (if we don't get guppies) so we can decide what to go with while it cycles. Should I use the Goldfish to cycle the tank? Cory cats are out of the question in a 10 gallon tank aren't they? I've heard that tetras are sensitive but they'd look so splendid against the black gravel I'm getting.
Any suggestions to someone new to anything other than coldwater fish? :D

blueblue48

if you find some pygmy cories i think it would be ok. ever thought about a betta? There really personal, pretty, and active!

Falina

If you go with a trio of male guppies then pygmy cories would be a nice bottom dweller. Kuhlies would also work, as would otos.

If you didn't go with guppies you could get a betta as suggested, and you should be alright with any of the 3 bottom dwellers I mentioned.

Some tetras would work. Neons in a group of 8-12 with nothing else in the tank would be a lovely sight with the dark substrate and even mroe so if you went for a black background. you could also try glowlight, harlequin rasboras or if you keep the temperatures low enough you could try white clouds.

Tetras can be sensitive depending on species, but if you are waiting until the tank has cycled (my preferred choice) then it shouldn't be a problem. You could potentially use the Goldfish to cycle it but in a small tank, with Goldfish being such large waste producers, I think it would be a bit unfiar on the fish as the levels would rocket. Better fish for cycling are danios, thoguh as i mentiuoned the fishless cycle is my preferred choice. it's much kinder, and easier ImhO because you don't have to keep such a close eye on the params as there are no fish in there to harm if they do go through the roof for a bit.

HTH :)

symbiosis

Just another vote for the fishless cycle here! Kuhlies and and otos would be a cool looking addition - I think the otos would look nice with whatever you decide to put up top!