Stocking a 10 gallon tank......

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

Hey everybody!


As you may know,

i have had otos, snail, tetras, danios, and guppies in the 10 gal.(not all at same time) before i got Honeycomb. I know the stocking i chose poorly, but i was knew to fishkeeping, and my knowledge has expanded so much.


All of them died tragic deaths. Thats why i switched to bettas, becasue they were suppossed to be hardier. They THRIVED in my tank.

I really want to try some other fish again, but i am worried they will have the same fate.


some info about my tank:::

-10 gallon
-i have an HOB and internal filter, so i could use one or the other or both
-submersible heater
- weekly water changes
-HARD water with HIGH ph 8.0-8.4


I do not want a fish that overporduces, or one that is hard to care for.
The more color the better, i was thinking of some dwarf cories if i get sand....


Thanks!

[ChoclateBetta]

Butterflyfish, Guppies, Bettas, harliquin rasboras, and galaxy rasboras.

[thekoimaiden]

If your water is hard, the dwarf cories won't do well. They need soft acidic water. Ideally, all that will really do well in your water are the livebearers. If you got all male endlers you wouldn't have to worry about reproduction. Another possibility is the emerald dwarf rasbora (Danio erythromicron) as they are some of the only rasbora that thrive in harder water.

A 10 gal is a bit small for harlequin rasbora, tho. And celestial pearl danio can't tolerate hard water. If you're looking for an easy to come by fish, you really don't have too many options aside from guppies and endlers livebearer.

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

thanks chocalate and ok

looks like i will stick to either livebearers or rasbora :)

I am interested in the rasboras more, so how many could i fit?

[thekoimaiden]

The emerald dwarfs you could probably do about 10 to 12 in a 10 gal tank. The harlequin rasbora are larger, so you could only do 7 or 8 in a 10 gal. Just remember, both of these fish like a planted tank.

[MyRainbowBettaFish]

ok. are they hard to care for? will they be ok in hard water and 8.0-8.4 ph?

did i mention i have akaline water?

Just want to make sure they do fine, and i rather have an understocked tank than an over-stocked tank :)

Thanks Koi, you have been a big help!

[thekoimaiden]

Both would do well in your water, so I think it depends on which one you can find. Do you know how hard your water is? That's a bit bigger in determining long-term fish health than pH. PH only really comes into play when you have extremes like 10 or 4. The pH out of my tap is 8.8 but it quickly drops to 7.5 because my water has little to no buffering capacity.

[ChoclateBetta]

Originally Posted by thekoimaiden

If your water is hard, the dwarf cories won't do well. They need soft acidic water. Ideally, all that will really do well in your water are the livebearers. If you got all male endlers you wouldn't have to worry about reproduction. Another possibility is the emerald dwarf rasbora (Danio erythromicron) as they are some of the only rasbora that thrive in harder water.

A 10 gal is a bit small for harlequin rasbora, tho. And celestial pearl danio can't tolerate hard water. If you're looking for an easy to come by fish, you really don't have too many options aside from guppies and endlers livebearer.

Yes they can they are native to hard water.

[thekoimaiden]

Originally Posted by ChoclateBetta

Yes they can they are native to hard water.

Care to share a source on that? All of my sources say they are native to slightly alkaline (pH above 7) yet soft water (GH below 8). Captive bred specimens can survive in harder water (up to 15dGH), but will not do well in very hard water as it appears the OP has.

[ChoclateBetta]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danio_margaritatus http://www.fishchannel.com/freshwate...ial-pearl.aspx http://www.aquariumpassion.com/profi...asbora-sp.html tmpl=component&print=1&page= Also mine are in 7.6 and they are danios also called celestial pearl danios.