Caught the fish bug

[SlinkyInk]

Since I got my betta I've been dying to get more fish! And not just bettas. So yesterday I picked up a 10 gal and started cycling it today. I plan on putting about 8 neon tetras and some ghost shrimp. The tank will reside in my daughter's room and she is very excited about learning to take care of fish.

Here's a photo pre-fish:



I'm also thinking of adding some danios, too.

I've also been trolling craigslist for larger tanks. I'd love to get a 70 gal at some point in the future.

[ladayen]

Dont put danios in a 10g. They are rather actve swimmers and will be cramped. For the neons I would add some more decorations. They like to swim around and in between decorations. If theres not enough cover they will simply hover around a single plant and be rather boring to watch.

For future reference a darker substrate (gravel, sand and the like) is recommended with a dark background as this tends to make the fish more secure bringing out more colors. Also the colors contrast with the dark around it and seem brighter so you get a double bonus.

[SlinkyInk]

What about Rasboras? Do you think they'd make a better tank mate?

[redchigh]

one problem is that fish will likely appear 'washed out' due to the flourescent gravel... Albino species won't show this as much.

Have you considered male guppies? They're colorful, active, and hardy... And don't mind bright gravel ;)

[Jrf456]

Originally Posted by redchigh

one problem is that fish will likely appear 'washed out' due to the flourescent gravel... Albino species won't show this as much.

Have you considered male guppies? They're colorful, active, and hardy... And don't mind bright gravel ;)

^^genius

No pun intended! LOVE the idea of the male guppies. Just make sure you either get all males or all females. They breed like rabbits!

[tpocicat]

Of course if they breed, there is free protein for the other fish. If you don't mind the fact that big fish eat little fish that is.

[Sakura8]

Oh no, the fish bug claims another victim! Haha, yes, I know what you mean. Once you have fish, you need MORE!

For a cycled 10g that you keep up on the water changes, 8 neons, the shrimp, and maybe 4 guppies would be great.

And yes, they've actually done a study that fish with a dark substrate show better colors.

[MaisyDawgThirteen]

My gups look great with black gravel. :) Sometimes male guppies get a little aggressive, (like mine lol) so if you can find females that are not pregnant I'd get those.

[SlinkyInk]

Thank you all for your advice! I appreciate it I think today I will pick up a dark background for the tank and new substrate. Do you think I could mix the neon substrate with the black and still get a good effect? My daughter really wants the bright colors in there somewhere.

I was also thinking about what I could do about the light source. It currently has incandescent lighting, which I'm not a fan of. I think flourecent would be a better choice. I read somewhere that lighting with a blue tinge is probably the best.

I suggested guppies to my daughter, but she didn't really like the look of them. She's really attracted to the glowy fish. My friend has a ton of guppies that she's been trying to pawn on people who want them. She had a bit of a population explosion.

[Sakura8]

Yeah. Even if you get just females, often they're already fertilized so they can drop up to 4 litters from just one spawning. You could still end up with some fry.