# help me stock my FW 10 gal with the coolest possible community of fish!



## haikyoboy (Jun 6, 2013)

Hi everyone! this is my first post aside from a quick intro one.

I have just started a 10 gal FW set up. I'm experienced with reptiles but this is my first go at an aquarium.

I have three snails, 2 whitecloud minnows, some java ferns and anubias in there right now.

I had three minnows but one jumped out of a transfer bowl when I was rescaping the plants and died. I feel pretty bad about it.

so I'm asking two things:

1 what can I put in this tank (and how much) to make it the coolest community planted tank possible?

-I'm looking at definitely some cherry shrimp, maybe a loach or some cory's and more minnows or maybe neon tetras, maybe with a single "centerpiece" as others call it, but I don't know what that might be. Alternatively something mean looking or predatory would be cool by itself, as I could easily relocated the whiteclouds. I'll take toothy and scary looking over ornate and flamboyant any day of the week.

2 the minnows have laid eggs on a plant stalk, what do i need to do?

thanks in advance for your ideas and suggestions!


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## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

Hi there, welcome to BCA!

I'm sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but you've made a classic beginners mistake. 10 gallon tanks are notoriously difficult to stock properly, and the small volume of water means that if anything goes wrong, it will go VERY wrong.

Don't feel bad though, it's an easy mistake to make, one that I did when I was starting out, and I'm sure many others here have done it as well. There *are* some fish that can live in a 10G like the cherry shrimp you mentioned (I have a shrimp only 5 gallon which is one of my favourites to look at, but they're sensitive to water quality issues, so you should wait til you have a mature tank)

I'd say that you could fit another 6 white cloud minnows in there, but it wouldn't be ideal... Also there wouldn't be room for anything else, but the ones you have should be kept in groups of at least six, so either get more or rehome the ones you have.

You could go for some dwarf or pygmy corydoras. You could set up a really awesome tank for a Betta (by itself - in a larger tank you could keep a Betta in a community), or maybe a Paradise gourami (by itself), you might fit in one or two pea puffers (with nothing else).

Here's a great article about stocking smaller tanks, and a list of species that will fit in 5, 10, and 20 gallon setups. Stocking 5, 10 and 20 Gallon FW Aquariums

If you have any other questions don't hesitate to ask. Good luck!

edit: I'm guessing that the eggs are snail eggs, as WCMM eggs are tiny and non-adhesive (I think).


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## Reckon (Jul 25, 2012)

Puffers are not community fish are they? They tend to require different parameters to other fish. Gouramis tend to be bullies. I say consider some killifish, small rasboras, or pseudomugil rainbow fish. All of these fish I've mentioned also have great personalities.

Everybody seems to have their own opinions on what are cool fish. For example you can see in my signature that I love my Heterandrias; however, they aren't that colorful and they are very small so some people may pass them by. I think they have fantastic personalities, great petites, and are very hardy. They fit very nicely into my 4 gallon tank.

I do agree with Livyding that pygmy corydoras would be great in a 10gal tank. You can find these at Canadian Aquatics. 
Also you can add some otos. I know fantasy aquatics has some pretty cool zebra ones. Beware the 'coolest fish' aren't always 'cheap' fish.
Livyding is also right in that you need to be mindful of how many fish you stock.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

you can add some corydoras pygme x 12. They are dwarf and wont produce too much waste. Add 1 blue ram to be a center piece, or a few coral red pencils as center piece fish as they won't grow big.


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## haikyoboy (Jun 6, 2013)

These are all great responses guys, thanks for the input!

So a kuhli loach is definitely a no go in this set up? 
and are shrimp really such a gamble in a 10 gal if I really do my research? I'm a meticulous dude.
How big do blue rams get? 
What would be the max # of shrimp or an ideal mix of shrimp and whiteclouds?

thanks!


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## Livyding (Feb 6, 2013)

The Kuhli loach is on the list of possible stock for the 10G in that link I gave you, and they do have quite a small adult size, but if you look at videos on Youtube of them doing what's known as "the loachy dance" you'll see why I'm suggesting a bigger tank. I have a bunch of Kuhli loaches in a 33 gallon, and when they're dancing, they use up literally every inch, doing giant figure eights from one end to the other. 

I really can't imagine them in less than a 33, even though they're so small, they swim as much as my Danios do when the lights are out, and watching a fish zoom back and forth in a small tank just gives you a headache. 

Ultimately it's up to you what you stock, no one can force you, but for your sake I suggest stocking lightly, gradually, and choosing fish and critters that are known to be "hardy". 

You seem to be keen on the cherry shrimp, which I think is a good choice... It's not a huge gamble, since they are quite cheap, and compared to other species of dwarf shrimp, they are relatively hardy, but practically all shrimp seem to be more sensitive to poor water quality than fish, at least in my experience. When I was first starting out in the hobby, I spent a LOT of money on shrimp that didn't last the night, but to be fair, that was when I thought a filter was used to make coffee, and cycling was something done on a bike. 

Later on when I'd set up a proper tank, I got cherries again, and had no die-offs, but it still was a learning curve... I didn't understand about buffering, didn't know what acidity and alkalinity meant, so my cherries were living in quite soft water, which meant that they got quite sickly in the days leading up to the weekly partial water change. 

As long as you keep up the water quality, and have water that isn't soft and acidic, they should be fine. And they're not as expensive as other ornamental shrimp, so maybe start off with 5 or 10, and if they're still alive after a week or two, add more. 
I'd say that if you wanted shrimp and nothing else in a 10G you could fit 50-100 (100 might be pushing it, but dwarf shrimp typically stock up to 10 per gallon)

Keep in mind that if you want to see the shrimp behave naturally, you'll be limited in what you can put in there with them, since they have a healthy fear of most fish, but I found them to be somehow aware that they weren't in danger when I housed them with dwarf corydoras, and a bristlenose pleco. The shrimp would even land on the BN's head from time to time - I don't recommend a BN in such a small tank though... 

Oto's could work, but they're one of those "sensitive" fish, and are notorious for mysteriously dying with no apparent cause... So are Blue Rams for that matter, but I don't know if that's just because they're sensitive to poor water quality like most cichlids, or because they're mass-farmed in Asia where they're juiced with antibiotics. 

If you do want a ram, go for local bred or wild caught. I've never kept that species so what I've just said is purely hearsay, but I do have a Bolivian Ram who I am very partial to, but again, cichlid = pristine water, and 10G is a very small amount of water, and things can go bad FAST. 

If you do get otos, make sure you've had your tank running and completely cycled for at least 3 months, and be prepared to feed them zucchiini or cucumber daily. I never got mine to eat any sort of algae wafers, or any other kind of prepared food, and from researching online, I think that is the norm. 

Then after all that (had a group of 5 for about a year, 1 died shortly after purchasing with no apparent cause), I lost all of my Otos when I moved to a new house and the tank had a mini-cycle when I refilled it. Just depressing all around! 

Basically, you can keep the cherry shrimp with almost any fish that is small enough that it can't fit the shrimp in his mouth, like white clouds for example, but if you want to see your shrimp behave naturally, stick to non-predators. 

If you want to go for shrimp and white clouds, I'd say get 8 white clouds, and 10-20 cherry shrimp, but make sure there's a lot of moss and plants for the shrimps to hide in, or else you might never see them, and all the baby shrimplets will be eaten.

Sorry for the novel, I get started then I go on for pages and pages if I don't stop myself!


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## discuspaul (Jul 2, 2010)

If you feel shrimp may be too much of a challenge for you at the moment, you might consider a group of tiny, but very colorful Boraras - either Boraras Brigittae (Chili Rasboras) or Boraras Maculatus (google these for images) - they're generally available here in Vancouver, inexpensive, and grow to a maximum of only 3/4" at best - usually stay smaller. 
You could keep a group of up to 15 or more in a 10 gal, of one or the other species, or a combination of these 2 varieties.
Alternatively, you could think about getting a group of say 6 to 10 Celestial Pearl Danios, (which seldom grow larger than about 1"), or mix 5 or 6 of the CPD's with 8 to 10 of the Boraras. 
This would make a very cool combination in a 10 gal tank.


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## Steve (Mar 27, 2013)

If you are looking for cool behavioral fish - you could look into doing some small tanganyikans (specifically shell dwellers). The smaller ones get to like 1.5-2.5 inches long and you could potentially keep like 4-6 in a tank. You would have to worry about buffering water to a very high alkalinity (I keep mine at a pH around 9, although I know many keep theirs around 7.6). Blue rams are cool but they can be fairly picky with water quality and are best kept in pairs (minimum 20 gallon). I personally think apistogramma cacotuoides are some of the best looking small fresh water fish, however they are quite tough to keep as the water quality needs to be quite pristine and they are aggressive so you would need to design a tank with a lot of hiding places (they may also try to eat small cherry shrimp). If your tank hasn't cycled yet I'd highly suggest waiting a couple months for the nitrogen cycle to complete before getting any fish that are semi expensive.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

If shrimp is your main concern, then get smaller fish. I would skip all the dwarf cichlids like rams, apistogramma, and such. 

Do you have a glass top? If so, try the following...
x number of shrimp 
12 pygme cory
either a few coral red pencil, or 12 cardinals, or 12 any rasbora.
6 marble hatchet to keep the upper level busy (need glass top as they jump)
3 oto for aglae control


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## shady280 (Oct 17, 2011)

id also recommend the dwarf corys. theyare fun to watch and keep the excess food down to nothing. i really love rasbora, hardy and colourful, fun to watch. ive the most luck with chilli rasbora. not as much with galaxy (pearl celestial danio) rasbora. also seconding the oto suggestion, they are great little eaters and stay small too. my chilli rasbora dont eat shrimp babys in my 5 gal either.


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## Vmax (Mar 16, 2013)

What about some Endlers? .. small and colorful.


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