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The sparkling gourami is Trichopsis Pumilas, they grow to about 3cm. Here is a link:http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/sparklinggourami.xml

I am putting hte bristle nose in the big tank and in hte small tank:
4 platys
2 sparkling gouramis
1 betta

No, 4 inches is still too big for a 10 gallon. Especially since the fish is a pleco, who are poop machines!

If you can't even have a 1 or 2 gallon bowl, then you'll just have to forgo the betta until later.

---

They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

The peppermint catfish is an ancistrus speceis I think it is ancistrus dolichopterus, that is what it looks like on planet catfish. They get to about 12cm. I already have a hospital/quarantine tank and I am not allowed any more tanks including 2/3 gallons.

Shannen, most plecs get upwards of a foot or more. Can you compare/contrast that with a peppermint catfish for my account? Is it more like the BN that stays smaller or is it like a common that gets very large?

I'm not a fan of any plec, including BN's in 10 gallons as it severely limits stocking, and because of aggression issues. The smaller the space.....the more aggressive some species can be.

I have to agree with Shannen on Plecs in the 10 gallon. Is it not possible for you to upgrade to a bigger tank and use the 10 gallon for quarantine and hospital.

I also agree on not putting a betta in a community tank. There is something very graceful about a betta in still waters that is lost in a community tank, setting aside other issues. Their fins are easily shredded just by getting too close to a filter intake, as well. I have two bettas, each in their own 2 & 3 gallon tanks. They are filtered with UGF's because there is nothing for them to catch their fins on.

I have sent you a PM Labrakitty. Reply when you can!


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The peppermint is another pleco. This one is more of a carnivore tho, and should be fed accordingly.

Still it is a pleco. This will be my last post in any of your threads as you are not willing to listen to reason.

Changing what kind of pleco you "shove" in a 10 gal does not change the fact that all plecos are poo machines, and even your revised tank is overstocked.

Go ahead, anything you do will be fine. Anything you think will be fine. Anything you try to keep in that tank will end up dead.

I'm done.

Do us all a favor. If you will not take our advise, please do not ask us. It just leads to people not liking you and getting upset at you and your bad husbandry.

Do what you want with your tanks..I'm sure it will be fine.

Just leave those who know better out of it mmmkay.

Regards

Done Shannen

Last edited by Shannen at 05-Mar-2005 21:09

From my own experience, I would not recommend a betta in a community tank. Especially with other fish that are going to compete for the same space in the tank. Your ten gallon is overstocked even without the betta.

So it does have plants? That explains the low nitrates.

The surface area rule is not just about nitrates or filters, its about oxygen levels too. It is best to stay within.

I'm not sure what a peppermint catfish is. Have you located the profile to look at compatibilties, as well as potential size?

With the left over space in the 10 gallon, could I add 3 ghost shrimp or something? Like:
3 ghost shrimp
4 platys
2 sparkling gouramis
1 peppermint catfish
1 betta splendens
Could thsi be ok? or the other idea was better.

Please keep replying!

There are tons of live plants and I am not adding co2. I have an aquarium light right above that my grandpa attachted for me since he has a light factory.

My nitrates are still on 5ppm when i do a water change, they never go above that, and this is when I had 10 fish in there. I now have 5 because of a filter malfuntion. The bristle nose are about 7cm now, I figured as i became more experienced that they would need a bigger tank, as when I was a beginner the BAD LFS told me that they would be fine.(I never go there again.)

Ok, my tank is 50cm by 30cm = 1500 devided by 30 (because I am working with cm.)=50cm of fish.
Bristle nose 2=25cm
Platys 4= 20
Sparkling gourami 1=2cm
Siamese fighting fish= 5cm

Ok, that would be a bit overstocked, but to be honest I have never seen my gourami poop. Let alone eat more htat 2 pieces of crumbled flake, but i assume he eats beacause he is alive an kicking!

I was actually thinking of moving both the bristle nose to the big tank and putting a peppermint bristlenose/catfish in the smaller tank. Would this work:

10 gallon=50cm of fish
4 platys-20cm
2 sparkling gouramis-5cm
1 peppermint catfish-12.5cm
1 siamese fighting fish-5cm
8 fish total=42.5cm
Would this be ok?

33 gallon:
2 lace gouramis
4 pristella tetras
6 rummy nose tetras
3 panda corys
3 shwartzi corys
2 bristle nose catfish
20 fish total
Would this be ok?

Will the bristle nose be ok with the corys and not hurt them? There is about 5 pieces of big bogwood in there and a big surface area, 50cm by 63cm by 40cm high. They are both male so they will probobly be better of in a bigger tank since I once caught them fighting.

Thanks so much for helping me and persuading me to swap them around. I was worried about the peppermint that I would never see it again in the big tank since I will buy it at 1 inch.

I think I will get a crown tail betta, I wonder what I will name it?

I wouldn't add a betta with gourmanis. They are upper level fish and will compete for the same space.

Ok - so that is a pygmy variety.

The problem is with the bristlenose, as shown above in Shannen's pic.

How big are your BN's now?

Your parameters look good now, but I'm interested in how fast your nitrates get to 20ppm, which would indicate another water change. It may stay below 20ppm with weekly changes now, but not when those BN's get to be a good 5 inches.

If you look at the surface area rule for stocking, it is length x width in inches, then divide that number by 12. That is the total number adult fish inches (not current size) that should be in the tank. 10 gallon tanks are death traps that turn on a dime with regards to toxins even with normal stocking (not exceeding surface area rule).

I'd start saving for a 20 long, which has a larger surface area and move in that direction rather than seeing just how much you can cram into the 10. It's just a matter of time as the BN's grow.

Are you adding supplemental co2 - like, for a planted tank? Or are there no live plants? I just ask because your co2 level in that tank is about 9ppm with a kH of 3 and a pH of 7.0.

Last edited by Cory_Di at 05-Mar-2005 13:29

I have a 10 gallon with:
4 platys
2 sparkling gouramis
2 bristle nose catfish
Could I add a betta to this set up? I will have an aquaball eheim filter. (Getting one today as I am getting rid of my aquaclear 150 that sucked up and killed my 3 last guppies.)

Thanks so much!
P.S. This topic is posted in the betta forum too, but it is not getting any replys so I am posting it here aswell.

Last edited by labrakitty at 04-Mar-2005 15:59

Last edited by labrakitty at 05-Mar-2005 15:14

Ammonia: 0.0
Nitrite: 0.0
Nitrate: 5.0
Ph:7.0
GH: 10dgh
KH:3 (Can't get it any higher even with KH up.)
Weekly water changes, all fish are healthy and happy.
Filter: Eheim, aquaball 2010 I think. The one with two chambers.

No offense, I wouldn't put one BN in a 10 let alone 2 with other fish. They put too much strain on the bioload.

Below you will see a pic of our full grown Albino Bristle Nose Male.

He is a good 6 inches if not 7. Males get bigger than the females IME anyhow.

And no it is not a good idea to keep any gouramis with a betta.

Can it work? sure. Would Los Vegas love these odds? yup..

A pic of our full grown ABN...

Shannen attached this image:

Definitely overstocked already.

Just for the heck of it, can you get us readings on ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH?

If ammonia and nitrite are zero, I'm very interested in the nitrate and pH levels.

Also, what is meant by a "sparkling" gourami? Is this one of the larger varieties or a known dwarf?

No betta, imho. In fact, this tank really needs to be scaled down, or a larger tank is needed.

Nope. That 10 gallon is already overstocked, like people said in the Betta Forum. The b/n plecos just get too big. They can get about 5 inches long, and are poop machines! There have been quite a few topis regarding the stock of your tank, and the general consensus has always been that it was overstocked.

Also, the gouramis might have a problem with the betta. They are both labyrinth fish that occupy the same strata.

In the end, it would really depend on the betta. They all have different personalities. You can get some that are so placid the males can be kept together, or ones so mean they kill anything and everything in the tank.

---

They shade the glow of it with their mossy-misty costumes,
They wear masks of silk, porcelain, brass, and silver,
So as not to mislead with their own, ordinary faces.

It all depends on the Betta's personality. I just recently successfully added my betta (Scurvy Jack) to my five gallon after his personal tanks filter up and died. He's doing pretty well. Your tank is getting close to too many fish, so after the betta, I wouldn't stock any farther.

To see what your betta will do with the situation, try putting him in a see-through container with his own tank water and let it sit in the 10 gallon. If he flares up and attacks the container to get to the other fish, that's a warning sign. Good luck!

labrakitty

That Eheim will be excellent I have just contacted my Aqu also a Eheim distributer and would be perfect for my Betta tank. It has a three year gurantee and always part available.

Keith

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