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My wife wants to setup a small aquarium for our living room. She wants a ten gallon I on the otherhand am trying to talk her into at least a 20 gallon if not a 29. The question at hand however is she wants some fish with color. If I cannot convince here to go with the larger tanks what can some of you recommend for a ten gallon that is colorful? No bettas!

Some nice female bettas would add color.
A small school of neons or dwarf rasboras.
A pair of kribs
killifish
Dwarf rainbowfish like threadfins

Not all at once, of course, but those are some options to mix and match according to your skill level and what you personally like.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

It's possible to stock a 10 with colorful fish if you are willing to do a species tank but it can require work to both find and then take care of those fish. Sparkling gouramis or their close relatives like the croaking gouramis would work well. I'd probably do 5 sparkling or 3-4 croaking. Threadfins are a good idea since they are quite small with long colorful fins. Can be expensive in some areas though. They want $12 per fish here so I got mine online and they are fairly sensitive to water quality as well. 1 breeding pair of blue rams may work but they are slightly cramped in a 10g and the fry are best removed if they accomplish raising any. Also sensitive to water quality. For tetras about all that fits and is easily found are neons or cardinals. Smaller livebearers like guppies and endlers work and can have lots of color but it's hard to find a place to take the fry.

If your looking for a very low maintenance colorful tank I'd just do shrimp. Rainbow shrimp come in a variety of colors from blue and yellow to red and brown and will breed quite easily in a tank that is at least lightly planted. Cherry shrimp have the same requirements but are all bright red. Shrimp produce very little waste so if you plant the tank at all you don't have to do many water changes. My shrimp tank is moderately planted and has not had a water change in 6months.

For a colorful, inexpensive, easy maintenance 10 gallon tank, I'd go for 5 male guppies and some red cherry shrimp or green shrimp.

Hi there,
heres a couple suggestions for good tank
stockings for a 10g:

6 Cory Hasbrosus or Pygmaeus
And:

2-4 Beckfords Pencils
or
6 Neon/Glolight/Lemon/Cochus Blue/Ember/ etc Tetras
or
6 Harlequin/Lambchop/Emerald etc Rasboras
or
6 White Cloud Minnows

Other ideas:
6 Threadfin Rainbows or Celebes Rainbows or Blue Eyed Rainbows, or Dwarf Neon (praecox) Rainbows

Sparkling or Croaking Gouramis or Licorice if you can find em and want a challenge, or Dwarf Gourami Pair.

Pair of Blue Rams

Shrimps of almost any kind

A dwarf crayfish

Guppies or Endlers or Platy livebearers

Killifish

Shelldwellers

lots of ideas and options!



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I would not add cochus or white clouds. These guys are extremely active and cochus are a fairly good size when grown. With cochus you wouldn't need a proper school since they are one of the few nonschooling tetras but these guys are so hyper they look like blue streaks in the tank. 3 of them can dominant my 55g. White clouds are smaller but prefer large schools and also bounce around a tank everywhere. I'd class them along with danios and suggest a 20g long minimum. I've also found white clouds to occasionally be extremely nippy and when moved to a smaller tank my 8 nearly wiped out every other fish in there over night.

Licorice gouramis are possible although very sensitive to water quality and not something I'd suggest for a 10g to just anyone. They definitely surpass blue rams in their care level and are one of the few fish I would actually suggest lowering the ph for. They do not acclimate easily or survive well in high ph, harder water.

Another suggestion if you can find them(I just ran into some yesterday) are the spiketail(aka brown) paradise gouramis. The normal blue and red paradise gourami will not work since they are fairly big, agressive, and active but the spiketails stay much smaller and more peaceful. About equivalent to some of the calmer female bettas and a trio would probably get along fine in a 10g. They are mostly brown with stripes and blue tipped fins. Some also have orange or reddish hues.

I concur over the Liquorice Gouramis. They are definitely a specialist fish, not least because they NEED live food.

For a tiny gourami try [Trichopsis pumilus, the Green Croaking Gourami. Possibly the smallest of all Labyrinth Fishes, and a LOT easier to care for than a Liquorice Gourami.

Among the colourful Killies you could try as an alternative are Epiplatys annulatus, the Rocket Panchax, and any of the Poropanchax species of Lamp Eye Killies. They're all nice and tiny.

A tiny Tetra that would also be appropriate would be the Ember Tetra - at 4 cm and with a relatively sedentary disposition, 6 or maybe even 8 would live in a 10G setup.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I have to respectfully disagree with the comments
about white clouds. Having kept white clouds in all my tanks at various times over their lifes, Ive had them in a 90g, a 75g, a 25g and a 10g, and I noticed 0 difference in their behaviour or territory used in any of these tanks.
White clouds are not an active fish like danios, hardly. They are schooling and quite sedentary, prefering to hang in one surface area of about 6 inches square with some floating plants.
Easily, 6-8 could be kept in a 10g tank with no problems,
I know, I kept mine there for 2 years.
White clouds are not nippy in the slightest, I have never seen them show interest in any fish but themselves, and have never seen a single nip mark on any white cloud I have owned, which is close to 30.

Also, about Licorice Gourami, You will/ should notice I clearly stated "Licorice if you can find em and want a challenge,", of course assuming everyone would understand that when I said if you want a challenge, that means a more difficult fish to care for.

I caution purchasing Paradise fish ...be sure to quarantine and use a quality de-wormer on any commercially bred Paradise fish, as 1 in 3 on average are infested with Camallanus Nematodes...at least the ones that come from Seagrest Farms in Florida are ...I no longer purchase any commercially bred fish from this farm due to severe camallanus issues.

Also - thanks for the statement about Cochus - I have researched them and was of the belief according to most websites that they only acheived about 1 inch maximum,
I didnt know they got bigger than that.
I also read they are strong schoolers - which clearly is not the case. Thanks!


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Gouramis are just too e to maladies caused by poor water parameters for a ten, IMO. The parameters in a ten can spike very quickly, and a strict cleaning/water change schedule must be adhered to. My ten holds a male betta and two otos and thats it. I'd keep the stocking light to avaiod those problems, or definitely use a larger tank. 4-5 harlies and 2-3 otos might work, but still require the water changes. for a ten in general, regardless of stocking I'd change at least three gallons twice a week.

If I was running something as small as a ten, it would get water changes daily to make sure

But then, I'd use it for the same purposes that other long term fishkeepers use small tanks for ... specialist fishes. If I had a constant live food culture of my own to keep them fed, I'd take on the Liquorice Gouramis because I now have an accessible source for this species along with several other nice speciality fishes, but before taking on something like that, I'd need the guaranteed live food source (and one that wouldn't break the bank, therefore a culture of my own would be on the shopping list here!).

Another use for a 10G is to fire up your own live food culture - in my case I'd run with Gammarus and Crangonyx freshwater amphipods, as the juvenile stages of these make superb fish food for a variety of fishes.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I know plenty of people have had no problems with white clouds but I would never risk it again. I had 8 in a 20g long by themselves and they bounced around everywhere. They were never still and seemed quite cramped. When I temporarily moved them to another tank they shredded my congo tetras fins, killed 2 otos, and nipped at every other fish in the tank until I removed them. The only tank they could get along in was my 30g with 4 yoyos and an angelfish. The angel kept them in line and the yoyos were faster than they were. Every other tank they injured the other fish. So far they are the nippiest fish I have ever kept.

I've never had a paradise or gourami with nematodes. I wonder if it was that certain supplier you were getting them from. You should keep an eye on and quarantine any new fish just in case but I've had lots more trouble with rams than gouramis. Also to make sure we avoid confusion I specifically said I'm not talking about the true paradise fish but the spiketails. They tend to get called paradise but are nothing like the usual blue/red striped paradise fish which I most definitely would not recommend for a 10g.

When I read the above, I thought, "Ah, a job for the old Innes book" ...

Innes originally mentioned a species which he listed as Macropodus cupanus dayi, a subspecies of Macropodus cupanus. The taxonomists have been at work since then, and now we have two separate species of 'Spiketailed Paradise Fish', namely (links to pics from Fishbase):

Pseudosphromenus cupanus

and:

Psuedosphromenus dayi

Now this begs the question somewhat: which of the two species did you keep?

Both are listed as 7.5 cm fishes (profiles for the two species on Fishbase here]http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/speciesSummary.php?ID=11228&genusname=Pseudosphromenus&speciesname=cupanus[/link] and [link=here) and both fishes appear to have similar requirements (though oddly, the latter species, which is the more attactive of the two by far, with its natty stripes and coloured tail, doesn't have "aquariumommercial" in its importance listing - eh?).

As for White Clouds, I haven't found them to be overly vicious - perhaps you were unlucky Sham, and obtained a rogue batch, just like my rogue Beckford's Pencil Fishes, which are "supposedly" peaceful schooling fishes, but in my case ended up behaving like Bayoubuddy's psychotic Melanochromis chipokae ...

[Edited for typos in taxonomic names]


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

I've never seen cupanus in stores. I searched for Pseudosphromenus dayi for months and never found any but recently they are showing up in lots of stores around here. Most sites list their adult size as 2.5" and the biggest possible size I've seen is 3". They are much more mild mannered than the Macropodus species especially Macropodus opercularis which is the common paradise fish. I'd say their personality is closer to that of the sparkling gouramis which mine get along with most any fish provided they aren't cramped too much. They aren't quite as hardy as macropodus species but are much hardier than licorice gouramis as well as the Trichopsis species like sparkling gouramis. If you need something as hardy as macropodus though then you really shouldn't be keeping fish. It takes a heck of alot to kill a paradise fish. Some sites call spiketails the poor man's licorice gourami because of their much easier care requirements. If I had room in my tank now I'd grab a few of these guys.

I've never had a paradise or gourami with nematodes. I wonder if it was that certain supplier you were getting them from.

Sham, yes I totally agree it is the supplier.
Unfortunately, where I live, 95% of the fish stores
get their fish all from this same supplier "Seagrest Farms - Florida". I have stopped purchasing fish entirely due to the fact that over 80% of all the fish Ive purchased that came from their farm were infested with Camallanus Nematodes, and these were immune to every single commercial fish wormer on the market.

I have never seen either of the gouramis in your pictures
Cali, I had a regular Paradise Gourami, whom I kept quite happily for over a year in my 10g tank, and it held on for over a year with the largest infestation of Camallanus I have ever seen. I finally euthanized the fish once the camallanus "paintbrush" started looking like a water color 10mm brush! Gross indeed, poor fish still seemed happy and healthy up to the end!
Anyway, Ive since found a non-commercial fish wormer, Fenbendazole, and all new fish I get will be QT'ed and dewormed with this prior to ever entering my tanks.

Anyway, Cichlididiot, I get a sense we are coming down to the problem 10g vs 20g or more. If you can convince the wife to go with a 20g or larger, you would have a lot other options. Have you made any decisions or liked any of our suggestions?




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If you wanted something kinda different.. I would suggest some dwarf puffer fish.

they are so cute.
im sure you could fit about 4 in there if not a few more.
these guys are really curious.. and when you walk up to the tank, they come right up to the front like they are saying HEY!!!! what are you? haha.

they are really neat and interesting fish.

=]].

-kristin

~!!I lOve LiFe!!~

Ah, the dreaded Camallanus.

BEFORE PROCEEDING, TAKE NOTE - HAZARD WARNINGS CONTAINED BELOW!

I wrote a piece on this once - containing information from one of my infamous TFH back numbers. The article Camallanus by Dr Mark P. Dulin (TFH, April 1977, pp 60-64) covers this particualrly nasty Genus of parasitic nematodes in some detail. At that time, one of the recommendations contained in the article came from Dr Gottfried Schubert (who researched the parasite and its effects upon farmed food fishes) - he discovered that an organophosphorus insecticide called Trichlorfon works against Camallanus, and this might be a treatment to use if the strain of CAmallanus encountered is resistant to commercial de-wormers. Dosages are 0.25 ppm for freshwater fishes, 1.0 ppm for saltwater fishes. Trichlorfon, if you resort to it (and it SHOULD be considered a weapon of last resort) needs VERY careful handling, as like all organophosphorus insecticides, it is toxic to Man, and thus special precautions are required when handling the substance. Do NOT even ATTEMPT to use Trichorfon yourself unless you are well versed in handling substances of this class - seek assistance if you are dealing with a recalcitrant Camallanus infection in prized/expensive fishes from a competent person.

The BIG problem with Trichlorfon is that it is rapidly hydrolysed in water, and after about 6-8 hours is considered to have little therapeutic value, so the aquarium needs re-dosing regularly. Trouble is, the doses need to be timed with care, because an accidental overdose will kill the fishes a lot more quickly than the Camallanus will ... also, Trichlorfon is HIGHLY toxic to crustaceans in particular among invertebrates, so if used for treating marine fishes, it can ONLY be used in a fairly sterile fish-only set up or a purpose-established hospital aquarium. Likewise, it will wipe out ornamental shrimps in a freshwater aquarium in a matter of hours at the dosages used to treat Camallanus.

If anyone here on the Board encounters a recalcitrant strain of Camallanus that is resistant to commercial treatments, and decides to resort to Trichlorfon, HANDLE THIS SUBSTANCE WITH GREAT CARE because it is POTENTIALLY LETHAL TO MAN IF HANDLED UNWISELY!


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

A couple Pearl (Lace) Gouramis and some Neons would look nice....





***************************************
Just one more tank........

Trichlorfon, ugh horrid stuff.
I tried that, didnt do anything for the worms
but killed several fish.

On recommendation from a Vetrinarian,
I purchased the granulated form of Panacur
de-wormer, the active ingredient of which is
Fenbendazole.
It worked excellently and at no loss of fish.

Patrick, Pearl gouramis at 4 inches I think
are little big for a 10g tank.


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Pearl Gouramis are definitely too big for a 10. I had a pair in my 10 gal. quarrantine tank for a week while I replanted their home tank, and they looked terribly cramped, didn't move a lot, and the male got very aggressive because he took up half the tank as his territory and the othe fish simply couldn't help but go into it, and there was no where to chase them, so everyone was just stressed out. It wasn't a good week for the fishes.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

what about 2 kribensis, they have nice color, especially if you take care of them well. OR what about 2 neon dwarf gourami and some cories for the bottom.