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I have a 10 gallon aquarium, and for about the past year i have just kept it pretty simple, Cory's and live bearers. I am getting tired of it and ready to do it over. I don't know what to set it up as though. Does anyone have any unique ideas as to what to do with the tank? I would like to keep it natural looking, (as in all natural aquascaping and plants, no fake stuff for me! but as far as it goes, I don't know what to do for fish, or plants, or set up. If you have any unique ideas feel free to share! Thanks!

I can't help you in the plant department, because I only use "the fake stuff" but as far as fish, you could do dwarf african frogs (I have two of them, and I think they're adorable!), shrimp, a betta, tetras, and I'm sure there's more, but that's good for a start.

Good luck!

As far as the plants you have lots of options and I suggest you research some plants before making any choices but crypts, micro swords, dwarf swords, most stem plants, you options are pretty well open i just suggest staying away from plants that get too big like swords because they might take over the tank.

Stem plants would be good but you'd have to prune them and etc to make sure they are staying in line...

As far as fish or livestock your options are also not as limited as you might think!
You can do shrimp and snails, small tetras, rasboras, small loaches (khuli, dwarf, etc), your corries or nearly anything. You could even keep your current livebearers and cories and just rescape the tank. or maybe sell/trade some of your live bearers for an interesting betta or dwarf gourami as a centerpiece fish (that will also act as a population controller.

maybe post up a pic or two of what you have and we can help you adjust what you have first before you need to go out and buy more than you actually needed to.

Good luck~
-Brandon

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

i know dwarf guarami arent small fish, but they will be fine in a ten gallon tank?

They stay relatively small and a single one as a center piece fish will be fine with few smaller fish.

I know alot of people who keep them in smaller set ups because gouramis can breathe from the surface so they do well in small tanks as well as larger tanks.

\\\\\\\"an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of the cure\\\\\\\"

Dwarf Gourami will stay small enough for a 10g but you could go with 2 Honey Guorami (Trichogaster chuna) instead. They are a bit smaller and more peaceful.

Another option would be a pair of one of the smaller apisto species. If you decide on that forget the Guorami.

Best thing to think of though is what YOU like. That will be your centerpiece and plan everything else around that fish.

As for plants I'd stick with smaller crypts, Java fern, and perhaps an Anubia. All are low light and low maintenance plants. The Fern and Anubia can be tied down to rocks or driftwood to which they will attach themselves. If you do get an Anubia make sure you don't bury the rhyzome if you plant it in gravel or it will rot and die!

I am with jafo, the Honey Gourami's are spectacular. You could get away with a couple Honeys and maybe 6-8 harlequin rasboras or lemon tetras. That would make a beautiful, peaceful planted tank...


Good luck!

How about this for my 10g tank:
-2 dwarf Gourami (Specific typed not decided yet =])
-school of about 5 tetras (any ideas on which kind i should get?)
-some emerald cory's i already have
-2 cherry shrimp

Do any of these not go well together? and if so which ones and why. Any idea on what i should do for floating plants also? Thanks for the input!

Hi,
IMO you are really "pushing" the capacity of that 10 Gallon
aquarium with that population. Along with the capacity
of the tank, you also have to consider the surface area of
the tank. The area exposed to the atmosphere is where the
gases (Oxygen & Carbon Dioxide) are exchanged between the
aquarium water and the atmosphere.

Here is one of dozens of articles that go further than the
old "one inch of fish per gallon" rule of thumb:

http://www.firsttankguide.net/capacity.php

You will note that for the 10G tank your options are
rather limited. Additionally, you need to consider the
filtration, aeration, and the feeding habits of the fish.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

The tank will be too small for 2 dwarf Gourami. They can be aggressive and there's no where to run for the nondominant fish!

Frank is right on. A smaller tank isn't easy to get back stable if anything gets off even a little.

lets say i was to get a bigger tank, is it ok to have the fish i listed all in one tank together?

I have a 10g I started out with Cardinals and 1M Betta but finally decided on
A very heavily planted tank mixed Crypts and Anubias
I bought a AquOne Hob filter for a bigger tank, I also have a small fine air wand and a good 3ins of 1-3mm substrate.

Now I have Cardinal Tetras and CRS breeding like crazy, plus 3 Khuli Loaches.
I do two water changes a week a 15 lt Sat or Sun and a 7lt mid week.
The filter has been slightly altered I have a mix of foam and filter wool. I also have a sponge over the inlet this stops the baby shrimp getting sucked into the filter, It also keeps the impeller cleaner. All this has increased the filter material by at least 25%
It is pulled down and cleaned every week.

If I did not do this extra work I would not like to think what would happen

Having tanks for about 40 years now I will honestly admit it has been the hardest tank to set up and maintain. There is no room for any errors at all.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info
Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith


Near enough is not good enough, therefore good enough is not near enough, and only your best will do.
I VOTE DO YOU if not WHY NOT?
VOTE NOW VOTE NOW

Hi. I too have thought what to do with my ten. It started as a hospital tank, then was a dwarf puffer tank and so on and so on. For the last couple years it has housed a school of cards along with a few ottos which are all doing very well. As for the Gouramis, IMO the ten is just too small, even for the dwarf varieties. They are just too e to water borne maladies and the parameters in a ten can and will spike just too frequently. You would have to do water changes a couple times a week, which I did when my gouramis were in it. They just didn't do well. came down with dropsy. put them into the 29 g as soon as they were better and they perked up right away, but they're just too fragile for a ten I think. As for plants, I've only done swords but they too failed... the light wasn't right.

You should try a tanginyaka (did I spell that right) aquarium. Ive got 3 in an 18 gallon tank and theyre thriving!