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I used to have my female and male guppies separated. The males were in a 10 gallon and my one female was in a 30 gallon with all her babies. Recently the younger fish were big enough for the male to female ratio to be fine in the 30 gallon so I moved all of my guppies into the one tank and it's going awesomely.

However, now I have an empty 10 gallon tank. It's got small, pebbled gravel (about 3mm?) and a Fluval 2 plus internal filter in it. I've never had plants in it, and am frankly scared of plants. None of my tanks have ever had lights.

So, I've just moved and i was thinking about stocking it. Do I have to have plants? Do I have to have a light?

I was thinking maybe 1 blue gourami, 6 gold tetras and 3 panda corys. Is this too many? Will they be ok together? Do they need plants?

No you don't have to have plants and no you don't have to have lights. In an unplanted tank the lighting is more for the viewing pleasure of the owner. However, your tank shouldn't be kept in total darkness either. I'm assuming the tank is located in a room where it receives light from windows, lamps or overhead fixtures so that would be okay.

The blue gourami is much too big when full grown for a 10 gallon tank so I wouldn't place it in the tank. The gold tetras will get to about 2", but I'm not sure of their activity level, so they could also be a bit big for the tank. The pandas should be fine, but you may want to increase the number as they pretty much like to shoal together.

You may want to consider some smaller tetra's or possibly a dwarf gourami for the tank.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

What are some smaller tetras?

And yes, the room is very light.

Cardinal tetras are smaller, very nicely coloured and pretty hardy. A school of no less than 6 would do very well in a ten. Glow lights and neons are nice but they are not as hardy. Something that few people do and I always wonder why is white cloud mountain minnows, I find them absolutely lovely fish, they are coldwater fish and they are small and clean and they don't require a heater or a light, . They are related to barbs and rasboras, very hardy.
Is there anything living in the tank now? You need to have someway of keeping the tank cycled and you haven't detailed this.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

Nothing. It hasn't been empty long. And I guess the waste from the old fish but still be keeping it fine. I test the parameters every week. They are all good.

Dwarf gouramis need to be paired, no? COuld I have two dwarf gouramis and 6 cardinal tetras? Could I still put the panda cories in?

Don't the cardnial tetras need floating plants?

My room is really well lit during the day. What kind of low light plants could I use and what kind of bulb would I need?

No, dwarf gourami's do not need to be paired. A single speciman can be kept.

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

1 Dwarf Gouami
6 Cardinal Tetras
4 Pandas
should be okay, but if you can, try DWARF corydoras, as they only grow in 1"

If there's no direct overhead tank light the cardinals should be fine. If you had a tank light then you could have some floaters or add blackwater extract to darken the water a bit for them. It makes their colours stand out more as well and mimics their natural water.

Look for dwarf or pygmy cories if you can find them, if not pandas are still less than 2" when fully grown.

To be sure the tank stays cycled add a pinch of food every couple of days and keep testing, sounds like you were being careful to keep the tank ready for fish. You should be getting nitrate readings right? If they start to drop add some food.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

I would go with 6 Cardinals & 6 Dwarf Corydoras, with 25% weekly water changes.


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So how exactly do you keep cardinal tetras WITH a light and real plants?

I'm not going to use real plants. I've got some fake ones in there and I bought some black gravel to cover the top of the current gravel which I think may be too light.

I think I might just get 6 cardinal tetras and 6 dwarf corys. Unfortunately, the LFS doesn't have any dwarf corys and I have to order them in. Bah.

You can keep the cardinals with a light if you try making it indirect. Try buying a few floating plants (they're about £2.50 a tub over here in the UK) I think cardinals can probably manage though, my black neons are doing fine.

I just went to the LFS. Their pH is 6.8. GRRR! SHould I lower my tank's pH or try to acclimatise the fish? My pH is like 8. Yeah, I know, high, but city water has high pH. How do cardinals and dwarf cories do with high pHs.

Oh yeah, and what do they eat?

My tank has plastic plants and only sunlight. Is this ok?

As long as you acclimatise you should be OK. Nowadays, most fish don't actually NEED the PH perfects because they have adapted so much. Just take a long periood to acclimatise them. Corys will eat sinking wafers, and anything else that falls to the bottom. mine eat algea, but this might not be the case. Tetras eat flakes, freeze dried food, live food, frozen food... In fact, most are really greedy and eat pretty much anything.

My tank has plastic plants and only sunlight. Is this ok?

I think you should get a light as well. Tanks in direct sunlight cause huge algea growths, and is usually not sufficiant for the fish. Also, if you ever want to plant the tank in the future, you'll need a light.

Hope this helps.

Well, it all started and ended very quickly.

See here: http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/28723.1.htm?4#

Just a few quick questions again, though... would 2 ottos be better than 6 pygmy corys? And do cardinals like Fluval 2 Pluses? Very strong current (especially in a small tank like a 10gal). Is that ok?

I'm going to try again when I get my new test kit and figure out what has gone so horribly wrong.

Sorry about losing the cardinals

From the other thread it sounds like your tank needs to cycle. Are you planning to do a fish-less cycle?

Otos are rather sensitive and really shouldn't be added to a tank that doesn't have established algae.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

I don't like to suggest panda cories for a 10g. Actually I don't like to suggest any cories. I think 10g are too small. The smaller cories (pygmy and habrosus) are a little more active than the bigger ones and don't always stay on the bottom, so you have to remember that when planning stock.

IMO Pandas do better in larger groups (like more than 6). I don't think there is room for more than 6 pandas in a 10g. I think they deserve a bigger tank, like a 20g long.

Ottos are a good idea. You need to have algae already there for them though. They really do better in planted tanks, as there is usually algae growing on plant leaves. They like very clean water and a constant supply of algae. I think you could have a couple.

I have never had ottos in a non-planted tank, but they will probably be fine, as long as there is algae present.

I also think your tank needs to cycle. After a year of being empty I don't think the bacteria would still be living. You should have nitrates in your tank, if it was still cycled. If you test tap water, it has 0 nitrate, ammonia, and nitrite (or atleast mine does), so when you introduce new fish, ammonia will show up. And if your test kit is older, it may not be good any more.

*Kristin*

The tank was already cycled for years and I was putting fish food in it to keep it cycled when it was fishless. But I guess my test kits were wrong and now I have no idea where the tank is at. The new master kit arrives tomorrow. I will know then.

Girlie, would you suggest pygmy corys? And if not, how do I establish algae?

And if my tank isn't cycled and I'm putting in caridnals and ottos or corys, what on earth am I going to cycle it with? I have a 23 gallon guppy tank downstairs. Put some guppies in it? or just fish food? I don't want to stress my guppies out, they look so peaceful. And I'm not going to cycle with cardinals!

New test kit arrived. pH 8.0. Nitrite 0. Ammonia 0. Nitrate just under 20ppm.

The nitrate is a little high, but not enough to kill the fish, right?

I've done a gravel vac and put new water in.

Keep watching it for a week and then introduce cardinals again? Four is fine?

Eh! I wish I knew what was wrong with it!

Edit: This nitrate reading mean the tank is definitely cyled, right?

My pH is a lot different from the stores. Slow acclimatising is what I was going to do. How long for? I did it over about an hour and a half last time. Should I go longer? What can I do to keep these new fish from dying?

Amazon Sword is a very durable plant, and many like it's look.