Stocking a 10 gallon tank, any suggestions?

Slaphppy7 said:

You may love the idea of livebearers now, but when you have dozens, and they never stop breeding, you may change your mind

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That is true haha. I had guppies, and was soooo excited for them to have babies but they all died of ich, because I didn’t catch it

OliveFish05 said:

Alright so we just got back from the LFS. They tested our water and the GH is 5. I didn’t ask what unit of measurement that is in, but if it helps I know they used an API GH kit. I just realized, maybe I should have asked for KH too?

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The API liquid GH/KH test counts each drop as 1 degree, so 5 is most likely to be a GH of 5 dGH. This is soft to very soft water. If it had been in ppm, it would be even softer but that is not the unit here. Point is, it is soft water.

Livebearers (guppies, Endlers, platies someone mentioned) are no go, they cannot manage in this soft water for long. The cories, any cory, will thrive, as will most all fish from South America suited to this sized tank. Ember Tetra Hyphessobrycon amandae, The green or false neon Paracheirodon simulans, some (but not all) of the pencilfishes in Nannostomus, for an interesting (depending how you view them) somewhat "prehistoric" addition, a common whiptail catfish Rineloricaria parva (but not the much larger "Royal" whiptails). Not all of these obviously, but their mature size/numbers make them contenders. Then there are the "nano" rasboras from SE Asia, Boraras species.

Byron said:

The API liquid GH/KH test counts each drop as 1 degree, so 5 is most likely to be a GH of 5 dGH. This is soft to very soft water. If it had been in ppm, it would be even softer but that is not the unit here. Point is, it is soft water.

Livebearers (guppies, Endlers, platies someone mentioned) are no go, they cannot manage in this soft water for long. The cories, any cory, will thrive, as will most all fish from South America suited to this sized tank. Ember Tetra Hyphessobrycon amandae, The green or false neon Paracheirodon simulans, some (but not all) of the pencilfishes in Nannostomus, for an interesting (depending how you view them) somewhat "prehistoric" addition, a common whiptail catfish Rineloricaria parva (but not the much larger "Royal" whiptails). Not all of these obviously, but their mature size/numbers make them contenders. Then there are the "nano" rasboras from SE Asia, Boraras species.

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Thank you! I will look into all those and anything else that may do well in soft water! I appreciate all your help!

Bettas also do better in soft water, correct? My LFS had some lovely bettas today, really making me wonder if I should give a betta another try... Betta Imbellis are A wild type betta, right? I have heard they are less aggressive and do better with tank mates? Would a betta imbellis work with my Pygmy Cories?

OliveFish05 said:

Bettas also do better in soft water, correct? My LFS had some lovely bettas today, really making me wonder if I should give a betta another try... Betta Imbellis are A wild type betta, right? I have heard they are less aggressive and do better with tank mates? Would a betta imbellis work with my Pygmy Cories?

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Caution. I have no direct experience with this species, but it would seem that it may have problems similar to B. splendens. Best maintained alone. Check out the info on SF, specially in the Behaviour and Compatibility section, and the first paragraph under Notes..
Betta imbellis – Crescent Betta — Seriously Fish

I would not combine it with something as delicate as pygmy cories; remember this cory spends a lot of time in the upper water levels, right in the path of any betta.

There are/were a number of betta folks here, they may be able to offer advice beyond this.

Alright never mind! Thank you for your help! This information and also the small amount of space a 10 gallon provides for schooling has made me make up my mind. I have decided the Pygmy Cories will not be going in the 10 gallon, they will stay in my 55 gallon where they can have adequate room to school.


I think I have a temporary plan for the 10 gallon! I have 3
C. Hastatus who I know would love a larger school. I would like to set up the 10 gallon tank for them and encourage them to breed, in the hopes that they produce some babies and they can eventually have a nice large school in the 55 gallon tank! Thoughts on this? If it seems like a good idea, I will make a thread for all my Cory related questions!

OliveFish05 said:

Bettas also do better in soft water, correct? My LFS had some lovely bettas today, really making me wonder if I should give a betta another try... Betta Imbellis are A wild type betta, right? I have heard they are less aggressive and do better with tank mates? Would a betta imbellis work with my Pygmy Cories?

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I looked online and it says they can but I don’t really trust what Google has to say

UnknownFishies said:

I looked online and it says they can but I don’t really trust what Google has to say

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Yes, Google is messed up!

OliveFish05 said:

Yes, Google is messed up!

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Indeed and I learned that the hard wga
Edit: Way not wga, the one time auto correct doesn’t work.

UnknownFishies said:

Indeed and I learned that the hard wga
Edit: Way not wga, the one time auto correct doesn’t work.

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Hahahaha, for some reason my autocorrect is backwards, I spell things right and it turns it into the wrong spelling, so I have to go through and edit it. So frustrating!

OliveFish05 said:

I think I have a temporary plan for the 10 gallon! I have 3
C. Hastatus who I know would love a larger school. I would like to set up the 10 gallon tank for them and encourage them to breed, in the hopes that they produce some babies and they can eventually have a nice large school in the 55 gallon tank! Thoughts on this? If it seems like a good idea, I will make a thread for all my Cory related questions!

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Yes, the 10g is fine for just the C. hastatus; I had my initial group of C. pygmaeus (six) in the 10g, and they began spawning, and I just left them alone (was trying to decide where to put them which is how they came to be in the 10g on their own). I saw an egg here and there, and some hatched. A few months later I had 20-25.

Byron said:

Yes, the 10g is fine for just the C. hastatus; I had my initial group of C. pygmaeus (six) in the 10g, and they began spawning, and I just left them alone (was trying to decide where to put them which is how they came to be in the 10g on their own). I saw an egg here and there, and some hatched. A few months later I had 20-25.

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Ok! I have a few questions about breeding corydoras, so I will make a new thread! Thank you for all your help, I really appreciate it!

It occurred to me overnight that you might be interested in a photo or two of the pygmy cory fry that I mentioned in my previous post #56. I'll add them here to avoid cluttering your new thread, since this present one is ended.

First photo is the 10g tank in 2014-2015 and the following photos are of the fry during that period. You will see some Farlowella vitatta fry along with the C. pygmaeus, as I used this tank to grow out the Farlowella that came from a spawning in the main 90g tank.
Second photo has an adult female cory, with two fry from different spawnings on the leaf.
Third has a couple of fry on the left leaf and a couple of Farlowella fry hanging on the underside of the leaf to the right.

You will note the dried oak leaves, this is something you want in any fry tank as dried leaves produce lots of infusoria and all fry will eagerly devour infusoria as the initial foods. I added no "fry" food to this tank, just shrimp pellets and because of the Farlowella an Omega One Veggie Round occasionally. But I kept it stocked with dried oak leaves from the back garden. Most any dried leaves will do, provided they come from a tree that is safe for fish; oak, maple, beech, Indian almond, etc. The copious snails attest to the organics in the tank.

Wow! So the tank needs to be HEAVILY planted! Did you leave the adults in the 10 gallon for the entirety of the fry hatching and growing? Those fry are so cute ?

OliveFish05 said:

Wow! So the tank needs to be HEAVILY planted! Did you leave the adults in the 10 gallon for the entirety of the fry hatching and growing? Those fry are so cute ?

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I just stuck some culls of this and that plant in, and let them do what they want. The moss on the wood took over the tank eventually, literally. Yes, the six adults went in, as I wasn't sure which other tank I wanted them eventually, and when I saw they were spawning (an egg here or there appeared and didn't get eaten), I decided to leave them in the 10g. The adults died off at some point, some of the early fry eventually, and I moved the last seven into the 29g and they seem to be happy. I let nature take its course with my fish; I give them what I consider the best "natural" environment, and leave them to it. I've had several larger cory species fry survive, usually when I cleaned the canister filter and found them in there. As I said in the other thread, all fish will devour any eggs they find, and that is where most spawnings fail; once the egg hatches, the fry have a much better chance of surviving than the egg did. I have had a few fry just "appear" from a chunk of moss or under a chunk of wood.