Building a 10 gallon - I need your help!

I would say for lowering the ph, Indian almond leaves are great!
I recommend:
Fluval hob filter
Fluval heater (I generally like the Fluval brand)
+1 on the Pygmy cories

Lillypad101 said:

+1 on the Pygmy cories

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So only 1 pygmy Cory? A lot of the websites said they like to be in groups. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

I think Lillypad was agreeing on adding pygmy cories, not saying get just one

Essjay said:

I think Lillypad was agreeing on adding pygmy cories, not saying get just one

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Thanks! Could I get 8 pygmy cories? Will they feel safe with that number? I'm going to have shrimp to, so hopefully the cories don't eat the babies

BettaFishGirl said:

Thanks! Could I get 8 pygmy cories? Will they feel safe with that number? I'm going to have shrimp to, so hopefully the cories don't eat the babies

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I would get 12 pygmy cories. I doubt this species is much of a shrimp eater, given their size, but I've never combined shrimp with fish.

Earlier you said the GH was 6, is this 6 dH or 6 mg/l(=ppm)?

The wood and leaves can lower pH, depending upon the initial GH/KH/pH. It won't matter with all soft ater species, so let it do what it wants. Leaves will ad tannin to the water, staining it brown; not a problem, good for these fish, but not everyone like it. I used dried oak leaves in my pygmy cory tank as they werespawning all the time and this provides excellent first food (the infusoria as the leaves decompose). I let nature take its course, and at one point I had 30 pygmy cories in this 10g tank.

The only root tabs I willuse are Seachem's Flourish Tabs, and for swords these are incredible. You only use one every 3-4 months.

Byron said:

I would get 12 pygmy cories. I doubt this species is much of a shrimp eater, given their size, but I've never combined shrimp with fish.

Earlier you said the GH was 6, is this 6 dH or 6 mg/l(=ppm)?

The wood and leaves can lower pH, depending upon the initial GH/KH/pH. It won't matter with all soft ater species, so let it do what it wants. Leaves will ad tannin to the water, staining it brown; not a problem, good for these fish, but not everyone like it. I used dried oak leaves in my pygmy cory tank as they werespawning all the time and this provides excellent first food (the infusoria as the leaves decompose). I let nature take its course, and at one point I had 30 pygmy cories in this 10g tank.

The only root tabs I willuse are Seachem's Flourish Tabs, and for swords these are incredible. You only use one every 3-4 months.

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Ok, I will get 12 pygmy's. What do they eat? And the GH is 6dH
I will order some of the root tabs you suggested and plant them in the sand. I want some dwarf and Hairgrasses so I think they will appreciate that.

Can I put ember tetras in the tank? If so how many?

Thank you!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, what should I do if the pygmy's happen to breed a lot and I get overrun? You said to let nature take it's course but I don't want to overcrowd the tank. I have other nano tanks, 3 to 5 gallons, and I'm building a 7 gallon cube, but can they go in that small of tank? And the other tanks I have?

BettaFishGirl said:

So only 1 pygmy Cory? A lot of the websites said they like to be in groups. Or maybe I'm misunderstanding you?

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Essjay said:

I think Lillypad was agreeing on adding pygmy cories, not saying get just one

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Sorry! I was just agreeing with getting Pygmy cories. You should probably get around 12.

BettaFishGirl said:

Ok, I will get 12 pygmy's. What do they eat? And the GH is 6dH
I will order some of the root tabs you suggested and plant them in the sand. I want some dwarf and Hairgrasses so I think they will appreciate that.

Can I put ember tetras in the tank? If so how many?

Thank you!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, what should I do if the pygmy's happen to breed a lot and I get overrun? You said to let nature take it's course but I don't want to overcrowd the tank. I have other nano tanks, 3 to 5 gallons, and I'm building a 7 gallon cube, but can they go in that small of tank? And the other tanks I have?

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Fluval Bug Bites is a good food for them. They have a bottom feeder formula. Also Omega One Catfish pellets.
For live or frozen foods you'll want small. Baby brine shrimp, daphnia, cyclops.

BettaFishGirl said:

Ok, I will get 12 pygmy's. What do they eat? And the GH is 6dH
I will order some of the root tabs you suggested and plant them in the sand. I want some dwarf and Hairgrasses so I think they will appreciate that.

Can I put ember tetras in the tank? If so how many?

Thank you!

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, what should I do if the pygmy's happen to breed a lot and I get overrun? You said to let nature take it's course but I don't want to overcrowd the tank. I have other nano tanks, 3 to 5 gallons, and I'm building a 7 gallon cube, but can they go in that small of tank? And the other tanks I have?

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I let nature take its course because I was not out to breed these fish, they just took advantage of an ideal situation. Most fish will readily devour any eggs they find. My group of pygmies were on their own, in a well secluded tank (photo below) so some of the eggs survived. I've no idea if this species is particularly effective at eating eggs, but some obviously survived to hatch. It is highly unlike this species would eat fry of its own, but the larger cories might. And other fish. When I moved the cories into a planted 29g, they did not spawn, or moree correctly, fry did not appear, likely due to the other fish. Ember Teetras, Green Neons, diptail pencilfish, hatchetfish.

With Ember Tetras, a group of 10.

The second photo is when I stuffed the tank with oak leaves to provide infusoria, once I saw the fish were spawning and fry appeared. The is one of the original adults, and fry from two different spawnings.

Thank you! And WOW they are cute. So 10 embers with the neon tetras? I just want to make sure I have everything correct.

I will get fluval big bites and the other foods sharkweek mentioned.

P.S. Your tank is beautiful! I love the leaves

BettaFishGirl said:

Thank you! And WOW they are cute. So 10 embers with the neon tetras? I just want to make sure I have everything correct.

I will get fluval big bites and the other foods sharkweek mentioned.

P.S. Your tank is beautiful! I love the leaves

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Yes, though I had forgotten the neons. But not a problem, with plants and water changes, and do not overfeed. The six might best be left on their own, but you could add 2 or 3 more. Hard to say this or that here, because I do not know the temperament of the six neons.

Ok, I think I will start with 6 neon and then maybe I can add embers too? The neons seem docile, not nipping each other's fins and they shoal together in the 5g I have them in right now. They don't attack the shrimp I have that will swim throughout the tank. I will make sure not to overfeed.

BettaFishGirl said:

Ok, I think I will start with 6 neon and then maybe I can add embers too? The neons seem docile, not nipping each other's fins and they shoal together in the 5g I have them in right now. They don't attack the shrimp I have that will swim throughout the tank. I will make sure not to overfeed.

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I've been giving this more thought, and I think it might be best to up the neons when you move the six over, adding 2 or 3 more. The new surroundings will likely make them feel better, and with more of their own, less stressed. The Embers at 10, and the pygmies at 12.

The setup you are thinking about with the neons, embers and Pygmy Cory’s sounds great. I have used fluval plant substrate and it has worked pretty well I have to say. I would add it while you are cycling the tank and test the water for ammonia. I haven’t had a my problems with it and I had remodeled my tank a few months ago and added the plant substrate. The water was pretty murky but once it cleared up from the filter I put the fish back in. Just now realizing that probably wasn’t a very good idea lol. Anyway they are all doing great!! I wouldn’t worry to much about it just make sure to clean out the filter when you add it because the filter gets direly pretty quick from all the stuff floating around.

You are defiantly going to have a lot of fish in the 10 gallon but with frequent water changes and having it heavily planted I think it will turn out great!!!!!

Neons at 8-9, embers at 10 and pygmy's at 12, then some shrimp. Got it!

Yes I will do weekly water changes like I do with my other tanks and more frequent ones as necessary.

I think I will just stick to root tabs for now as I think I would mess the tank up using aquasoil somehow!

How often should I feed the pygmy's? I'll drop a small algae wafer down for the shrimp once a week but I don't know if I should feed the pygmy's everyday or every other day?

I'm also going to add some mature filter media from my other tanks and bottled bacteria to hopefully speed up the cycle.

Also, you guys are so amazing!!! I don't know what this tank would be without your help but I can't wait to see the finished product!!