10 Gallon Restock Question...need Expert Advice!

[alscrx]

Ok guys i have my 10 gallon tank set up and cycled. I have a pleco and 2 red eye tetra. They all had ick at one time so i moved them into a 5 gallon rescue tank and treated them. They are all better now and my 2 other painted tetras died. I do not want to buy painted fish anymore after reading about the process. So now i am ready to move the pleco and 2 red eye tetras back into the 10 gallon after fully cleaning the gravel and cycling the tank over again fishless style. Took about 2 weeks since i used some old media. So my questions....

Whats the easiest way as not to stress them too much while moving them back home into 10gallon tank?

Do i have to acclimate them and if so how?

Can i add more fish now or should i wait?

I read i could go with top water,mid,and bottom fish to make the tank balanced. Can someone give me some idea as what else i can add with my fish i have now?

 

[mark.w.jones]

I really don't think that the red eyes are suitable for that tank I'm afraid. They will grow to over 2" each and should be kept in a group of 5+ BUT your tank will then be fully stocked just with your tetras, let alone the pleco as well. Tetras are also really too active for such a small tank. What type of pleco do you have as well? As this will also influence your stocking.

So my unfortunate advice is that you can't really keep those fish in a 10 gallon tank at all. You need to get a bigger tank or look at my sig. where you will find a link to much more suitable fish for a 10 gallon.

With regard to your 10gal tank itself. All the beneficial bacteria you had in the filter will have died off as there would have been no waste for them to feed off of once you had removed the fish to quarantine. You also need to treat the original 10gal tank with whitespot treatment medications and give it really good clean and gravel vac too make sure none of the parasite remians.

You then need to start cycling it again from scratch before you think about restocking it. I would move about 50% of the sponge and ceramic media from your quaratine tanks filter to your 10 gallons filter then proceed with a fishless cycle on the 10 gallon. Follow the add & wait method from the link in my sig. Should take no more than a week or 2 to finish then restock with more suitable fish.

 

[alscrx]

I really don't think that the red eyes are suitable for that tank I'm afraid. They will grow to over 2" each and should be kept in a group of 5+ BUT your tank will then be fully stocked just with your tetras, let alone the pleco as well. Tetras are also really too active for such a small tank. What type of pleco do you have as well? As this will also influence your stocking.

So my unfortunate advice is that you can't really keep those fish in a 10 gallon tank at all. You need to get a bigger tank or look at my sig. where you will find a link to much more suitable fish for a 10 gallon.

With regard to your 10gal tank itself. All the beneficial bacteria you had in the filter will have died off as there would have been no waste for them to feed off of once you had removed the fish to quarantine. You also need to treat the original 10gal tank with whitespot treatment medications and give it really good clean and gravel vac too make sure none of the parasite remians.

You then need to start cycling it again from scratch before you think about restocking it. I would move about 50% of the sponge and ceramic media from your quaratine tanks filter to your 10 gallons filter then proceed with a fishless cycle on the 10 gallon. Follow the add & wait method from the link in my sig. Should take no more than a week or 2 to finish then restock with more suitable fish.

Bigger tank unfort is not an option right now since space is limited in my apartment.

Well i did cycle my 10 gallon from scratch, i did the full vacuum and cleaning. Only took 2 weeks to get ammonia reading to 0ppm and nitrite to 0ppm is less than 12 hours.

Its now ready to be restocked! So its a common pleco i have. I would hate to get rid of them....I looked into your sticky about 10 gallon stock.

If i just keep 5 red eye and the pleco is that ok? Or is it overstocked??

 

[Luketendo]

I don't know how big a tank a common pleco needs, but I know it's more than 50g and probably more than 75g. Generally Hypostomus plecostomus will grow to 60cm, which is probably either double your tank length or about the same. They are also huge makers of waste, huge as in 1 adult common to 20 adult tetras approx.

Keep the red eyes on their own, without the pleco and you'll be fine.

 

[mark.w.jones]

I'm afraid that best case scenario is to get rid of all you curent stock and start again. There is no other option as all of your current stock will outgrow that tank and will end up stunted and very unhappy. They will also overwhelm you filter with huge amounts of waste.

 

[alscrx]

I'm afraid that best case scenario is to get rid of all you curent stock and start again. There is no other option as all of your current stock will outgrow that tank and will end up stunted and very unhappy. They will also overwhelm you filter with huge amounts of waste.

Ok so maybe i can find them a happy home...

Do you use the balance method when setting up a tank?
Bottom,mid and top fishes?
Can i use some hatchet fish for top swimmers with some tetra?? If so what kind you recommend?
Are congo tetra's easy to keep in 10 gallon?

 

[Luketendo]

NO CONGO TETRAS. They grow to 8cm or more.

Use this thread:

http/www.fishforums.net/content/New-to-t...or-A-10-Gallon/

 

[mark.w.jones]

I'm not trying to rain on your parade but unfortunately a 10 gallon is very limiting in terms of what you can comfortably stock without overstocking. You really need to looking at fish with a maximum adult size of 1.5" which makes things difficult. The following are all fine:

Endlers
Harlequin Rasboras
Sparkling Gouramis
Pygmy cories
Honey Gouramis
Small tetra sp. (Black neons, glowlights at a push, lemons)
Guppies
Cherry Barbs
Otos
Cherry or Amano shrimp

But that's about it

I still think your red eyes and certainly the pleco are unsuitable. If you don't like any of the options above a single betta or a pair of dwarf puffers are also something to consider. The puffers will need some serious research and need good conditions as well as looking after well as they can live 10 years +

Hope that helps

 

[alscrx]

Thank you guys, I decided to go with the freshwater dwarf puffers instead.

I'm not trying to rain on your parade but unfortunately a 10 gallon is very limiting in terms of what you can comfortably stock without overstocking. You really need to looking at fish with a maximum adult size of 1.5" which makes things difficult. The following are all fine:

Endlers
Harlequin Rasboras
Sparkling Gouramis
Pygmy cories
Honey Gouramis
Small tetra sp. (Black neons, glowlights at a push, lemons)
Guppies
Cherry Barbs
Otos
Cherry or Amano shrimp

But that's about it

I still think your red eyes and certainly the pleco are unsuitable. If you don't like any of the options above a single betta or a pair of dwarf puffers are also something to consider. The puffers will need some serious research and need good conditions as well as looking after well as they can live 10 years +

Hope that helps

 

[mark.w.jones]

Cool. That's the same route I'm going to go down after Christmas. Have ripped out my whole tank and can't wait to redo it. My only advice is that a pair of dwarf puffers is pushing it a little stockingwise in a 10 gallon. The safest option is to understock and only go for one. However, two will be better as they are tiny little buggers and I'm worried that i'd never see a single. They can be very aggresive of their territory though and you aren't giving them a lot of territory each in such a small tank. My plan is to plant heavily and pack the tank with wood whilst doing my fishless cycle, this will break up line of sight and reduce the chances of them bumping into each other as often. Then i'll stock both dwarf puffers along with 4 otos once I'm finished.

 

[Mr._Fishy]

I wouldn't add dwarf puffers to such a newly cycled tank, they need mature tanks. They need nearly perfect water conditions. I also think you could add platys, certain killies, and some shell dwellers for stocking for a 10g.

HTH,
Ryan

 

[mark.w.jones]

I've heard this before. But how then do you ever stock dwarf puffers. They are not community fish and should only ever be kept in a species tank. So it's not like you can stock hardier species before adding your dwarf puffers in later on. If they are going to be the only fish in your tank then it's impossible to mature it and you can't expect people to chuck something else in their tank for 6 months to "mature it" in preparation for the dwarf puffers. I think that the "needing a mature tank" thing is an often repeated, passed by word of mouth internet myth. As long as you do a perfect fishless cycle, preferably with mature media, and then keep a close eye on ammonia and nitrite levels in the early days to counteract spikes I'm sure you'll be fine. I don't deny that they require fantastic water conditions but this is just a case of thorough and regular maintainance and attention to detail.