Grandmother Tank Stocking

[UnknownFishies]

My grandmother has a Fluval Bow Front Flex aquarium. We want to stock it soon but I don’t know what would be good.
Tank size is 9 gallons and water hardness is 4 dGh. She really wants a shoaling fish like neon tetras but I don’t know if we can do that in this size of tank. I was thinking rasboras could be an option. Any and all suggestions are appreciated.

 

[Circus]

Do you know the hardness and ph of the water?
In the meantime (hardness depending), you could do ember tetra for soft or medium water, or chili rasbora might be an option. Betta fish are always pretty cool, and would go nicely in that size tank.Nerite snails are very nice and you can get some with interesting patterns. For harder water, male enlders livebearers or a couple of male guppy fish would look nice.
Shrimp would go well with most fish.

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

well, if she wants a shoaling fish then get:
1. 15 ember tetras
2. 10 otocinclus
3. 1 Apistogramma.
your water seems to be soft so it will work for them, make sure to plant it heavily with a lot of driftwood and rocks, use clear colored sand and make sure to do it dirted (topsoil on the bottom and on top of it a layer of sand) this will allow nutrients to reach the plants for years and will acidify the water. make sure to use few front plants, some middle plants, lots of background plants, and lots of epyphytes and floaters. a filter that generates little to no flow and keep the temperature at around 25 celsius. maybe hide an Apistogramma cave within the rockwork and cover some of it with epiphytes.
a good selection of plants would be:
Front:
1. cryptocoryne wenditii
2. Pogostemon helferi
Middle:
1. rotala rotundifolia
2. Staurogyne repens
3. Hottonia palustris
Back:
1. echinodorus amazonicus
2. vallisneria nana
3. ludguiwia repens
Epiphytes:
1. anubias nana
2. microsorum Pteropus
Floaters:
1. water lettuce
2. Salvinia minima
(remember to do transition zones where the plants of the front mix with the plants of the middle and the plants of the middle mix with the plants of the back, this will give it a better look)
A good wood would be spider wood

 

[UnknownFishies]

well, if she wants a shoaling fish then get:
1. 15 ember tetras
2. 10 otocinclus
3. 1 Apistogramma.
your water seems to be soft so it will work for them, make sure to plant it heavily with a lot of driftwood and rocks, use clear colored sand and make sure to do it dirted (topsoil on the bottom and on top of it a layer of sand) this will allow nutrients to reach the plants for years and will acidify the water. make sure to use few front plants, some middle plants, lots of background plants, and lots of epyphytes and floaters. a filter that generates little to no flow and keep the temperature at around 25 celsius. maybe hide an Apistogramma cave within the rockwork and cover some of it with epiphytes.
a good selection of plants would be:
Front:
1. cryptocoryne wenditii
2. Pogostemon helferi
Middle:
1. rotala rotundifolia
2. Staurogyne repens
3. Hottonia palustris
Back:
1. echinodorus amazonicus
2. vallisneria nana
3. ludguiwia repens
Epiphytes:
1. anubias nana
2. microsorum Pteropus
Floaters:
1. water lettuce
2. Salvinia minima
(remember to do transition zones where the plants of the front mix with the plants of the middle and the plants of the middle mix with the plants of the back, this will give it a better look)
A good wood would be spider wood

I got spider wood in the tank already as well as some plants. Plan to get more this week when I have the time and money.

 

[ClownLurch]

10G is somewhat limiting. Before buying check your possible fish for their minimum tank size requirements, PH, DH, temp and group sizes on seriouslyfish.com

 

[Essjay]

1. 15 ember tetras
2. 10 otocinclus
3. 1 Apistogramma.

Ember tetras - maybe
Otocinclus - not in 9 gallons
Apistogramma - not in 9 gallons

 

[MammaBearinTN]

How good is your grandmother's eyesight? Might be something to consider when stocking.

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

Ember tetras - maybe
Otocinclus - not in 9 gallons
Apistogramma - not in 9 gallons

Well from my research it can be done just with lots of plants and a good water change schedule, and by choosing the smallest of the aquarium available species
Otocinclus affinis and apistogramma borellii

 

[Byron]

Well from my research it can be done just with lots of plants and a good water change schedule, and by choosing the smallest of the aquarium available species
Otocinclus affinis and apistogramma borellii

I'm sorry, but the "research" site(s) claiming this is/are incorrect. Assuming the water is soft, as indicated earlier, a group of Ember Tetras (9-12), or a group (9-12) of one of the dwarf rasbora species in Boraras (chili rasbora, etc), and (with either but not both of the foregoing) a group of pygmy cories...these are suited.

 

[UnknownFishies]

I’ll check all the ph and that stuff and see what my LFS has in stock. Thanks for your suggestions!

 

[UnknownFishies]

How good is your grandmother's eyesight? Might be something to consider when stocking.

Well she caught me stealing cookies from the dining room table, so I would assume pretty well lol.

 

[MammaBearinTN]

Well she caught me stealing cookies from the dining room table, so I would assume pretty well lol.

LOL

A better question would be does she need reading glasses? If she does, then she won't see the fish very well upclose, and small fish should be admired from close up, imo.

 

[UnknownFishies]

LOL

A better question would be does she need reading glasses? If she does, then she won't see the fish very well upclose, and small fish should be admired from close up, imo.

Nah her vision is fine. She has glasses but it’s helps her see in general.