I Have A 10 Gallon Tank, How Many Fish Can I Have
- Thread starter tinytayor
- Start date
i hate to say this but none of the fish you have will work. goldfish, contrary to common belief, need plenty of space and loads of filtration to be happy and healthy, they're also sub-tropical fish which conflicts with your other selections. clown loaches get huge and greatly prefer to be kept in groups. they're also sensitive to water quality. it would be best to take your fish back to the store and get yourself a refund if you can. start from scratch, there are a lot of nice combinations for a 10 gallon tank, but what you have right now just won't work. have you cycled your tank at all? cycling is a process that builds up beneficial bacteria in your filter so that your filter can work properly. most people are quickly discouraged when new to fishkeeping because they skip the cycling process (unknowingly) and all their fish die within a week or two. after this most people just chalk it up as a failure and assume they're not cut out for fish keeping. look into cycling, and let us know what types of fish you're into, i have a lot of interest in coming up with fish stocking ideas and i'll be glad to help with that. good thing you came here, you'll get a lot of valuable advice. 
by the way, african dwarf frogs would work in that tank, but there are a few things to note about them. first off, they're pretty shy and will spend at least half the time hiding. secondly, they need to be fed meaty foods so flakes are out of the question. meaty foods (frozen or live) are available in pretty much all pet shops though. thirdly, in a community tank they may need to be fed by hand because they are extremely slow eaters and the other tankmates generally eat all the food before they get to it.
on the positive side though, african dwarf frogs don't need to be fed everyday. they'll be fine if you get to them about 3 times a week. i have one currently and i love him, its a real eye-catcher and people are always interested by it. i consider it a novelty though and i suggest only keeping 1 in the 10 gallon because it can be a hassle to keep them fed when in groups.
i know being hit with all this can be discouraging, but really, its not as complicated and involved as it might seem. once a tank is cycled and established (usually takes about a month) the maintenance is very minimal and you can sit back and watch happy, healthy fish for years to come.
Oscar Betta
Fishaholic
You could keep a few ADF'S in there but none of the others. For 10 more gallons you could fit a goldfish or 2.
Jenste
Resurrecting the Passion of Fishkeeping
Mr.NiceGuy said it all
your tank is not suitable for any of the fish you have
a fancy (double tail) goldfish needs 20 gallons for one, 10 gallons for each additional. (so one fish needs 20 gallons, two fish need 30 gallons and so on.)
for a common (single tail) goldfish...you really should put only into a pond. these fish will exceed 1-2 FEET in length. a household tank is really not suitable.
a clown loach is also a fish that will grow quite massive, again not suitable for your tank
ditto for your algae eater. by the way, what species? if it is a "common" you are looking at a fish that will grow enormous.
the reason your fish probably seem fine in the tank right now, is you bought them as babies. 95% of all fish in a fish store are very very young....and therefor very small.
your best bet is to return or rehome all of your fish, do a full fish-less cycle to build a safe and stable habitat for the fish to live in....then plan a stocking carefully so you will be happy with your choices, but most importantly, your choices will be happy and healthy in the tank you are providing them.
if you do decide to go the frog route- - that is fantastic! you could have a nice little colony of african DWARF frogs in there, OR one african CLAWED frog. I would be more than happy to help you learn the differences and answer any questions you may have
kudos for seeking information - - this is a huge step - - you will be rewarded in the long run with a tank you love!
oh, and WELCOME!!! do not let this step back deter you - - this is a fascinating and rewarding hobby once you get your feet wet! (excuse the lame pun!)
your tank is not suitable for any of the fish you have
a fancy (double tail) goldfish needs 20 gallons for one, 10 gallons for each additional. (so one fish needs 20 gallons, two fish need 30 gallons and so on.)
for a common (single tail) goldfish...you really should put only into a pond. these fish will exceed 1-2 FEET in length. a household tank is really not suitable.
a clown loach is also a fish that will grow quite massive, again not suitable for your tank
ditto for your algae eater. by the way, what species? if it is a "common" you are looking at a fish that will grow enormous.
the reason your fish probably seem fine in the tank right now, is you bought them as babies. 95% of all fish in a fish store are very very young....and therefor very small.
your best bet is to return or rehome all of your fish, do a full fish-less cycle to build a safe and stable habitat for the fish to live in....then plan a stocking carefully so you will be happy with your choices, but most importantly, your choices will be happy and healthy in the tank you are providing them.
if you do decide to go the frog route- - that is fantastic! you could have a nice little colony of african DWARF frogs in there, OR one african CLAWED frog. I would be more than happy to help you learn the differences and answer any questions you may have
kudos for seeking information - - this is a huge step - - you will be rewarded in the long run with a tank you love!
oh, and WELCOME!!! do not let this step back deter you - - this is a fascinating and rewarding hobby once you get your feet wet! (excuse the lame pun!)
Oscar Betta
Fishaholic
Are they all in the 10 gallon tank right now?
lol well, i tried. there are many people that keep fish in far from ideal conditions in which they'll be uncomfortable and unhealthy to say the very least. if you want to be one of those people, i have very little moral interest in your decisions. im just getting the facts out there. your fish's (all of them) growth will be stunted which will most definitely be a painful life (fish don't grow to the size of their surroundings, that is a myth)
and by the way, when Jenste said "babies" she was using relative terms. goldfish get up to a foot or more in length as do clown loaches. goldfish can also live past 20 years, even over 40 years in rare cases, so the few months you had it are pretty insignificant... if you got it from the faire, its probably only 2-5 inches and its still a very young fish.
and to answer your question, a dwarf frog and another goldfish would not be a good idea... but at this point, it won't really make your already very poor conditions much more terrible. the frog will probably die pretty quickly though.
good luck with whatever you do, hope you come around.
Maybe some pictures will help you see what people mean by "massive" fish. They say pictures speak a thousand words. Fish don't fully grow in only 4 months.
Adult Goldfish - if you got the fish from a fair, it's very likely a common goldfish and can grow even larger than this, but you will be stunting its growth in a small tank with all of those other fish.
Clown loaches - look at how small the plants are compared to the fish.
Please, do not add more fish yet. They are fine today, sure, but I can almost guarantee you if you keep everything in there right now, you will have sick or dead animals down the road. Take the fishes back and carefully think and ask questions here. People will love to help you, you just have to keep your mind open. You are only setting yourself up for disaster and disappointment without removing and switching some of the animals in there.
Adult Goldfish - if you got the fish from a fair, it's very likely a common goldfish and can grow even larger than this, but you will be stunting its growth in a small tank with all of those other fish.
Clown loaches - look at how small the plants are compared to the fish.
Please, do not add more fish yet. They are fine today, sure, but I can almost guarantee you if you keep everything in there right now, you will have sick or dead animals down the road. Take the fishes back and carefully think and ask questions here. People will love to help you, you just have to keep your mind open. You are only setting yourself up for disaster and disappointment without removing and switching some of the animals in there.
This is a serious problem and if you don't listen and keep the fish in there you will become upset and fustrated but more importantly your fish will die one by one. Look now you might not see it yet but you're damaging your fish and very cruel if you're intending to keep them in there for an early death. These fish have been taken out from their natural habitat from the wide open waters and in this case they have been put into 10 gallons of water which is cruel even at this point. For these fish its cruel because they need much more swimming space for many reasons e.g. to digest their food properly and the clown loach needs to be in groups and all the fish will definitely outgrow the tank.
Nobody likes to be told off but I am not telling you off I'm trying to make you see why this is wrong and I know you're a beginner which everyone makes mistakes at the start because of rushing into this hobby, I have made a lot of big mistakes by not researching so lots of problems kicked in and ended up with floating dead fish. However once I found this forum it made everything a lot easier and more enjoyable because people will give you quick advice and willing to help but only if you show that you're taking this in and acting on whats been said. So now I am relaxing my back and watching my tank in joy. Proiding the right environment for your fish will make them happy and you will start to see more interesting behaviours like breeding behaviours and you might even see eggs or babies in the tank.
The goldfish and clown loach need different temperatures and ofcourse you cannot have 2 temperatures in the same tank.
So lets find out what fish you're after you can choose from coldwater, tropical, brackish and marine but ofcourse I would only recommend either cold water or tropical as you're a beginner to this hobby however tropical will be best as its more fun and you can get different variety of fish. All you need is a heater to make it a tropical setup.
So to make this easier for you to understand I will tell you what equipment is needed for a standard setup. For a 10 gallon tank all you need is a:
Heater - something like a 50 watt.
Filter - any small sponge filter and best make to go for would be fluval.
tank light - any small tube lighting is best that will make your fish happy and will help your plants to grow.
bubble pump - to give oxygen in the tank.
This is all you need for a standard setup.
However your fish will feel unsecure with just these equipment and above and so to make it more like their natural habitat in the wild it would be a good idea to add:
Gravel - any fine substrate would be best as some fish like to dig and they will not cut them selves from any sharp edges.
Plants - this will help oxyginate the tank and fish will feel more secure, the more secure they feel in the environment they are in the more you will see them.
Ornaments - Caves, rocks or bogwood.
The steps you should take right now in order:
1) Take fish back to lfs.
2) Do some research online and from books on how to setup a tropical tank, or after you have taken back the fish tell us and we will give you all the advice you need.
3) Buy the equipment above and decorations to setup your tank also you will need to buy ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph test kits we will tell you everything in step 2 so don't worry its very simple on how everything works and we will guide you through it.
4) Cycle you tank - 2 ways to do this either fishincycle or fishless cycle but fishless cycle is the easiest and cheapest way and won't even cost anything.
Whilst then we can talk about stocking your tank.
5) Stocking your tank with fish. It depends on what fish you want and if you don't have a clue then we can give you a list of compatible fish for your 10 gallon tank. If the fish you want needs a bigger tank then its best to upgrade first to atleast the bare minimum of whats required.
Its all very exciting including when you know that you're taking the right steps and making sure that your fish stay healthy, trust me you will enjoy it so much more this way.
Hope you make the right decision
Nobody likes to be told off but I am not telling you off I'm trying to make you see why this is wrong and I know you're a beginner which everyone makes mistakes at the start because of rushing into this hobby, I have made a lot of big mistakes by not researching so lots of problems kicked in and ended up with floating dead fish. However once I found this forum it made everything a lot easier and more enjoyable because people will give you quick advice and willing to help but only if you show that you're taking this in and acting on whats been said. So now I am relaxing my back and watching my tank in joy. Proiding the right environment for your fish will make them happy and you will start to see more interesting behaviours like breeding behaviours and you might even see eggs or babies in the tank.
The goldfish and clown loach need different temperatures and ofcourse you cannot have 2 temperatures in the same tank.
So lets find out what fish you're after you can choose from coldwater, tropical, brackish and marine but ofcourse I would only recommend either cold water or tropical as you're a beginner to this hobby however tropical will be best as its more fun and you can get different variety of fish. All you need is a heater to make it a tropical setup.
So to make this easier for you to understand I will tell you what equipment is needed for a standard setup. For a 10 gallon tank all you need is a:
Heater - something like a 50 watt.
Filter - any small sponge filter and best make to go for would be fluval.
tank light - any small tube lighting is best that will make your fish happy and will help your plants to grow.
bubble pump - to give oxygen in the tank.
This is all you need for a standard setup.
However your fish will feel unsecure with just these equipment and above and so to make it more like their natural habitat in the wild it would be a good idea to add:
Gravel - any fine substrate would be best as some fish like to dig and they will not cut them selves from any sharp edges.
Plants - this will help oxyginate the tank and fish will feel more secure, the more secure they feel in the environment they are in the more you will see them.
Ornaments - Caves, rocks or bogwood.
The steps you should take right now in order:
1) Take fish back to lfs.
2) Do some research online and from books on how to setup a tropical tank, or after you have taken back the fish tell us and we will give you all the advice you need.
3) Buy the equipment above and decorations to setup your tank also you will need to buy ammonia, nitrate, nitrite and ph test kits we will tell you everything in step 2 so don't worry its very simple on how everything works and we will guide you through it.
4) Cycle you tank - 2 ways to do this either fishincycle or fishless cycle but fishless cycle is the easiest and cheapest way and won't even cost anything.
Whilst then we can talk about stocking your tank.
5) Stocking your tank with fish. It depends on what fish you want and if you don't have a clue then we can give you a list of compatible fish for your 10 gallon tank. If the fish you want needs a bigger tank then its best to upgrade first to atleast the bare minimum of whats required.
Its all very exciting including when you know that you're taking the right steps and making sure that your fish stay healthy, trust me you will enjoy it so much more this way.
Hope you make the right decision
spectrum
Fish Crazy
I'm not going to give any facts because they've already been given, but I do hope you will listen to all that's being said, if you don't take action then what you are doing is pretty heartless.
Take all those fish back to the fish store and cycle your tank then get some more suitable fish or get two MUCH, MUCH bigger tanks.
Another thing, NEVER say they 'seem' to be doing fine. You shouldn't take risks in fish keeping, or any other pet hobby, because they are living creatures and if we as humans decide to capture and keep them for our entertainment, we need to make sure they are happy and keep them in a humane way. If a fish in a tank dies many people don't seem to think it matters, it does matter if there was something we could have been done to prevent it.
Take all those fish back to the fish store and cycle your tank then get some more suitable fish or get two MUCH, MUCH bigger tanks.
Another thing, NEVER say they 'seem' to be doing fine. You shouldn't take risks in fish keeping, or any other pet hobby, because they are living creatures and if we as humans decide to capture and keep them for our entertainment, we need to make sure they are happy and keep them in a humane way. If a fish in a tank dies many people don't seem to think it matters, it does matter if there was something we could have been done to prevent it.
the biffster
Moved On
- Joined
- May 10, 2010
- Messages
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non your tank is already overstocked vastly
you need to listen to these guys they speak
the truth not that shpeel your LFS spouts
i would say a 10 gallon tank is not even suitable
for a one goldfish i have two medium size common
goldfish and one fancy in a four foot tank and
i class that as been fully stocked and that's only
got 3 fish in it i am ill and i smile on the out
side but i am crying on the inside but people
think i am happy but i am not and that's just how
your fish will feel if you dont listen they will
all die so please take notice
you need to listen to these guys they speak
the truth not that shpeel your LFS spouts
i would say a 10 gallon tank is not even suitable
for a one goldfish i have two medium size common
goldfish and one fancy in a four foot tank and
i class that as been fully stocked and that's only
got 3 fish in it i am ill and i smile on the out
side but i am crying on the inside but people
think i am happy but i am not and that's just how
your fish will feel if you dont listen they will
all die so please take notice
Way to go scaring another person from keeping fish or visiting this forum.
I think he/she got it after the first person that drilled it into them... you don't need 15 people to tell you that you're wrong when you KNOW you are.. You guys really think that a bunch of people saying the same thing over and over will change their mind?? You all know that if they made their mind up to doing what they want they will stick to it...... It does NOT matter how many times they hear.. WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG
I think he/she got it after the first person that drilled it into them... you don't need 15 people to tell you that you're wrong when you KNOW you are.. You guys really think that a bunch of people saying the same thing over and over will change their mind?? You all know that if they made their mind up to doing what they want they will stick to it...... It does NOT matter how many times they hear.. WRONG WRONG WRONG WRONG
Matt1180
New Member
by the way, african dwarf frogs would work in that tank, but there are a few things to note about them. first off, they're pretty shy and will spend at least half the time hiding. secondly, they need to be fed meaty foods so flakes are out of the question. meaty foods (frozen or live) are available in pretty much all pet shops though. thirdly, in a community tank they may need to be fed by hand because they are extremely slow eaters and the other tankmates generally eat all the food before they get to it.
on the positive side though, african dwarf frogs don't need to be fed everyday. they'll be fine if you get to them about 3 times a week. i have one currently and i love him, its a real eye-catcher and people are always interested by it. i consider it a novelty though and i suggest only keeping 1 in the 10 gallon because it can be a hassle to keep them fed when in groups.
i know being hit with all this can be discouraging, but really, its not as complicated and involved as it might seem. once a tank is cycled and established (usually takes about a month) the maintenance is very minimal and you can sit back and watch happy, healthy fish for years to come.
I am new to this forum (not at all new to Fish Keeping) but I wanted to say that you gave perfect advice in a non-rude manner. I have found that some members on here have snobby attitudes. People come here to ask for help and they get some very negative responses, not necessarily bad advice, but just the way people relay it. People who are new to the world of fish keeping, as you said can be overwhelmed by the details. It's only because it is new to them. They don't need to hear " Whats your Ph? Whats your ammonia? Did you even cycle your tank? Why would you do that? Why would you even think of that? etc etc... As you said, it makes them feel like they can't do it and they empty their tank and trip over it until they can sell it at a garage sale. All they need is people who are patient enough to take the time and explain it. I cannot stand people who just give out links! Oh you don't know, read this link. Anyway, I'm not sure how to add friends just yet, but if I ever run into trouble, I'd like to have you on my list to contact.
matt
dipsydoodlenoodle
Fish Gatherer
All but one of my goldfish are at least 10inches +; they are a long term pet too.
BethK
Rattie tat tat
Gold fish are of the carp family. Now think of an adult coy carp, then imagine how big that gold fish can get
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