I Have Mts...starting Third Aquarium Soon

[Fishmanic]

I presently have an established 35 gallon tall aquarium and a 29 gallon rectangular aquarium.  Both are planted and wells stocked with fish.
 
I just bought a 10 gallon rectangular aquarium ... size is 20 inches long by 10 inches wide by 12 inches high.   I will seed it with media from my other healthy established  aquariums.   This is a glass Marineland aquarium kit that comes with a 50 watt heater, a  Penguin 100 filter, and a hood with led light.  I will move some of my anubias and java fern from my other tanks into this tank and also will move a couple of smaller pieces of driftwood into the tank.    I will probably use white silica pool filter sand as substrate as I have 16 pounds left over from a 50 lb bag.  I have this sand in my 29 gallon tank and it looks good.   I will use an end table as a stand and will beef it up a bit by adding two legs.    Presently I can sit on it with no problem so I'm sure it will be fine for this small tank that I figure will weigh no more than 125 lbs total including the substrate.
 
Once cycled, I will gradually move over  the following fish from my other tanks....3 serpae tetra which appear not very aggressive in my hex tank,   2 rummynose (great for indicating the health of the tank with their red noses), 1 lone julii cory  which does fine in my 29 gallon tank ( I had a larger group but never had much luck keeping them...I think they prefer more acidic water....mine is about 7.2)   ,  and possibly eventually will move the 2 neon tetras from the 29 gallon tank which are healthy ( I lost several other neons over the course of the last year...cause unknown as all other tank inhabitants are healthy and tank parameters are fine though nitrates can get up to 40 or so just before my 50% weekly water changes). 
 
Does this sound like an ok stocking...don't want to overstock but I will not stock the tank fully but will  gradually adding these fish and check parameters frequently as I increase the stocking.  I will be doing 50% weekly water changes.   I know neons and rummynose should be in larger groups but the ones I  have are remaining survivors from original proper sized schools  and seem to do just fine.
 
I got this tank kit on sale from Doctors Foster and Smith for $59.95 delivered to my door.   Here is a description of the kit with a photo.
 
http/www.walmart.com/ip/43407011?wmlspartner=wlpa&selectedSellerId=53&adid=22222222227031305082&wl0=&wl1=g&wl2=c&wl3=67398191649&wl4=&wl5=pla&wl6=120037079529&veh=sem

 

[Ch4rlie]

MTS strikes us when we least expect it!
 
Neat little tank though, price not too bad with the equipment included.
 
Sounds good re the cycling plan and a 10 gal US is a nice little tank to have, easy on the water changes
 
 
Now, am afraid going to give the bad news about your stocking plan with the fish you listed, I suspect you probably know most of this but here goes
 
Rummynose, tank is a bit too small, SF suggests 70 litre tank which is just over 15 gals US,  though only having 2 is insufficient really as a shoaling fish specie, you'll want at least 6+.
 
Quote from SF -
 
"Always buy a group of at least 6 of these, preferably 10 or more. They are one of the more tightly shoaling small tetras, and will not do well if kept in insufficient numbers. Because they do shoal so closely, they actually look far more effective when maintained like this anyway."
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/hemigrammus-rhodostomus/
 
 
Sepae Tetras - pretty much the same as the rummynose re numbers but they require a larger tank of 20 gals US.
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/hyphessobrycon-eques/
 
 
Again almost exactly the same with Julli Cories, need to be in larger numbers and yet again a larger tank is needed for those, least 20 gals US.
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/corydoras-julii/
 
 
The neon tetras might be ok for this sized tank though imho tank is a little on the small size as they are fairly active, should be ok though.
 
BUT neons do not tend to do well in newly set up tanks.
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/paracheirodon-innesi/
 
 
While I get the idea that you want to move these odd numbered fish due to not having much luck keeping them and probably not planning to purchase more of these specie, you may be better off giving them to LFS and they will be put amongst their own specie at LFS, though not a nice option to do this and then rethink a new stocking plan for the new 10 gal tank.
 
Might be an idea to ask on classified section on here if anyone wants these from you to give away if they have some of these species in their tanks. Just a suggestion.

 

[cooledwhip]

Would you recommend pool filter sand??
 
I have a planted tank and I plan on planting some really low tech plants like swords and a couple stem plants. I also plan on putting some dirt on the bottom. Would you recommend it?

 

[Fishmanic]

Charlie, if you had this tank,  what fish and how many would you choose as your stocking?   I wouldnt think I could have very many in this small tank.  This tank has 10 inch by 20 inch substrate, so 200 sq inches.   My 29 gal has 30 inch by 12 inch substrate area or 360 sq inches so even though this tank is 1/3 the capacity, it has over  1/2 the substrate area.   Liveaquaria says 10 gal is fine for julii corys, neon tetras, and rummynose.  

 

[Ch4rlie]

Well, regarding the Jullii Cories and Rummies, the links from SF are ones I would trust a tad more than LiveAquaria but SF has some conflicting information as well sometimes so its not all quite 100%.
 
What would I stock a 10 gallon tank with....hmmmm...
 
If I remember right from our chats in chatroom, you have soft water, but cannt recall exactly what. A reminder of this would be good
 
 
So, assuming you have moderately soft water with a neutral ish  pH of around 7 to 7.5
 
Perhaps something like Pacific Blue-eyes species only set up with a fair few plants. Maybe a group of 11 - 15 of these blue eyes would fit in a 10 gal (odd numbers works better for shoaling fish imho)
 
http/www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pseudomugil-signifer/
 
I am a big fan of small Rainbowfish
 
These are beautiful little fish with a great capacity to flare and display. Small fish with big personalities once they are comfortable and less skittish.
 
Would be good if someone can chime in if these numbers work for a 10 gal as I am not very good at stocking numbers
 
And I would add a bunch of shrimps, any colour variation of Cherry Shrimps would work, if you are up for that. Perhaps a mystery snail as well.
 
Unfortunately your tank is too small for cories, even pygmys or habrousus, I have always thought these should be in a minimum sized tank of 20 gals.
 
You might get away with a single or a pair of Whiptail Catfish, though research would be needed to be sure.
 
 
Thats what I would add to a 10 gal tank personally, it may not be to your taste, but hey, you asked

 

[Fishmanic]

I have 10s harlequins in my 35 gallon tall hex.   I am stocked to the max with 18 total fish.  All are healthy and paramaters are fine.   See sig.   For starters, I was thinking of moving over 5 of the harleys to the 10 gallon tank.  And possibly my lone julii cory which seems very content....never had luck growing the numbers in my 29 gallon tank.   I also may consider my lone oto from the 35 gallon hex.
 
If I went with all Harleys, how many could I have in the 10 gal max?
 
I tested tap water using api for gh.  Result was 6 drops or 107 ppm    KH was just one drop or 17.9 ppm.   Testing tank water in 29 gal after 1 week after wc, I got 9 drops or 161 ppm GH and just one drop or 17.9 ppm for KH.
 
In the 29 gallon tank, I have lots of driftwood and lots of anubias.    Would that affect the hardness of the tank water?  Ph is fairly stable at about 7.0 to 7.2.