I Might Be Getting A 10-gallon!

[little_mermaid]

SoOo my little sister is thinking about giving away her turle (I hope wherever Turbo goes, he/she will be happy)...and I told my mama that I want my 10-gallon wood fish stand back and that I'd tank the tank too! Which means that I could set up a little sorority! What is the minimum and maximum number of gals I could have in a 10-gallon tank?

Though I am still contemplating on taking my barn manager's African Cichlid and Catfish (or is it a Pleco?)...it's a big sucker fish. Let's just say that the need some TLC...I might feel guilty if I end up getting all of the gals knowing that the Cichlid and Catfish are in a dirty tank with a not-so-great filter I've just never had a Cichlid or Catfish before...

 

[Netty]

In a US 10 gal you could put in a max of 4 girls which is the minimum amount that you could keep happily together. Just make sure they have lots of plants and places to get away from each other if needed unless you get the Cichlid & Catfish of course.

 

[little_mermaid]

In a US 10 gal you could put in a max of 4 girls which is the minimum amount that you could keep happily together. Just make sure they have lots of plants and places to get away from each other if needed unless you get the Cichlid & Catfish of course.

Okay yeah just wanted to double check! 4 sounds like a good number; and yeah there will definitely be plants and places for them to get away if they need to!

Ahh I wish I could have both, but I just don't really have the space!

What to do, what to do! I just LOVE Bettas!

 

[Imcanadieneh]

In a US 10 gal you could put in a max of 4 girls which is the minimum amount that you could keep happily together. Just make sure they have lots of plants and places to get away from each other if needed unless you get the Cichlid & Catfish of course.

Why would 4 be the max for a ten gallon tank, I read that you could have an inch of fish per gallon of water. So wouldn't that make her able to put like 6-7 female bettas in there?

 

[Netty]

As a general rule an inch of fish per gallon of water......so 4 females at 2" each equates to 8" of fish. Also 10 US gallons is only 7-8 UK gallons.

 

[ReMz]

In a US 10 gal you could put in a max of 4 girls which is the minimum amount that you could keep happily together. Just make sure they have lots of plants and places to get away from each other if needed unless you get the Cichlid & Catfish of course.

Why would 4 be the max for a ten gallon tank, I read that you could have an inch of fish per gallon of water. So wouldn't that make her able to put like 6-7 female bettas in there?

"inch of fish per gallon" is a very general rule and does not apply to all fish. It's just a good starting point and the favorite answer of fish stores that don't know any better. For example, you could have a 10" cichlid in a 10 gallon tank if you followed that rule.... and that is FAR from correct. A fish taking up half the space of a 10 gallon is not very feasible.

The rule gets especially irrelevant when you are talking about keeping semi-aggressive to aggressive fish. Betta's certainly fall into this category. You need enough room for the females to establish territory and stay out of eachother's space.

Not all fish produce the same bioload either. a 1 inch goldfish will produce much more waste than a 1 inch betta.....


... see where i'm going with this?

That would be a really cool sorority tank little_mermaid.

What is this "African Cichlid" and the "Catfish". 10 gallons is not really a good home for a majority of cichlids.... i would even venture to say that 20 gallons is the bare minimum for any small cichlid species. Also, many plecos usually require 75+gallons depending on the species. Common plecos can grow up to 2 feet in length! Even the smaller plecos would be pretty cramped in a 10 gallon.

So determining what kind of fish these are is important. Personally, I wouldn't even consider that idea.... but it would help if you could I.D. these fish.

edit: I also agree that 4 girls would be a good number for a 10 gallon.

 

[little_mermaid]

In a US 10 gal you could put in a max of 4 girls which is the minimum amount that you could keep happily together. Just make sure they have lots of plants and places to get away from each other if needed unless you get the Cichlid & Catfish of course.

Why would 4 be the max for a ten gallon tank, I read that you could have an inch of fish per gallon of water. So wouldn't that make her able to put like 6-7 female bettas in there?

That's what I originally thought too...but I want to make sure the gals are comfy. So if it's an inch per gallon...wouldn't that mean I could have a maximum of 5 Betta gals? Or is it better to have even numbers? Now I'm kinda confused...

 

[ReMz]

The fewer you have the better in a tank that size. and the minimum is 4. You could could get away with 5 just fine i'm sure.

You just don't want to have 3, because it is very likely that the least dominant betta will constantly take a beating.

 

[SharonCC]

I have five in my 10gal. and they are fine. I also have to say that a 10 gal. tank won't likely be suitable for cichlids or a catfish...Check carefully to identify both.

 

[ThePiggy]

Even a "small" cichlid is pretty big compared to other common household fish. Since a cichlid like the wolf cichlid can get over 2 feet, cichlids that are 6 inches are considered small. So the type is very important. From my experience and the books I've read, a filter that is meant for double the tank size is needed for cichlids because of the amount of waste they produce. So that means, if the cichlid is a type that small enough to be kept in a 10 gallon, you would need a filter meant for a 20 gallon to keep that fish in there. Also, if you do take the cichlid, I would recommend using aquarium sand instead of gravel. Because of the amount of poo they make, you'll have to vacuum often and with sand, you can just skim along the top instead of having to stir everything up. My cichlid loves his sand. I have a Jack Dempsey. He is always shoveling it around.

Let us know if what you decide. If you do chose the cichlid, I can PM you with more info on them.

 

[ReMz]

Even a "small" cichlid is pretty big compared to other common household fish. Since a cichlid like the wolf cichlid can get over 2 feet, cichlids that are 6 inches are considered small. So the type is very important. From my experience and the books I've read, a filter that is meant for double the tank size is needed for cichlids because of the amount of waste they produce. So that means, if the cichlid is a type that small enough to be kept in a 10 gallon, you would need a filter meant for a 20 gallon to keep that fish in there. Also, if you do take the cichlid, I would recommend using aquarium sand instead of gravel. Because of the amount of poo they make, you'll have to vacuum often and with sand, you can just skim along the top instead of having to stir everything up. My cichlid loves his sand. I have a Jack Dempsey. He is always shoveling it around.

Let us know if what you decide. If you do chose the cichlid, I can PM you with more info on them.

I still really can't picture any cichlid being comfortable in a 10g even with proper filtering. Even some of the smaller African cichlids are too big. Add a plec to that and there is no way. We're saying the same thing so I don't even know what i'm on about.

I think gravel is a much better choice for any cichlid. Sand shows EVERYTHING and takes soooo much cleaning. Personally, I find it much easier to maintain gravel. Then again, I have sand with my Oscar and plec.... and they are notorious for being extremely messy. Tank looks like a war zone just 2 days after cleaning it . Biggest issue i'm starting to have with my Oscar is him deciding to kick up sand everywhere and i'm afraid the filters are going to fizzle out if he keeps it up.

... venturing off topic haha. apologies little mermaid

 

[little_mermaid]

Oh no it's fine ReMz!

Well the Cichlid and Catfish are in a 10-gallon tank and supposidly they've been together for 5 years...

but I did not know that Cichlids are messy...don't know if I want to have to deal with that...my little sister is having enough messy problems with her turtle! Cute as the turtle is, it's just, well, belongs in the pond/lake/river/or a much, much larger tank!

 

[ReMz]

Oh no it's fine ReMz!

Well the Cichlid and Catfish are in a 10-gallon tank and supposidly they've been together for 5 years...

but I did not know that Cichlids are messy...don't know if I want to have to deal with that...my little sister is having enough messy problems with her turtle! Cute as the turtle is, it's just, well, belongs in the pond/lake/river/or a much, much larger tank!

Larger NW Cichlids usually are a lot worse though. They aren't so messy that it would be a nuisance (oscars are certainly a major exception). I'd be very surprised if those fish lived in a 10 gallon tank for 5 years. I guess if it's not very well maintained, you would be providing a better home than they currently have.... 10 gallons just isn't much once you start talking about cichlids and plecs. Knowing what kind of fish these are would be a big help.

and yeah... 10g for a turtle.... thats certainly not much. I definitely agree with you.

 

[little_mermaid]

Oh no it's fine ReMz!

Well the Cichlid and Catfish are in a 10-gallon tank and supposidly they've been together for 5 years...

but I did not know that Cichlids are messy...don't know if I want to have to deal with that...my little sister is having enough messy problems with her turtle! Cute as the turtle is, it's just, well, belongs in the pond/lake/river/or a much, much larger tank!

Larger NW Cichlids usually are a lot worse though. They aren't so messy that it would be a nuisance (oscars are certainly a major exception). I'd be very surprised if those fish lived in a 10 gallon tank for 5 years. I guess if it's not very well maintained, you would be providing a better home than they currently have.... 10 gallons just isn't much once you start talking about cichlids and plecs. Knowing what kind of fish these are would be a big help.

and yeah... 10g for a turtle.... thats certainly not much. I definitely agree with you.

Yeah, I just don't know. I am starting to lean more toward the Betta gal sorority...

& the turtle was a spur-of-the-moment "rescue" from my little sister's class aquarium...which was a lot bigger, but supposidly had no where for the turtle to rest. Her teacher also needed to get rid of the turtle I guess because he was moving onto other things. hmmm...well my mama is fond of the turtle, but my little sis is wishing that she didn't have it anymore...

 

[snowflake311]

In my experience keeping many females together more is better and larger space is key. These fish are aggressive toward each other from time to time. They set up a pecking order like chickens.

I had 6 female in a 36 Gal tank for about 8 months all did very well together. I separated 2 females for treatment leaving 4 in the big tank. The big tank was all fine but one was picking on all the others. The 2 in the 10 gal tank were fine with each other because I put them in the tank together at the same time. They also were use to each other from the big tank. They have been in the 10 Gal tank now for almost 2 weeks and I have had no problems. Yet they say never to keep just 2 females in a tank together. I will move them back to the other tank soon.

I went to add another female from the big tank to the 10 Gal. Thinking I needed 3 in the 10 gal. The one I took out of the big tank was the bullied. Well I am pretty sure she got harassed and stressed out to the point of death. I felt awful I should have kept a closer eye on them. Yet I learned Never keep just 3 females in a small tank with 2 established females. Always try and add them together at the same time. If you do add another to an established sorority tank make sure the new female is young they adjust better.

It is fun having a sorority but it's not always a peaceful tank. They get along but there is always going to be some fin nipping and bullying. This is my last sorority tank. I love my bettas but keeping a bunch of crazy female in one tank can be a little stressful. I'm always worried about the one that gets picked on.

So the more females the better. Larger tank is better the aggression gets spread out each girl gets to set up territory in different parts of the tank. LOTS OF PLANT fake or real and plenty of hide outs is also KEY to success when keeping these girls all together.

Good luck I think 4 females would be fine in a 10 Gal I would rather you get a 20 Gal for them because more space means less stress.