Looking for stocking ideas to pair with phoenix rasbora

[Richee]

I have an established 10 gallon , getting more plants this weekend so it’s pretty heavily planted . I’ve got 6 phoenix rasbora in there , going to be getting another 4 when I get the plants and was wondering if there was any fish at all, maybe bottom dwelling , or even another mid to top schooling fish that would maybe school with the rasbora that I could add ? Everything I know or have looked up are suggesting other schooling fish bottom dweller like Dwarf or Otto Cory’s so I would need at least 5-6 of them and that’s a little too much I would think for a 10 gallon. Are there not any solitary fish that I could add that stay at the bottom, that would fit in a 10 gallon?

 

[10 Tanks]

Hello. Very small tank. Harder to keep the water clean enough for any fish. Maybe some Cherry Barbs or some Rummy Nosed Tetras. This is really pushing things though. The water in such a small tank can go south in a hurry and you'd lose all your fish.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Richee]

Hello. Very small tank. Harder to keep the water clean enough for any fish. Maybe some Cherry Barbs or some Rummy Nosed Tetras. This is really pushing things though. The water in such a small tank can go south in a hurry and you'd lose all your fish.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

It’s got a very good bio filter and plants , I don’t think a 10 is terribly too hard as long as you aren’t over feeding and you let your plants do most of the work . Aren’t cherry barbs schooling fish you need like 6 or more right ? Yea that would be pushing it to I’m trying to find a fish that maybe solitary and that would do alright alone or with maybe just 2 or 3

 

[Essjay]

10 gallons is fine for Boraras merah but I wouldn't keep any larger fish with them. The fish and the tank size need small fish as tank mates. Fish such as cherry barbs and harlequin rasboras are too big for 10 gallons.

If you can source any, Sundadanio axelrodi could be an option, Seriously Fish suggests them as compatible.

Sundadanio axelrodi — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Or one of the three dwarf cories - C. pygmaeus (pygmy cories), C. habrosus (salt and pepper cories, not to be confused with the larger peppered cories), and C. hastatus.

Just one additional shoal though in 10 gallons.


Or perhaps just a lot more phoenix rasboras (Boraras merah)

 

[Richee]

10 gallons is fine for Boraras merah but I wouldn't keep any larger fish with them. The fish and the tank size need small fish as tank mates. Fish such as cherry barbs and harlequin rasboras are too big for 10 gallons.

If you can source any, Sundadanio axelrodi could be an option, Seriously Fish suggests them as compatible.

Sundadanio axelrodi — Seriously Fish

www.seriouslyfish.com

Or one of the three dwarf cories - C. pygmaeus (pygmy cories), C. habrosus (salt and pepper cories, not to be confused with the larger peppered cories), and C. hastatus.

Just one additional shoal though in 10 gallons.


Or perhaps just a lot more phoenix rasboras (Boraras merah)

That’s what I’m thinking , just getting alot more phoenix . I wanted the little Cory’s but I’m hearing a need like 5 or 6 of them

 

[Essjay]

With the dwarf cories you need more like 12 to 15 of them. Even the larger species do better with 10 or more.

Most of the literature suggests 6 as the minimum for shoaling fish but research has shown that 10 is better minimum number. With very small fish such as Boraras and dwarf cories, they do better with at least 15.

 

[Richee]

With the dwarf cories you need more like 12 to 15 of them. Even the larger species do better with 10 or more.

Most of the literature suggests 6 as the minimum for shoaling fish but research has shown that 10 is better minimum number. With very small fish such as Boraras and dwarf cories, they do better with at least 15.

Okay, so I’ll just stock more phoenix in there , they would be happier anyways . I was thinking 10-12 max

 

[Essjay]

They'd be 'happier' with 15

 

[10 Tanks]

It’s got a very good bio filter and plants , I don’t think a 10 is terribly too hard as long as you aren’t over feeding and you let your plants do most of the work . Aren’t cherry barbs schooling fish you need like 6 or more right ? Yea that would be pushing it to I’m trying to find a fish that maybe solitary and that would do alright alone or with maybe just 2 or 3

Hello again. Schooling fish won't school if they feel safe in their tank. So, you can have fewer fish and they'll be fine. I have a lot of schooling fish. Over the years, they'll die off and only the most hardy will be left. They're fine in a group of three or four or even one. I've got just one Red Eyed Tetra that's four years old or so in a 55 gallon tank with some Buenos Aires Tetras and he or she is hanging in there. Still pretty active.

10 Tanks (Now 11)

 

[Essjay]

I think the OP meant shoaling fish, a term often used interchangeably with schooling fish.

Aren’t cherry barbs schooling fish you need like 6 or more right ?

In this instance he was checking that cherry barbs are shoaling fish so he'd need a group of them.


Schooling, strictly speaking, means a group of shoaling fish which swims together in a co-ordinated fashion.
Shoaling means a fish which is programmed to expect a group of the same species.

 

[Byron]

We need to know the water parameters before any fish are decided. Nano fish which are what work well in this tank need to match the water especially the GH, and then pH. Check with your local water authority (if on city water) website for this.

Subject to the parameters being suited, you can easily have two or three species with 10-12 each. The plants are looking good, but you should definitely get some substantial floaters, as all these fish need the cover of floating plants, plus it does a good job of water quality. And you need soft sand for the substrate for cories, I cannot tell from the photo.

 

[Richee]

We need to know the water parameters before any fish are decided. Nano fish which are what work well in this tank need to match the water especially the GH, and then pH. Check with your local water authority (if on city water) website for this.

Subject to the parameters being suited, you can easily have two or three species with 10-12 each. The plants are looking good, but you should definitely get some substantial floaters, as all these fish need the cover of floating plants, plus it does a good job of water quality. And you need soft sand for the substrate for cories, I cannot tell from the photo.

yes I am going to get some plants this weekend , looking for some red floaters or water lettuce . My ph is sitting at around 6.5 gh 30 kh 80. I have well water no city water and it seems to be pretty stable . And yes I have soft sand on top of gravel . I didn’t feel like taking the gravel out as it was only a thin layer of it . I’m thinking of a dwarf gourami or 2 , but I’ve never owned one of those fish

 

[Essjay]

Dwarf gouramis need more than 10 gallons. And those from far east fish farms are often infected with incurable diseases by the time they leave the fish farm.
There are few fish which can be kept in a 10 gallon tank, they tend to be so-called 'nano' fish which are usually shoaling fish.


The sand will end up on the bottom of the tank, I'm afraid. Smaller particles fall through larger ones.


Your tap water - many forum members who are on wells have hard well water which is passed through a softener. Can I just check - you have soft well water, not hard well well water which passes through a softener? The reason I ask is because water which has been through a salt-type softener is not good for soft water fish as that type of softener add sodium to the water.

 

[Richee]

Dwarf gouramis need more than 10 gallons. And those from far east fish farms are often infected with incurable diseases by the time they leave the fish farm.
There are few fish which can be kept in a 10 gallon tank, they tend to be so-called 'nano' fish which are usually shoaling fish.


The sand will end up on the bottom of the tank, I'm afraid. Smaller particles fall through larger ones.


Your tap water - many forum members who are on wells have hard well water which is passed through a softener. Can I just check - you have soft well water, not hard well well water which passes through a softener? The reason I ask is because water which has been through a salt-type softener is not good for soft water fish as that type of softener add sodium to the water.

Yes I put enough sand in that when it falls to the bottom eventually it will still be above the rock level. And I’m pretty sure there is no water softener being used , I’m just up in the mountains and have good spring well water . Are the gouramis the ones that I hear about that are always sick because they are designer fish? They are man made ?

 

[Essjay]

There are a few varieties of dwarf gourami, the natural colour and a few man made varieties, made by selective breeding (eg flame dwarf gourami, powder blue dwarf gourami, neon blue dwarf gourami etc). But whatever the variant, if they were bred on a fish farm in the far east they are very likely to be infected because the breeding tanks have the 'bugs' in them - dwarf gourami iridovirus and fish TB. It is cheaper for the farms to continue to breed sick fish when customers will buy more to replace them than it is to start again with clean tanks and uninfected fish.

However whether they are infected or not, dwarf gouramis need a tank bigger than 10 gallons. I cannot think of any gourami suitable for 10 gallons.


That water sounds good for soft water fish. Since we have a lot of members with hard water wells, I needed to make sure.