Stocking Plan For 10 Gallon Tank

[hakova]

Hi guys,

Has anybody here bought Red Cherry Shrimp (RCS) through ebay in US? What would you guys recommend as a source to buy shrimp from. Drs F&S, petshrimp.com and couple of other places currently are out of RCS, while others (aquariumplants.com) sell 10 of them per order. The shipping costs are quite high too. Too bad none of the LFS has them. The prices on e-bay are more reasonable and you can order less than 10, the shipping is cheaper too but of course it is not overnight shipping, so I worry about casualties as well. I would appreciate your tips.

I am planning to get 6 cardinal tetras and 6 RCS for my 10 gallon tank. Do you think this is a reasonable stocking plan for my tank?

 

[jmain]

Hi guys,

Has anybody here bought Red Cherry Shrimp (RCS) through ebay in US? What would you guys recommend as a source to buy shrimp from. Drs F&S, petshrimp.com and couple of other places currently are out of RCS, while others (aquariumplants.com) sell 10 of them per order. The shipping costs are quite high too. Too bad none of the LFS has them. The prices on e-bay are more reasonable and you can order less than 10, the shipping is cheaper too but of course it is not overnight shipping, so I worry about casualties as well. I would appreciate your tips.

I am planning to get 6 cardinal tetras and 6 RCS for my 10 gallon tank. Do you think this is a reasonable stocking plan for my tank?

I would see if your local store would order them for you... If you buy any fish online then usually the shipping cost will kill you because they have usually over night it to you

 

[hakova]

Excellent suggestion jmain, I will take a chance with it.

 

[jmain]

Excellent suggestion jmain, I will take a chance with it.

Good luck hope they will do it for you

 

[vinylman]

Cardinal Tetras aren't a great choice for a newly set up tank, I'm afraid. Anything else take your fancy?.

 

[hakova]

Cardinal Tetras aren't a great choice for a newly set up tank, I'm afraid. Anything else take your fancy?.

I am sorry to hear that. They are my favorites so far. Are they very sensitive in terms of water chemistry or is there any other reason for this?

I have been cycling for 30 days now and started to process ~4 ppm of nitrites and 5 ppm of ammonia in 12 hours. I recently planted my tank heavily too and still continuing the fishless cycling with 4+2 hours of light periods. By the time I finish cycling, don't you think the filter media will be mature and able to handle the wastes along with the plants?

I certainly would like to take my chance with the cardinal tetras but if you are adamant about this, I guess I can go with another type of shoaling fish that you might recommend. There are really not too many options because of the volume limitation, you know, and I would like to have a peaceful community tank with some RCS in it.

 

[vinylman]

I appreciate that you really want some Cardinals (I have a nice shoal of 25), but as with some other fish, they really need a mature tank, rather than just a cycled tank. They're stronger than Neons (which are of course prone to Neon Tetra disease), but a cycled tank is just that - cycled. It's not quite stable enough for the more sensitive fish. The best bet would be for you to ask at your LFS if you could get something like Zebra Danios, Black Neon Tetras (or some other tolerant fish), then trade them in for something smaller like Endlers (males, of course) in a few months. Please try to get away from the idea of ''taking a chance'' on this or that fish; it's not you taking the chance, it's the fish. The problem with having a 10G is that with such a small volume, the hardiest fish tend to be the more active ones and they're not going to like life in a small tank, however briefly.

 

[swaddell13]

when i set up my 10g tank i had platys... they do well but i donno if u like liverbearers as much as i do good luck with ur tank tho!

 

[hakova]

Thanks for the replies.

... but a cycled tank is just that - cycled. It's not quite stable enough for the more sensitive fish. The best bet would be for you to ask at your LFS if you could get something like Zebra Danios, Black Neon Tetras (or some other tolerant fish), then trade them in for something smaller like Endlers (males, of course) in a few months. ...

When is a tank considered to be mature? Is it 6 months or a year, how could you tell?

I liked the idea to start with a more tolerant fish, but just to get it straight, your plan starts with Zebra Danios and ends with Endlers, am I ever going to have Cardinal tetras here? In other words, are you saying that a 10 gallon tank will never be adequate / suitable for them?

I guess platys may be large for this tank, too. The red ones can grow up to 2", which means that I cannot get a shoaling 6 of them.

 

[hakova]

How about Harlequin Rasboras? Do I need a mature tank for them too? And please, can you define mature?

 

[vinylman]

How about Harlequin Rasboras? Do I need a mature tank for them too? And please, can you define mature?

IMO - and it's just MY opinion - I'd feel comfortable adding sensitive fish a good four months after cycling. IMO - again - Harlequins may not be up to a new tank. Unfortunately in a lot of cases, the fish available in one Country may be much hardier than the same fish available in another. I see it as basically minimising the risk and improving the fishes chances. TBH, this is probably one instance where you could ask half a dozen people and get half a dozen different answers; none of them obviously right or wrong. Defining 'mature' is a tricky one; what I prefer to say is that a cycled tank can support fish without immediate danger to them, but it may not have the absolute optimum conditions to allow them to thrive; basically there is a thought that there is some kind of biofilm that - after a number of months - coats the surfaces in the tank and makes it much safer for the inhabitants.

 

[hakova]

Thanks vinylman. I appreciate your input understanding that these are somehow controversial issues, and perhaps you prefer to stay on the more conservative side, which usually is the safer option.

Time to check if LFSs are willing to do trade ins .

 

[vinylman]

More than welcome, h.

 

[waterdrop]

hakova, vinyl is giving you the straight story. Its well known that neons and cardinals do better if introduced at the 4 to 6 month tank maturity point and it seems to have little to do with cycling, its probably something else we don't measure. Most people just have to have other more hardy fish they use for their initial introductions. Its not that the neons/cards won't be hardy from then on, its just that this is the collected wisdom.

And just to confirm what he said about getting different opinions, lol, I completely disagree about the harlequins, here in USA I've found them to be even more hardy than zebra danios (one of the traditional "first fish.") My rasbora heteromorphs (harlequins) have been tough as nails and great first introductions. I've repeated this to lots of beginners and had feedback that it was true for them too, so who knows, may depend on sourcing, any differences in experiences.

I admire both neons/cards and harlequins as among the ultimate fab look, shoaling in planted tanks. Its been done many times, so may not be considered unique by oldtimers but one can't get around the fact that its a stunning look, coming in to the room and observing the tank.

~~waterdrop~~