Suggestions For A 10-gallon Tank?

[fire4ice]

I'm looking for suggestions for a 10-gallon tank. Ideally I'd like a small, colorful schooling fish. I'm not interested in guppies, and I'm looking for an alternative to neon tetras. The tank has an open top, which I'm planning on having covered by floating plants, with a lighting fixture mounted on the wall above it. Any suggestions for floating plants that can grow in a low-tech setup would be welcome as well. I live in California, and it seems that many species of floating plants are not allowed to be sold here because they are considered "invasive species."

So, I'm looking for...

-Small, colorful fish that AREN'T guppies or neon tetras, and
-Good floating plants that I can buy in CA

Thanks!

 

[llamalord305]

What about some cherry barbs, platies or mollies (Males OR females, not both) uhh.... Do you like how shrimp look? Snails? You could have an invertebrate tank.

 

[MewMew42]

galaxy rasbora or pentazona barbs =]

or what about endler livebearers? keep all males for the colourfulness!

what about Riccia for a floating plant? i dont know if you can get it where you are, check ebay?

 

[Curiosity101]

Fishwise....

Endlers, Ember Tetra, Sparkling Gourami (otherwise known as jewel or pygmy or dwarf croaking gourami), Honey gourami, pygmy cories, a betta fish.

Obviously you can't have all of the above, but there are some ideas for you.

 

[Curiosity101]

Not sure if you meant a different type of barb mewmew, but the pentazona barb is too big for that tank...

Thought of some more by the way...
Scarlet badis, dwarf puffer and depending on your water stats you may be able to have Lake Tanganyika Shell dwelling cichlids.

Oh and at a push, so long as you were willing to plant it out properly then you'd probably get away with a group of Cockatoo Apistos

 

[MewMew42]

Not sure if you meant a different type of barb mewmew, but the pentazona barb is too big for that tank...

Thought of some more by the way...
Scarlet badis, dwarf puffer and depending on your water stats you may be able to have Lake Tanganyika Shell dwelling cichlids.

Oh and at a push, so long as you were willing to plant it out properly then you'd probably get away with a group of Cockatoo Apistos

dont they get the same size as cherry barbs?

edit heard some conflicting advice on how big they will get the general consensus is 5cm/2 inches!

 

[Honeythorn]

I'd go with a pack of all male endlers. Whilst they are related to guppies and are livebearers, the colours are stunning and very noticeable, and with a group of all males you won't get the population explosion.

A group of 8-10 in a nicely filtered heated 10 gallon would look really nice. Perhaps with some cherry shrimp for added colour.

Dark gravel such as black roman gravel would really show up the colours of fish like endlers and also cherry shrimp, and would make green plants, either real or fake really stand out.

 

[Curiosity101]

Nope, average size 5cm, but can grow larger. But mainly they're meant to be very active, so 40l (10gal) just isn't really big enough.

 

[fire4ice]

I like cherry barbs, but I thought a 10-gallon tank might be too small for them? I already have platies and mollies in my other tank. The sparkling gouramis look cool, but I think I'm looking for a more peaceful schooling fish.

I was planning on having a group of cherry shrimp, but now I'm tempted by the pygmy cories.

I'll keep an eye out for the scarlet badis and galaxy rasboras; they look neat, but I haven't seen them around here before.

 

[em_burrow]

How about a group of forktail rainbow (pseudomugil furcatus)? Better in a planted tank though.

 

[Seriz]

How about half a dozen harlequin rasboras?

 

[kizno1]

a pair of apisto or 5 female bettas and 4 corys or divide it into 3 and get 3 male bettas

 

[aly_starh]

agree with kizno. A betta sorority would look great, with lots of live plants!