Well Well Well. Lets Remodel The Ten Gallon Now, Shall We?

[rikkitiger]

Hi! My name is *\rikkitiger/* well not really but my username. (Internet safety!) and this is kind of an update/help journal, to kind of get me introduced again to the magnificent world of fish. Now probably more of you senior members have encountered me before and i may have been rude or brushed your advice off, and i am very sorry for doing that. I was at a time in my life where everyone was telling me what to do and where to go and i just needed to try something and see what it did i guess. Well i figured out that betta fish from walmart and i didnt really agree. (Three fish later) i currently have a ten gallon cycled aquarium with a whisper 2-10 gallon filter desperatly needing a new cartridge (mom promised tomorrow for sure) and a good recently bourght heater, and also needing some desperate renovation! I am housing 3 platies that get along great, are gret together fish and have personalities of their own, and i have had them for what, 2 months now? Jeesh. Amongst all the failing of my betta tries in with the platy, the platy never had any problems. They never got in a fight with the current betta, never nipped at fins, never got sick even when the betta died and i did desperate water changes and cleaning.

Anyways, the point is i have three platy, am doing MAJOR tank renovations, and am wondering, because for those of you who are new to my postings i live in a small town in south dakota with a walmart store as the only source of fish.

So i am just here to kind of track my progress and tell people about my pics and share stories and get advice. I am looking to do a community tank, my tank looks way too small with three platy and four decorations. My mom is going to stop at petco in souix falls on november 11 after her buisiness conference and i tried to convince her to get me some fish but she is way too worried, and rightly so, that they would freeze or get sick or die in the 3 1/2 hour car ride. Ick. So she is getting me some greek colums and ferns and plants, i am doing greek theme, and i was wondering what color scheme i should go with? Tomorrow i am getting new gravel at walmart and i know i am going to get a ton of white, but i wondering what color i should mix in with that, like get some hot pink or some blue, and then do mainly green and the same color plastic ferns. I was also looking for some opinions, should i go for these for the greek theme:
http/www.petco.com/product/118896/Petco-Small-Greek-3-Column-Aquarium-Ornament-Ruins-Collection.aspx?CoreCat=MM_FishSupplies_Decor

Or should i maybe do more of a different theme like instead of colums, do one of these:

http/www.petco.com/product/112187/Petco-Asian-Gazebo-Aquatic-Decor.aspx?CoreCat=MM_FishSupplies_Decor

http/www.petco.com/product/122169/Blue-Ribbon-Resting-Buddha-Statue-Aquarium-Ornament.aspx

http/www.petco.com/product/122169/Blue-Ribbon-Resting-Buddha-Statue-Aquarium-Ornament.aspx

Or do like a combo with some colums and one of these..... I dont know i am looking for somebody who has a different taste and i like all opinions, but i definetly want to stick with like ruins and old world looking stuff.

And here brings me to me next question, where i am super willing to listen to all advice. I read up on what fish are good in community tanks and here is what some people said on yahoo.com which i now know is not usually right about fish they said
Pygmy corys
Cardinal tetras
Dwarf gourami
Corydoras catfish

And i REALLY liked the look and idea of having a dwarf gourami in the tank as the show piece. So what are your thoughts? Id love to hear everyones ideas for me and i will write down all the fish names i am given in hopes that a couple will be at walmart!

I am also looking for some smaller fish that help clean a bit. That would be nice.

Thanks for reading all the way through this long thing and i apologize again in general to my conduct and behavior the last times i posted.

Thank you for all help!
And as i look at the other posts i made a while ago, somebody along the way told me platies are unsuitible for the ten gallon. I think this is untrue because now they dont live with a betta, and there are only three? Any opinions on that because i dont really want to be housing fish that need more space, and i can try to return.

I do have some other platys in a bigger 22 gallon tank, but im not messin with those. They have a nice school going, and all is well

 

[Meeresstille]

Hi rikkitiger! How sad that your Bettas died.
 
It is good that you now have a heater and are getting some decorations for your tank. Regarding the filter cartridge, I'm not sure what type of filter it is you have there (too tired to google it right now) but before you throw out the old cartridge be sure you're not throwing away your beneficial bacteria with it!
 
The decor you are planning sounds lovely, it can be overwhelming making your pick, but that's part of the fun, right!? Asking other people's opinion may only mess you up more, so just look at things and choose what you like, you can't go wrong!  However, there was a thread a while ago about decorations where the paint bubbled up and flaked off, so you best google your choices if there have been any problems with it!
 
Stocking a 10 gallon is tricky. To me it really is a very small tank, and difficult to find fish for. Personally I would not put platies in it, had 3 platies in a 30 gallon myself a year or so ago. Maybe mine were just hyper fish, but they were extremely active, and I can't imagine 3 in a 10 gallon. 
But yours seem to be fine, so your question is what you can add to them. Pygmy cories are adorable, but they hide a lot, so I'm not sure if they would add more activity to your tank. Adding a school of tetras would overstock your tank, I think. Dwarf Courami are often disappointing because many die within a year because of the Dwarf Gourami Disease. Catfish too are schooling fish, and you will get overstocked.
I'm thinking maybe micro rasboras or sparkling gourami? But I'm not sure, and hope others can advise you better on this!  
 
P.S. Also found this thread which may be of interest to you http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/422281-setting-up-a-new-tank/

 

[rikkitiger]

Thank you! So much helpful advice. My platys seem to be very happy to me, and i can see the different personalities in all three of them, though they do like to stick together sometimes. I made sure to preserve a piece of the filter media for today when i make the big water and hopefully fish change. im getting very excited and am also wondering if anyone else has any fish options? Im writing all these down as we go. I dont mind some bashful fish either. Adds to the fun when they do come out. I just now realized that yesterday was the eleventh of november..... So i guess my mom will be going on the fourteenth because she leaves this thursday, so i have a bit to make my choices. I was also just going to ask people one more thing. I know im going for the greek theme now for sure, and im going to get a little bubble volcano too, make it like a pompeii themed tank, so i was wondering what would look good in gravel.

I was tnking of mainly white gravel mixed with some black and some red to go for the pompeii theme even more, and also then use green and red ferns. Let me know what you think would look good for colors.

Thanks for the very long and detailed help you gave me meeresstille, i really appriciate the time you took for me!

Thanks for all the help!

 

[rikkitiger]

Went to walmart and got a stunning male dwarf gourami! I am wondering i have tropical flake in stock, and i have some freeze dried bloodworms but there are no live plants in the tank is this ok?

 

[rikkitiger]

Alrighty! I just got done with the big water change and gravel change! As some of you may know, i have a new dwarf male gourami and i am soooo excited! He was kinda shocked for a bit to be in his new home, and a bit hacked at me that i didnt have a cave in there, but when i out the cave in, he went right in, sped around quite impressively i must say. The platys are fine, eating some flake right now as we speak, and the water is a bit cloudy but the filter is up and running and the parameters look good, so i think its ok. The temperature is nice, and i hope my little new boy adjusts nicely. You never know, i did the drip method with the new water and a container but you can never be for sure. I hope everything works out just fine.

I ended up going eith white, black, and hot pink gravel. It loooks really nice the way i scaped it out and made it look like a little valley. Ill be happy when it's finished though.
I turned out the light just now and guess what? Little bud comes wandering out. I gave the platys a bit extra flake in hopes that my little bud will take some and he does! Wow that was a fast adjustment. I think the first couple days are the hardest to make sure he is good, but all looks healthy and i cant help but think positively.

I think im in love XD

 

[Xzavier247]

Pictures of this tank?

 

[rikkitiger]

I dont have a camera.

 

[Xzavier247]

Do you have a smart phone?

 

[Meeresstille]

That sounds really nice, Rikkitiger! 
I've liked the look of the Dwarf Gourami from the very beginning when I started this hobby too. Such a beautiful little fish. I hope your little guy will be OK and not get that DGD. You could try soaking his food in some garlic juice to help boost his immune system, I think it may be worth a try! 
Do you have a friend with a camera on their phone? If they e-mail the pic to you, then you can download it to your computer. Sure would be interesting to see your new set-up!

 

[rikkitiger]

I dont yet even have a cell phone. but my friend is coming over on friday and she has an ipod touch so ill try to make time to do pics then.

So soaking food in garlic juice huh? Thats a bit of info i didnt know. so what exactly should i be feeding him, other than tropical flake?

Walmart has brine shrimp and bloodworms freeze dried but i dont know what i should get and how much. Can anyone educate me?

 

[rikkitiger]

well well well, i got home from school and then dance today and what do i behold? my new little bud has wandered out of his hiding and is gliding round the tank! i am happy because be looks happy. he sure has a lot more space than he did at walmart at least.