What can I stock my 10 gallon with??

[Retired Viking]

If you live in Durham North Carolina you water is soft,

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Are you sure I can only have a shoal if guppies in the tank? They it just seems so small and even with the guppies too the tank looks so empty. I’ve seen many 10G fishtanks online with a beautiful range of fish without obvious overcrowding...

Yes...

Even if they may seem “small” and even if it may seem like they are “happy” in reality, they aren’t.

I would say for now, leave the guppies in the 10g. If you want more neon tetras, I recommend that you get a 20g long tank.

Also, neons and guppies aren’t compatible because, 1( Neons have sharp teeth and sharp teeth and long fins never mix, and 2( They require different temperatures.

 

[JuiceBox52]

Retired Viking said your water is soft. I would then either rehome the guppies and get 8 ember tetras or micro rasboras, or invest in some rift lake substrate. This substrate will harden the water for the guppies.

Many people who have lots of fish in their 10 gallon tanks do have very poor stocking choices.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Micro Rasboras are cool little fish. Just saying.

 

[CassCats]

You will struggle with guppies with soft water. I have mid ranged water and still have to harden their water for them...

No DG in a 10g. And never more than 1 in a tank unless you have only females. Males can be really nasty.

Platies and mollies are large and need a 20gallon and up. Also need hard water as well.

Look into ember tetras, microrasboras, sparkling gourami.... but only if you switch out the guppies. Not together.

If you are set on keeping the guppies... get endler guppies for some variety. Theyre smaller so you can fit more.

But be warned if you have any females you will get overrun with fry in a 10 gallon tank.

 

[Jan Cavalieri]

You could add a couple of dwarf Gourami's but they are a really laid back fish - I'm sure they'd handle the guppies group just fine - they aren't too hyper are they? I love the standard Dwarf Gourami - red and soft blues very pretty. There are some solid color Gourami's - such as a Honey dwarf - very sweet - you may have to take what you can find but most dwarf gourami are peaceful fish and they don't nibble fins.

Next time you have your water tested and they tell you "fine" tell them that's the stupidest answer you ever heard and go buy a test kit or two. (no test strips - waste of money) The answer "fine" is fine for what? for the species you have or the species you want. Would they have let you purchase a goldfish without telling you they need a really big tank. Danio's on the other hand are small fish but they, too, need a decent sized tank because they swim constantly at 100 mph or so it looks - so different fish have different needs.

In this case I think everybody wants to know your GH (general hardness) and KH (calcium hardness) as well as temperature so you should have a heater and thermometer - tropical fish need a heated tank while guppies are not tropical and they can live at the coldest temperatures - almost freezing. If you go to your City's website - look for your water department and look for a report most cities publish annually - A Water Quality Report. Pull up a recent year and scroll through it until you find mention of GH, KH and Ph and write those down - make sure you write down the unit of measure that they are using. Most LFS do not test for GH or KH but they probably test for pH. Gourami's are kind of in the middle of the range. You can also buy a GH/KH test kit but unless there is a huge range of numbers in your city I would just rely on your city report.

You do need a general test kit that tests Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and Ph. These values change daily - in fact to own most fish you need to have cycled your tank meaning you've taken the time to grow the bacteria needed to get rid of ammonia and nitrites which can kill your fish if they are too high and nitrates which will tell you how "dirty" your tank is - which can also kill your fish. Ideally all values should be zero for a "perfect" tank. Ph, however, can vary depending on your water. Most tropical fish are good with a pH between 6 and 8 but there are some species that prefer it much lower (more acidic). Salt water fish prefer it tin the 8's and 9's, freshwater generally don't

Get a nice simple book like "Aquariums for dummies" and it will really explain it better than any of us ever could - people here I think sometimes make it sound so complicated it scares people and since you have "simple" fish so far you should be able to be successful very easily.

 

[JuiceBox52]

You could add a couple of dwarf Gourami's but they are a really laid back fish - I'm sure they'd handle the guppies group just fine - they aren't too hyper are they? I love the standard Dwarf Gourami - red and soft blues very pretty. There are some solid color Gourami's - such as a Honey dwarf - very sweet - you may have to take what you can find but most dwarf gourami are peaceful fish and they don't nibble fins.

Next time you have your water tested and they tell you "fine" tell them that's the stupidest answer you ever heard and go buy a test kit or two. (no test strips - waste of money) The answer "fine" is fine for what? for the species you have or the species you want. Would they have let you purchase a goldfish without telling you they need a really big tank. Danio's on the other hand are small fish but they, too, need a decent sized tank because they swim constantly at 100 mph or so it looks - so different fish have different needs.

In this case I think everybody wants to know your GH (general hardness) and KH (calcium hardness) as well as temperature so you should have a heater and thermometer - tropical fish need a heated tank while guppies are not tropical and they can live at the coldest temperatures - almost freezing. If you go to your City's website - look for your water department and look for a report most cities publish annually - A Water Quality Report. Pull up a recent year and scroll through it until you find mention of GH, KH and Ph and write those down - make sure you write down the unit of measure that they are using. Most LFS do not test for GH or KH but they probably test for pH. Gourami's are kind of in the middle of the range. You can also buy a GH/KH test kit but unless there is a huge range of numbers in your city I would just rely on your city report.

You do need a general test kit that tests Ammonia, Nitrites, Nitrates and Ph. These values change daily - in fact to own most fish you need to have cycled your tank meaning you've taken the time to grow the bacteria needed to get rid of ammonia and nitrites which can kill your fish if they are too high and nitrates which will tell you how "dirty" your tank is - which can also kill your fish. Ideally all values should be zero for a "perfect" tank. Ph, however, can vary depending on your water. Most tropical fish are good with a pH between 6 and 8 but there are some species that prefer it much lower (more acidic). Salt water fish prefer it tin the 8's and 9's, freshwater generally don't

Get a nice simple book like "Aquariums for dummies" and it will really explain it better than any of us ever could - people here I think sometimes make it sound so complicated it scares people and since you have "simple" fish so far you should be able to be successful very easily.

I agree with everything you said except that DGs cant be in a 10 and aren't compatible with guppies because of different water requirements

 

[CassCats]

I agree with everything you said except that DGs cant be in a 10 and aren't compatible with guppies because of different water requirements

And DG arent really "peaceful"

Honey gourami are.

Dwarf gourami no. Females okay if you can find one. Males its a gamble and they will not "nibble" fins. If they don't like a tankmate, they will kill that tankmate.

And each DG acts different with what tankmates they like and dislike.

My boy hates skirt tetras. But is fine with neons and black neons.

 

[Essjay]

@Aurelia.Soothill if you mean Durham, County Durham, England you are probably with Northumbrian Water. Unfortunately their link to the hardness of your water no longer works, and all they give is the hardness in words which is misleading. However, it is most likely that you have soft water as the majority of Northumbrian Water is soft.
You can try entering your postcode here https://www.nwl.co.uk/check-your-area/
Mine says 'slightly hard' but until the end of last year when they revamped their website they did give numbers and mine is 5 dH which is soft for fish keeping.


Edit to add - if it is Durham, England, you have Fish Alive near you, lucky thing

 

[Aurelia.Soothill]

Find your local water providers website. It should say on there

This is what it says, mean average of PH is 7.4 approx, Thankyou everyone for helping me I really do appreciate it! <3<3<3

 

[Aurelia.Soothill]

@Aurelia.Soothill if you mean Durham, County Durham, England you are probably with Northumbrian Water. Unfortunately their link to the hardness of your water no longer works, and all they give is the hardness in words which is misleading. However, it is most likely that you have soft water as the majority of Northumbrian Water is soft.
You can try entering your postcode here https://www.nwl.co.uk/check-your-area/
Mine says 'slightly hard' but until the end of last year when they revamped their website they did give numbers and mine is 5 dH which is soft for fish keeping.


Edit to add - if it is Durham, England, you have Fish Alive near you, lucky thing

Yes the fish alive is just a ten min drive away! I love going there it’s like I’m in fish heaven haha!! Yea I think I managed to find the table if you check out the pics I posted as I’m not sure exactly which things I’m looking at

 

[Essjay]

Unfortunately that's the water quality report which does not include hardness. Northumbrian Water only give words for hardness which isn't much use to us.
We need the hardness as well as the pH.

I have sent you a private message with a table which includes hardness - have you found the message?

 

[Aurelia.Soothill]

@Aurelia.Soothill if you mean Durham, County Durham, England you are probably with Northumbrian Water. Unfortunately their link to the hardness of your water no longer works, and all they give is the hardness in words which is misleading. However, it is most likely that you have soft water as the majority of Northumbrian Water is soft.
You can try entering your postcode here https://www.nwl.co.uk/check-your-area/
Mine says 'slightly hard' but until the end of last year when they revamped their website they did give numbers and mine is 5 dH which is soft for fish keeping.


Edit to add - if it is Durham, England, you have Fish Alive

If you live in Durham North Carolina you water is soft,

no it’s Durham in England x

 

[Aurelia.Soothill]

Find your local water providers website. It should say on there

Ok guys!! I think I found my German something... 3? Does that sound somewhat right? I’ll post my column in the table to the thread

 

[Aurelia.Soothill]

Ok guys!! I think I found my German something... 3? Does that sound somewhat right? I’ll post my column in the table to the thread

I’m in the Durham and Trindon Colomn btw