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What can I stock my 10 gallon with??
- Thread starter Aurelia.Soothill
- Start date
That's great. You have soft water at dH 3 (which converts to 54 ppm, that's the other unit used in fish keeping). Mine is 4 in that table and it has increased to 5 in the years since they put the table on their website but even if yours has also increased a bit, it is still soft.
Unfortunately it means that your guppies won't be happy, though neon tetras will. Guppies are hard water fish which must have a lot of calcium in their water or their lives will be shorter than normal. You could either rehome them or wait till they live out their lives.
Your 58.5 cm length is just about 60 cm, the smallest size recommended for neon tetras. Neons are shoaling fish which means they need to be in a group of at least 6, with more being better. If you can get more during the lockdown, this is the first thing to do.
The tank is a bit too small for a centrepiece fish - I used to have a tank this size. But once the guppies are no longer with you, maybe a shoal of ember tetras, or one of the Boraras species such as chili rasboras.
Word of warning: don't believe anything a fish shop says, even Fish Alive! So many of them just want to make a sale and will tell you that hard water fish are suitable for soft water, for example.
Unfortunately it means that your guppies won't be happy, though neon tetras will. Guppies are hard water fish which must have a lot of calcium in their water or their lives will be shorter than normal. You could either rehome them or wait till they live out their lives.
Your 58.5 cm length is just about 60 cm, the smallest size recommended for neon tetras. Neons are shoaling fish which means they need to be in a group of at least 6, with more being better. If you can get more during the lockdown, this is the first thing to do.
The tank is a bit too small for a centrepiece fish - I used to have a tank this size. But once the guppies are no longer with you, maybe a shoal of ember tetras, or one of the Boraras species such as chili rasboras.
Word of warning: don't believe anything a fish shop says, even Fish Alive! So many of them just want to make a sale and will tell you that hard water fish are suitable for soft water, for example.
Aurelia.Soothill
New Member
Thankyou so much for this, so helpful! Do you think if I can get more neons now I could get them whilst having the 6 guppies? Or do I have to wait for the guppies to pass then get more neons...? Also, if after the guppies I get five more neons, then am I able to get more of another fish like rasboras like you said? Thankyou so much!
No, you could not get more neons.
As I already said, they requested different temperatures and they need more room. Even if you removed the guppies, you could not get more neon tetras.
As I already said, they requested different temperatures and they need more room. Even if you removed the guppies, you could not get more neon tetras.
Aurelia.Soothill
New Member
My water is more suited for the neons over the guppies though
You still can’t get more neon tetras!
They need a lot more room than just a 10g tank.
Aurelia.Soothill
New Member
The tank is 54 litres which is actually 14 US gallons and at 58.5 cm/23 inches long it is OK for neons. (It sounds like my old Eheim Aquastar tank)
Yes, neons need slightly warmer water than guppies; I would go for a temperature of 25 deg C which should be OK for both of them.
And I would get another 6 or 7 more neons as soon as possible. If the shop would take the guppies at the same time, that might be the best thing (if they would, they might possibly give you a bit of credit for the guppies). otherwise, increase the number of neons and wait until the guppies have passed on before getting more fish.
Poecilia reticulata – Guppy (Lebistes poecilioides, Girardinus guppii ) — Seriously Fish
www.seriouslyfish.com
Aurelia.Soothill
New Member
Ok Thankyou for being nice about it, I think some think my tank is much smaller than it is because 10 US gallons is much smaller than UK gallons. Thankyou this should help a lot xThe tank is 54 litres which is actually 14 US gallons and at 58.5 cm/23 inches long it is OK for neons. (It sounds like my old Eheim Aquastar tank)
Yes, neons need slightly warmer water than guppies; I would go for a temperature of 25 deg C which should be OK for both of them.
And I would get another 6 or 7 more neons as soon as possible. If the shop would take the guppies at the same time, that might be the best thing (if they would, they might possibly give you a bit of credit for the guppies). otherwise, increase the number of neons and wait until the guppies have passed on before getting more fish.
Poecilia reticulata – Guppy (Lebistes poecilioides, Girardinus guppii ) — Seriously Fish
Using the calculator on here, 54 litres = 11.9 Imperial gallons = 14.3 US gallons.
But the length of the tank is more important than the volume (within reason) and yours is long enough for neons. Look at the tank dimensions in the link in my last post, they give the footprint of the tank rather than the volume.
One question though. You give the height as 38.5 cm - is that from the bottom of the tank to the top of the lid, or to the top of the tank, or the height of the water surface from the gravel? Your tank dimensions give a volume of 68 litres/18 US gallons.
But the length of the tank is more important than the volume (within reason) and yours is long enough for neons. Look at the tank dimensions in the link in my last post, they give the footprint of the tank rather than the volume.
One question though. You give the height as 38.5 cm - is that from the bottom of the tank to the top of the lid, or to the top of the tank, or the height of the water surface from the gravel? Your tank dimensions give a volume of 68 litres/18 US gallons.
Aurelia.Soothill
New Member
38.5cm is just the glass part of the tank
The volume of water will be slightly less than the 68 litres from the calculator because there's the thickness of the gravel and the air space on top of the water taking up some of that volume. But the footprint of the tank is the minimum size for neons according to Seriously Fish.
That website is the best one out there for researching fish
That website is the best one out there for researching fish
Aurelia.Soothill
New Member
Awesome I’ll check it out!The volume of water will be slightly less than the 68 litres from the calculator because there's the thickness of the gravel and the air space on top of the water taking up some of that volume. But the footprint of the tank is the minimum size for neons according to Seriously Fish.
That website is the best one out there for researching fish
14 gallons is OK for neon tetras?The tank is 54 litres which is actually 14 US gallons and at 58.5 cm/23 inches long it is OK for neons. (It sounds like my old Eheim Aquastar tank)
Yes, neons need slightly warmer water than guppies; I would go for a temperature of 25 deg C which should be OK for both of them.
And I would get another 6 or 7 more neons as soon as possible. If the shop would take the guppies at the same time, that might be the best thing (if they would, they might possibly give you a bit of credit for the guppies). otherwise, increase the number of neons and wait until the guppies have passed on before getting more fish.
Poecilia reticulata – Guppy (Lebistes poecilioides, Girardinus guppii ) — Seriously Fish
@Byron said even though SeriouslyFish has some super good information, they sometimes mess up their tank sizes/minimum tank sizes.
Everything I’ve read/heard has said that neon tetras need at least a 20g long tank.
I would say that this tank is fine because it is long rather than tall. It has a footprint of 23 x 12 inches.
Byron may well comment when he logs on.
Byron may well comment when he logs on.
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