# Stocking 10 Gallon planted tank



## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

Hello everyone, I will be setting up my 10 gallon planted tank tomorrow and need some help stocking my tank. It will be heavily planted with hi light tank. I want a small community of fish that cover all areas of the tank from high - mid and low swimmers. Not exactly looking for one specific fish to be the star. I am looking at neon tetras, some dwarf corys or glass catfish (only fish in the tank, thinking about 6 of them). But I have read on other threads that glass catfish is not a good choice for a 10 gallon aquarium so I might have to scrap that idea haha. 

Are there any other fish I can get? I am not a big fan of ember tetras or galaxy danios. Looking for neutral and cool colour fish, not so much orange etc. 

Thanks everyone  Look forward to hearing from some of you


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## mitchfish9 (Apr 30, 2012)

Gold Pristella tetras maybe? Definitely the dwarf corys. Harlequin rasboras are a possibilty as well


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

@ mitch - How many GP Tetras can I keep in a 10 gallon tank?


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Are you going to be supplementing this high-light setup with nutrients and CO2? If not, you won't get much more growth out of the plants than you would if the tank was a low-light one.

Fish... there are endless possibilities. Neon tetras, black neon tetras, green neon tetras, cardinal tetras, shrimp, fancy guppies, endlers, killifish, badis, pygmy gouramis, otos, dwarf and pygmy cories, pearl danios, ... the list goes on. Hey, you could even put a fully grown oscar in there! It's been done before (I highly do _not_ recommend it. I was joking)...


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## Willamette (Jun 19, 2012)

Perhaps some microrasboras. Nice school of boraras brigittae or merah...very nice colors if their happy. 

...Also, harlequin or pork chop rasboras might be groovy.


(Please take the needed weeks to make sure your tank has completed its cycle before poisoning any innocent fish by tossing them in there too soon, or in too great of numbers...)


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## CatB (Jan 29, 2012)

^ +1 do a fishless cycle... sick of the threads needing urgent help because their tank is in mid-cycle and they already fully stocked D:

harlequins would be really cool yeah.


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## mitchfish9 (Apr 30, 2012)

erictruong said:


> @ mitch - How many GP Tetras can I keep in a 10 gallon tank?


Im thinking 5-6 same if you go with rasboras


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

CatB said:


> ^ +1 do a fishless cycle... sick of the threads needing urgent help because their tank is in mid-cycle and they already fully stocked D:
> 
> harlequins would be really cool yeah.


Most definitely. Nothing's worse than to have a tank full of ammonia and half-dead fish. 

I have cycled a tank with black neons, however, and didn't lose a single fish.


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

@LB79 - Yes i will be using a fluval mini co2 kit although some say i can save money using a DIY co2 set up. I just don't find it really attractive having giant bottles beside my tank. I will also be dosing Flourite excel. are there any other supplements I should use for my tank?

@ williamette - The Harliquins are definitely a possibility. I like the colours on those and i Will be completing a fish less cycle before adding fish. I have seen a fish that looks the same but does not have the reddish colour, rather it has more of a blue tone to it, what fish is this??? And how many of these fish can I keep in the 10 gallon tank?

and so Is there no way I can keep 6 glass catfish in the planted tank?


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

I think glass cats need bigger tanks with good strong current and they won't appreciate your bright lighting from what I know. 

As others have already mentioned you could get microrasboras. In a 10 gallon you could easily keep 24+ of them and make a nice big school. If you don't like the bright red boraras briggitae there's a ton of less colorful ones. Check out this page: http://www.franksaquarium.com/nanofish.htm

I love microdevario kubotai personally. Msjinkzd on this forum sells them.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

erictruong said:


> @LB79 - Yes i will be using a fluval mini co2 kit although some say i can save money using a DIY co2 set up. I just don't find it really attractive having giant bottles beside my tank. I will also be dosing *Flourite excel*. are there any other supplements I should use for my tank


Because you have a CO2 source, and Excel is a carbon additive (it's not anywhere near as good as actual CO2, however), you probably don't need to use it. Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive would be much better as it supplies the plants with the needed nutrients to grow.


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## ADJAquariums (Jul 5, 2012)

panda cories (if you can get them, they stay fairly small, never seen a big one), some sort of snail (reaserch what type you'd like), and then probably neon tetras or danios, my personal favorite are cobalt dwarf gourami's however you could probably only do like 2 in a 10 gallon and they aren't the easiest fish to care for.


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## markusdowny (Mar 8, 2012)

Green Neo Tetras are great! Great schoolers! Small enough so that you can stock about 15 of them. Cute and outgoing guys.


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

@ ADJ Aquariums - panda cores are definitely nice as well And I'm not a big fan of snails lol Rather get Otos

@ LB79 - Thanks I'll get some of that this week


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

If i want to keep some shrimp in my 10 gallon, how will it affect my stocking?


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## kuni (May 7, 2010)

erictruong said:


> If i want to keep some shrimp in my 10 gallon, how will it affect my stocking?


It'll mean you can keep less fish. Shrimp are sensitive to nitrates.

Shrimp also don't like Excel and they aren't huge fans of ferts/CO2. It can be done, but low-tech is better for shrimp.


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

@ Kuni - Thanks for the info! 

I think I will go with a school of 6 Harlequin Rasbora or similar species and 2 Otos. if i keep 6 Rasboras is having another 2 otos overstocking the tank?


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

No. Just the them minimally and do lots of water changes. Harlequins have a very low bioload. Likewise with the otos. You could easily have 4 of them and 6 of the rasboras.


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## nathanAcs (Mar 30, 2012)

what about a dwarf gourami? they are colorful


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Dwarf gouramis are mean little brutes...


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

@ LB79 - sounds great I guess I will go with those fish then haha

I have another question about my tank but probably shouldn't be posted here but anyways:

I just set up the tank with the plants but I have to go on vacation for 3 weeks. What Can I do to keep my plants healthy and alive for when I come back? Right now i do not have the CO2 set-up because I will start using when I am back from my vacation. I only have the filter running and my light fixture 2x18W t5. How many hours should I run the light for? And what other options do I have?


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

I'd say put the light on a timer for 8 hours a day. If you can, get some root tabs and shove those in there. It should be fine.


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## Gsneufeld (May 13, 2012)

Stock small shrimp species like cherry, yellows etc about 10 shrimp per 1 fish bioload wise. Bigger shrimp like Amano have a bigger bioload obviously. 

One fish I didn't see, the White Cloud minnow. Not a conventional choice, but one of my favorite fish - they have amazing personalities for such small fish. The males spend all their time displaying and chasing with each other, 
("nipping" each other, but never doing damage, looks more like they're dancing than fighting)

Like someone said, dwarf gouramis are bad news. Don't get Colisa lalia. Honey gourami aka Trichogaster chuna are a much better choice. Or even better, a fancy Betta, before I upgraded mine to my 20G I had him in a 10, and he loved it just as much as he loves the 20 now. Who ever says Bettas are afraid of bigger tanks has never kept one in a planted tank. Beautiful.


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

@lb79- so if I am not using co2 until I come back should I dose with excel or flourish comphrehensive?


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

@ Gsneufeld- my friend has a shrimp tank and they reproduce relatively fast. If this Happens I won't have another tank to move them in lol


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

If you're not going to have CO2 on the tank until you com back, dose Excel _and_ Flourish Comp. as Excel is carbon and Flourish Comp. is nutrients. The plants should be fine for three weeks. The tank may need a little nursing when you get back, as many things can happen when you're away.


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

How often should I dose the two?


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## FriendsNotFood (Sep 21, 2010)

If you have fish in your tank with the shrimp I wouldn't worry about the shrimp overpopulating. The fish will eat the babies and keep the population in check. Also if you keep a betta with your shrimp be prepared to only see your shrimp at night when it's dark.


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## In2wishin (Aug 10, 2011)

I have become a fan of the naked rummynose rasbora (sawbwa resplendens). They are really unusual colors and have a soft blue body and bright orange nose and tips of the tail fins. Everyone who comes over comments on them and how cool they are. Mine are fully grown and are about 1-1/4" long. They tend to schoal more than school.


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## erictruong (Mar 1, 2012)

I found out my tank got some baby snails LOL probably were hiding inside the plants I bought. I also see little microscopic things moving around on the back of my aquarium. I can see them clearly because I have a black aquarium background. Could these be smaller
Snails that will grow?


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