10 Gal Community Build Help

Hello. I'm new to the freshwater community. I've tried to do my best for setting it up, yet I think I have already messed things up. Here is my current 10 gal fresh water set up.

10 gal long
20 gal topfin filter
Dwarf gourami
2 spotted corys
2 neons
3 glowlight tetras
1 cherry barb
3 plants
1 blue snail

My friend saw this and about had a panic attack. My question is how should I "finish the tank"?

I'm not sure how many more fish I should really put in the 10 gal since it's already populated.

I know I already messed it up good, and I really don't feel like getting berated on a forum. Should I finish out the cory school to 5? Should I go 3 of each? (Cherry, neon, and cory) should I just finish the neon school?

Btw it's a very peaceful community. Everyone gets along well and the glowlight tetras, neons, and cherry barb even school together at some times.

Thanks for the help.

 

Alright, its okay to make mistakes! We all have to start somewhere. What's important is to understand where and how you messed up and to not make that mistake again.

So, first question: did you cycle the aquarium before adding all these fish? How long as the tank been set up/running with fish in the tank?

I would not add anymore fish as of now. I work at an LFS and recently I've been having customers with smaller tanks wanting to add a 'comfortable school amount' of fish to a very small tank all at one time because 'they don't want the fish to be lonely'. This is silly, a fish will not die or become ill of a broken heart. It may hide or be pale some of the time because it's not comfortable...but...then again, when you keep anything in a 20x12 or smaller glass box, things are bound to get uncomfortable. Its just how it goes.

Its great that they're getting along, but I'm concerned about your water parameters. There are two aspects to having clean water, the clarity and the quality.

Clarity is how clear the water is. It could be green, yellow, brown, or cloudy and still be perfectly healthy.
The water quality refers to the concentration of by-products and compounds from the nitrite cycle. Do you know about and understand the nitrite cycle?

In the first week that your tank is set up with fish, the fish will put waste into the water in the form of ammonia (NH4+), that ammonia will then be eaten (oxidized) by a nitrosomonas bacteria and turned into nitrite (NO2-). Ammonia and nitrite are TOXIC to fish in excess amounts (any concentration above .05ppm-parts per milllion) and can cause stress and illness. in the 2-3week mark, nitrobacter bacteria will begin to develop and 'eat' (oxidize) the nitrite into nitrate (NO3-) and the cycle is complete (usually by the 4-5 week mark). At this point, regular water changes should be completed (one 20% water removal every 2-3 weeks) and the water should be tested bi-weekly before water changes.

 

Honestly I would keep the dwarf gourami, the snail and get rid of all the fish except 1 school of your choice =/

 

As much as you may love your Gourami, I would suggest removing him.

In my first tank (28L) I had 2 Gourami’s and one passed away. The remaining one soon realised that he was much bigger than my 6 neons and 4 Tetras and started eating them. They couldn’t get away because the tank was too small.

I’ve also found that my barbs were very aggressive even killing its own school.

I personally would take the Gourami and Barb back (if possible) and expand the neons to 4 and the glolight to 4.

 

I guess the first question is also asking yourself, is rehoming your current fishes an option you will consider?

If it is not, then I would say not to add anymore fish into your current tank.

 

Its great that they're getting along, but I'm concerned about your water parameters. There are two aspects to having clean water, the clarity and the quality.

Clarity is how clear the water is. It could be green, yellow, brown, or cloudy and still be perfectly healthy.
The water quality refers to the concentration of by-products and compounds from the nitrite cycle. Do you know about and understand the nitrite cycle?

I cycled the water for 5 days with a standard filter before adding fish. I added fish 1 at a time by kind. Yes the nitrite cycle is how often I have to water change. (I have 2 commet goldfish in a 20gal, many water changes required lol) I have done 2 water changes in 5 weeks of the total running time of the tank. The water has always been crystal clear. I have a suction pump to sift through the gravel.

 

Do you have a kit to test ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate?

 

Yeah, it's over stocked. Don't freak out, I can guarantee you every single person on this forum started out this way. Betta in a bowl, Oscar in a 10 gallon, etc. The important part is that you learn from your mistakes. My advice is to:
-Rehome the Cherry Barb
-Get two more cories
- Keep either one of the schooling fish and or the gourami and rehome what you don't choose
-If you choose to keep one of the schooling fish, get 2 more in that breed.
Best of luck!

 

Yeah, it's over stocked. Don't freak out, I can guarantee you every single person on this forum started out this way. Betta in a bowl, Oscar in a 10 gallon, etc. The important part is that you learn from your mistakes. My advice is to:
-Rehome the Cherry Barb
-Get two more cories
- Keep either one of the schooling fish and or the gourami and rehome what you don't choose
-If you choose to keep one of the schooling fish, get 2 more in that breed.
Best of luck!

So...
5 tetra
1 dwarf gourami
4 cories

Sounds good. I'll try to figure out how to re home and return.

 

So...
5 tetra
1 dwarf gourami
4 cories

Sounds good. I'll try to figure out how to re home and return.

If you bought them from petsmart, you can take them back within 14 days for a full refund. They may take things back even outside the refund period though.

 

If you bought them from petsmart, you can take them back within 14 days for a full refund. They may take things back even outside the refund period though.

I got the glowlights from petco, dwarf gourami from petco, 2 neon and cherry from Aquatica, 2 cory from petsmart.

 

So...
5 tetra
1 dwarf gourami
4 cories

Sounds good. I'll try to figure out how to re home and return.

Yep. Even that's kind of on the edge of overstocked so be sure to do plenty of water changes and test your water

 

I cycled the water for 5 days with a standard filter before adding fish. I added fish 1 at a time by kind. Yes the nitrite cycle is how often I have to water change. (I have 2 commet goldfish in a 20gal, many water changes required lol) I have done 2 water changes in 5 weeks of the total running time of the tank. The water has always been crystal clear. I have a suction pump to sift through the gravel.

Okayy, if you haven't yet, I would definitely test your water soon. Just to see where your water parameters are at. As long as you understand ammonia and nitrite spikes during fish in cycling then you'll be fine in the end game. I was under the assumption that these fish were added within the first week and were still in the early stages of cycling. You're probably almost finished with the cycle at 5 weeks with fish in.

Earlier you mentioned aquatica, you must be local! Have you heard of RMS Aquaculture? We're the biggest aquarium store in the area, and we accept donations if you're not sure where to rehome some of your fish. Just call ahead of time to make sure we have space in the stocking tanks.

 

The closest RMS Aquaculture is in Ohio according to Google maps. I'm in NC.

Have you heard of RMS Aquaculture? We're the biggest aquarium store in the area, and we accept donations if you're not sure where to rehome some of your fish. Just call ahead of time to make sure we have space in the stocking tanks.

 

The closest RMS Aquaculture is in Ohio according to Google maps. I'm in NC.

Aweee, ohh, okay. My bad, I'm on a roll with these assumptions today. Sorry about that!

Theres an aquatica here as well but, I'm not sure the nc and ohio stores are affiliated.

 

You're going to have to make a decision here you can keep a blend of two of these types of fish, or just one if you prefer, but please rehome the cherry barbs. Those do not belong in there. Maybe keep the glowlight danios, up the school and keep the snails? Or keep the gourami.
It's okay, we all make mistakes. It's better to have less types and more of the fish you're keeping, espesialy with cories, danios, and tetras.