My first ever aquarium

HI people how's it going? I'm new to fish keeping. I have a ten gallon rectangle. It has a 20 gallon marineland bio wheel filter and a 40 gallon capacity air pump with 4 inch flat airstone. It's gravel bottom. It started off as a single goldfish tank. My gf bought 7 neon tetras and 4 guppy and 2 panda corydoras. The fish have all lived together about 2 weeks now. I change out a half gallon or just under every day to help keep the water clear. Today I decided to go to the pet store and found marimo moss balls and added 2 2 and 2 1 inch balls to my tank and 5 ghost shrimp. I plan to add 3-4 more moss balls and a new leafy plant or 2 for the tetras and guppies to hide around. I have one cave but I'm adding another in a week or 2.
So my questions are 1) can I afford to have 1-2 more panda corydoras and another 5 ghost shrimp or will it be overcrowded and uncomfortable for all of the life in there now?
2) what leafy plants can I add to help contribute to water cleanliness?
The goldfish is not aggressive. It acts like it's smaller than the smallest tetra but it's 3 inches.
I also have 5-1 test strips. Just bought them never used them. So any help there would be good. I can read and understand the results I don't know how to correct them if need.

 

1. Get a bigger tank for the panda cory.
2. 1 goldfish needs at least a 30 gallon.
3. Don't change water every single day.
4. You could keep the ghost shrimps.
5. The test strips are sometimes inaccurate.
6. You can get plants such as Java fern, Amazon sword, etc.
7. The panda corys could be depressed.

 

U should check how big the fish grow. U should have one inch of fish per gallon. If the amount will overload the tank, then don't get more. You should wait until u are more experienced at fish keeping to get more as it takes more skill to keep an overloaded tank. Even then don't overload it too much or the fish won't have enough space as they get bigger and will cause them stress.

what type of cory are they?

 

1) the tank is already overstocked as it is, goldies get huge and will either be stunted or unhealthy in a 10g. I would probably rehome the goldfish and the guppies or rehome the goldfish and the Corys.
For now keep changing the water daily and test the parameters frequently

 

My Cory are very active. How can I tell if they are depressed? I bottom feed them with pellets. They seem to constantly eat. They also ignore the other fish. I'm more concerned with them as I've grown quite fond of them.

Panda corydoras

 

I don't know much about panda corydoras, sorry.

I have juliI catfish. if you had juliI catfish, i'd be able to help u. I did a lot of research on juliI catfish when I got them

 

From what I read in a few forums they don't get bigger than 2 inches. Idk I love catfish. I spend my free time fishing for them and I thought it was so cool to have some.

 

From what I read in a few forums they don't get bigger than 2 inches. Idk I love catfish. I spend my free time fishing for them and I thought it was so cool to have some.

Get at least a 15-20 gallon tank for the panda corys, I keep 10 in a 40 gallon. You could keep 6-8 in a 20 gallon tank.

Also, if you get more Panda corys, they can be active a lot and they school.

 

Force is right, you can't have much fish in a ten gallon tank. I have one and I have only small fish. Also, when you buy the fish, it usually says what the minimum tank size for that type of fish under the tank, you don't want to put the fish in an undersized tank.

 

The 2 I have are never more than a fin length apart unless one gets held up eating. They never stop moving. But I'll look into a bigger tank when I get my taxes. I want a 30 gallon long tank for the schooling fish honestly. The Goldie I am indifferent about it's a carnival fish.

 

Okay! hope u have happy fishies!

 

When I get the bigger tank I'd like to turn the smaller one into a breeding/nursing tank if I need it. If I just put guppy tetra and the panda corydoras in the 30 can I get 4 more corydoras? It would then be 4 guppy 7 tetra and 6 corydoras for 30 gallons. Along with ghost shrimp to help clean the bottom.

 

You should research on how to breed fish. I think there's things you can do to get the fish into spawning mode

 

That's a good idea. I will. Thanks for the advice.

Okay! hope u have happy fishies!

I hope so as well.

 

You're welcome, good luck with breeding!

 

The 2 I have are never more than a fin length apart unless one gets held up eating. They never stop moving. But I'll look into a bigger tank when I get my taxes. I want a 30 gallon long tank for the schooling fish honestly. The Goldie I am indifferent about it's a carnival fish.

It sounds like the others have addressed your problems, but I want to add a little something, these carnival fish are almost always common goldfish that need tanks of over 150 gallons full grown.
if you get a 30 gallon do:
8-10 panda corries
8-10 neon tetras
4 guppies
a pearl gourami pair (or some other centerpiece fish)

 

When I get the bigger tank I'd like to turn the smaller one into a breeding/nursing tank if I need it. If I just put guppy tetra and the panda corydoras in the 30 can I get 4 more corydoras? It would then be 4 guppy 7 tetra and 6 corydoras for 30 gallons. Along with ghost shrimp to help clean the bottom.

You can get 10 panda cory, but neon tetras and guppies are also small. You could get some more neon tetras, maybe 10 or something and they school so the more there is, the more safer they feel. Yeah, that's below the maximum stocking for the 30 gallon. Guppies are no problem, they breed a lot so your going to have a bunch of frys in your tank.

 

Ten more guppy or ten altogether?

Sorry meant tetra. Ten more tetra to make 17 or 10 in general. For the 30 gal along with the guppy and 10 panda Cory?

 

So basically..

10 panda corys

The 4 guppies you have right now

10 neon tetras

It's your choice on how much you want to put in there but just don't put too much fish or else it's literally going to be overstocked.

 

That list sounds great to me.

 

That list sounds great to me.

Good!

 

Does the amount of ghost shrimp matter in a tank? I like them. They keep my tank clean and the look neat. But don't want to overload it.

 

I recommend using natural things for your aquarium such as Driftwood, rocks, etc. The ghost shrimp you keep does matter but the thing is that they drop really little waste, you could do 8 to 10 ghost shrimps or more.Since they are quite small they don’t take up much space but they breed a lot!

 

I want to do a sunken ww2 battle on the 30 gallon. A few planes and ships hollow with many openings.

 

Does the amount of ghost shrimp matter in a tank? I like them. They keep my tank clean and the look neat. But don't want to overload it.

Generally speaking small shrimp like that are about 10 shrimp per gallon because of how small their bioload is. With ghost shrimp make sure you're getting them from a good source. They're dirt cheap regardless but depending on how they're kept and why they're kept the ones you get may die quickly on you or survive for a while. Some people on this forum have kept them very successfully while others have had them all die on them in days. Ask the store if they're intended to be feeders, those seem to be the ones that die off rather quickly. I think you've got a great idea for a 30 long going though! Post some pictures when you get it up and running!

 

Will do!! And thanks for the advice

 

I want to do a sunken ww2 battle on the 30 gallon. A few planes and ships hollow with many openings.

That's nice.

 

Hey guys thanks for your advice. So the misses and I are going to get a 55 gallon in a few weeks when I get my taxes. My girl and I want to put 6 kuhlI loach 6 panda corydoras and a dozen tetra and 4 guppy along with ghost shrimp and 6 horned nerite snails. I was wondering if I could get a few gourami or something colorful and would get along with the selection I've chosen. Doing a sand substrate and a ww2 ship plane graveyard for plenty of caves. Marimo moss ball and Amazon sword plants as well we'll be added.

 

Hey guys thanks for your advice. So the misses and I are going to get a 55 gallon in a few weeks when I get my taxes. My girl and I want to put 6 kuhlI loach 6 panda corydoras and a dozen tetra and 4 guppy along with ghost shrimp and 6 horned nerite snails. I was wondering if I could get a few gourami or something colorful and would get along with the selection I've chosen. Doing a sand substrate and a ww2 ship plane graveyard for plenty of caves. Marimo moss ball and Amazon sword plants as well we'll be added.

Sounds like you've got quite the nice tank planned. Some Gourami are peaceful enough to keep with a community some can be a bit agressive. Comes down part to type and part to the individual.
Note about the Swords: Decent chance when you get them they'll be the emersed form. This is no issue, they'll convert over but the process involves all the current leaves dying and new ones replacing them.

 

How long ago did you start this tank?

 

I did not yet. Still planning it.

 

U should check how big the fish grow. U should have one inch of fish per gallon. If the amount will overload the tank, then don't get more. You should wait until u are more experienced at fish keeping to get more as it takes more skill to keep an overloaded tank. Even then don't overload it too much or the fish won't have enough space as they get bigger and will cause them stress.

what type of cory are they?

Not trying to be rude, but the one inch per gallon can be inaccurate, that is saying you can have a 10 inch Oscar in a ten gallon tank.

 

For a 55 gallon would 1 male and 3 female gourami 6-9 panda Cory 3-4 kuhlI loaches and a dozen or so neon tetras along with a nerite snail and ghost shrimp be overloaded?

 

YouTube has a video or multiple videos on just about everything fish/aquarium related. Lots of species spotlight videos, how to breed videos, etc..

 

For a 55 gallon would 1 male and 3 female gourami 6-9 panda Cory 3-4 kuhlI loaches and a dozen or so neon tetras along with a nerite snail and ghost shrimp be overloaded?

You can check with AqAdvisor to check the stocking level.

 

I tried. I got the 4 pearl gourami on the list and tried to keep adding but I can't get back to the add fish page. It keeps taking me to a page that says aqadvisor is looking for new owners are you interested. Nothing else. So it's useless to me. Even if I go into it straight from Google it goes right to saying it's for sale.

I fixed it. Had to change my proxy setting. But it says in a 55 gallon tank with 110 gallon hob filter that I can have
4 pearl gourami
6 kuhlI loach
8 panda corydoras
12 neon tetra
12 ghost shrimp
8 horned nerite snail
Aquaadvisor put me at 80%. Which I think is great. Id be more than happy with those guys altogether in a ecosystem.

 

The goldfish needs a new home. Goldfish are a very misunderstood fish. They get huge, not the kind of fish to stick in a small tank. If you want to keep the goldfish you will need a 30 gallon (bare minimum) for a fancy and 55 (bare minimum) if it’s a common. Goldfish, guppies and tetras are not very compatible either cause goldfish like the water temp about 68-70, tetras and guppies need it at about 78. Do you know about the nitrogen cycle? What are your water perimeters?

I would recommend rehoming the goldfish, getting a slightly bigger tank (20 gallon long or something) for the Cory’s (most corydoras catfish are really really active and need at least that much floor space).

The other option would be to but like a 40 gallon or something for the goldfish. Or you might need more, depending on what species he is.

Please don’t keep the goldfish in a 10 gallon, he will get most likely get sick and stunted in a few weeks and won’t live out his full life span. A healthy goldfish with plenty of tank space can easily live for 10 years.

Best of luck, I hope your fish do well. I wasn’t trying to be rude, just warning you about the goldfish.

planted community tank with Cory’s, tetras and guppies would be cool. Have you looked into cherry shrimp? Those look cool and will work as a great clean up crew for you (they eat algae, detritus, etc). I would highly recommend a 20 gallon long tank, they look nice and it gives you a lot more stocking options.

What kind of lighting system do you have? You might have some live plant options. I really like anubias nana, it looks really really nice and it’s just about the toughest aquarium plant out there.

 

Littleblueguppy I am trying to find a home for the goldfish. I am getting a 55 gallon in a few weeks that I'm going to do a ww2 ship plane graveyard. Sand bottom. There will be marimo moss balls Amazon sword and I was thinking duckweed or some other floating plant. I planned on cycling it before adding fish. The fish from my ten gallon minus the goldfish are going in there. The fish list of
4 pearl gourami
6 kuhlI loach
6 guppy
8 panda corydoras
12 neon tetra
12 ghost shrimp
8 horned nerite snail
That's for the finished cycled and planted 55 gallon. The 10 gallon I would then like to use as a quarantine/sick/nursery tank. I will be adding fish one species at I time spaced out a month apart or so. Gouramis will be the last. So figured a month apart between species and a month in quarantine would be ok?
I have not figured lighting out. I'm open to all fish, lighting and plant opinions. I want a floating plant. I do a 5% water change daily on my 10 gallon with 3 gallons every Sunday. I like the routine and will probably try that with the 55 gallon.

 

Littleblueguppy I am trying to find a home for the goldfish. I am getting a 55 gallon in a few weeks that I'm going to do a ww2 ship plane graveyard. Sand bottom. There will be marimo moss balls Amazon sword and I was thinking duckweed or some other floating plant. I planned on cycling it before adding fish. The fish from my ten gallon minus the goldfish are going in there. The fish list of
4 pearl gourami
6 kuhlI loach
6 guppy
8 panda corydoras
12 neon tetra
12 ghost shrimp
8 horned nerite snail
That's for the finished cycled and planted 55 gallon. The 10 gallon I would then like to use as a quarantine/sick/nursery tank. I will be adding fish one species at I time spaced out a month apart or so. Gouramis will be the last. So figured a month apart between species and a month in quarantine would be ok?
I have not figured lighting out. I'm open to all fish, lighting and plant opinions. I want a floating plant. I do a 5% water change daily on my 10 gallon with 3 gallons every Sunday. I like the routine and will probably try that with the 55 gallon.

Sounds neat! I like the stocking idea.
Gouramis are nice centerpiece fish. Have you ever looked into honey gouramis? I have never owned any myself, but I’ve hear they are really sweet and have a lot of character. For floating plants, I think red root floaters look really nice. As the title suggests, they have really pretty red roots that hang down in the water.

 

I've looked at them. My girl and I like the shiny rainbowy pattern of the pearls. If there was a bright colored gourami we would be into that. We wanted more color than the tetras as she wants albino kuhlI loach. I've grown quite fond of the neon tetras red and blue. I wake up and feed them and there colorless but after I feed they are extremely blue and bright red. And I have a fondness for corydoras since I spent a lot of time catfishing. The snails for algae and to sift sand. I like the ghost shrimp. I know there feeder fish but I like them. Any bigger 6 inch or so max centerpiece fish I can substitute for the pearl gourami? It needs to be compatible with the Cory, tetra, kuhlI loach, shrimp(ghost) and horned nerite snails as these are a definite to the tank. I can live without guppies if I need to. I hear they can be fin nippers on some centerpiece fish?