New 10 Gallon Finally Getting Started

Hi, I'm finally starting to plan and put together my 10-gallon freshwater aquarium. I've got the tank, but so far no heater, filter, water, substrate, lid, plants, or fish. In a few days I'm planning on ordering a filter and heater on Amazon and then use plexiglass and side molding to make a lid, which I can shape around the heater and filter.
For substrate I'm not sure yet, I have some extra orange gravel but it wouldnt be enough to cover the tank bottom. I'm also not sure if Asian stone catfish like pebbles or sand so any help on that would be appreciated.
For fish I'm planning on getting 3 Asian Stone Catfish, 10 Celestial Pearl Danios, and 2 African dwarf frogs. In my previous thread discussing this tank I had planned to get 4 ASCs and 12 CPDs, but I decided to tweak it so that I could have the frogs. If you think it's to much, there's an 8g tank my brother has with a honey gourami that I could transfer stuff into.
For plants I want to get dwarf sag, Bolbitis, cabomba, and possibly java fern and or cryptocoryne.
For inverts I want to get a few nerite snails.
Aquascaping advice and more tips would be helpful.
thanks, Watermelon

 

Firstly, your current stocking list looks amazing! Secondly, your shopping list is spot on. Thirdly, nice plant choices. Please do the java fern. They are super hardy and look great. You’ll want to tie it to driftwood so that it doesn’t have to be in gravel. As for aqua scaping, have a gradual slope of your gravel from back(the tallest) to front. This will make your tank look larger. Then, put deiftwoood and rocks in according to what you like. Plant plants and fill with water. Please post pics when it’s done!!!

 

Interested to see how you do the lid. If yours works out I might do something like that myself.

I don't think the frogs would work. They need warm water (78-82f) while the other fish like very cool water (around 70-71f of would be ideal). The frogs do best in species only tanks anyway.

I agree with lollipop, the plant choice is brilliant. Please post pictures once it's setup.

 

Oh, really? I wasn't aware that the temperature was a problem as far as the frogs being with the other fish! What if I did 75º F? I really wanted to have three species of something but the last time I had AFDs they actually jumped out of the tank and died while I was on vacation, and so this time I'll make sure to have a covered lid.
Speaking of lids, my plan is to pick up some put-together framing, in which I can put netting/screening. I'll probably glue the side moulding on the sides and put the frame and screen on top so that I can slide it over when feeding/cleaning. It's kind of hard to explain but I'll send some pictures once it's done.
Lollipop, thanks for the aquascaping advice! I'll definitely try that out. I think I might get java moss and tie it to driftwood/a large rock. i'm planning on setting up the plants so that there are plenty of hiding spots for any shy fish. I think I might do Cabomba, Bolbitis, Dwarf sag, java fern, and cryptocoryne. Thanks for the advice, both of you!

 

Sorry, thought you meant java moss not fern! I kind of want to get both the moss + fern but if I get java fern then I might not get the cryptocoryne because they look kind of similar.

 

So yesterday I went to the LFS and got all of my equipment but the lady who was helping me at the store said to only get 3 fish to start, and it's best if they are fish that aren't very sensitive to high ammonia levels. So I chose to get 2 of the Asian Stone Catfish and 1 frog. I'm very happy about how it turned out but at the same time I'm kind of impatient for my nitrite levels to go down so I can go back to get my plants and the rest of my fish. The Asian Stone Catfish aren't very active and I was wondering if any of you know about the general behavior of this fish: does it swim around while bottom-feeding, or does it stay in one place while cleaning? It's also very hard to maintain the right temperature because the average house temp at this time of year is 78 degrees F and my heater can only heat, not cool down. Anybody know a solution to lowering the temperature a few degrees?

 

Hi, I know it's been a while, I just wanted to update the thread. Unfortunately my frog and one of the catfish died during the high ammonia levels time in the nitrogen cycle. I've had the other catfish for a while now, and he's doing pretty good, but he's lonely and not very active. Also, they're so small and I can't help wishing for more sizeable fish for my tank, even though I know it's a ten gallon Anyways I'm thinking about returning him to the pet store and getting some new fish. I'm pretty sure my cycle is complete, considering how long it's been, but there's no way to tell for sure because the ammonia level test sensor thingy is a complete rip-off and either didn't work or wasn't helpful. At the lfs I'm hoping to get panda cories or maybe a loach or something, along with rams. I'm thinking of started a thread about the lid I made and how to make it yourself, since I'm sure that would be very helpful to everyone. Anyway, tell me what you think.

 

Sorry for the month late reply, but if Rams are in a 10 gallon tank they should be alone and only a male and female pair. Rams also do best at temperatures of 82-86, which makes it very hard to mix them with anything. Definitely not Pandas, they’re way different in temperature requirements. Also, hopefully you have gotten an API master kit by now, it’s crucial, especially for Rams. If you want a community tank or anything but two Rams, I suggest you return them and reevaluate your stocking.

 

Sorry for the month late reply, but if Rams are in a 10 gallon tank they should be alone and only a male and female pair. Rams also do best at temperatures of 82-86, which makes it very hard to mix them with anything. Definitely not Pandas, they’re way different in temperature requirements. Also, hopefully you have gotten an API master kit by now, it’s crucial, especially for Rams. If you want a community tank or anything but two Rams, I suggest you return them and reevaluate your stocking.

Yep, I'm planning on giving the pandas back to the lfs soon, due to feeding, temp, and stocking issues. I'm not sure if the rams are one female and one male. How can you tell?

 

Heres my guide Mikrogeophagus RamirezI - Blue Ram Cichlid Guide

 

My fish are looking really uncomfortable- it's at their temp, 81 F, but one keeps hanging out by the heater. The one who hangs out by the heater seems so uncomfortable- he's lost so much blue he's mostly tan colored. I'm going to order Java fern so maybe they can hide more, but can someone tell me what else I can do for my ram?

 

I think the first thing is to invest in an API Freshwater Liquid Test Kit. The tank isn't cycled and really needs to go through that Nitrogen Cycle before fish are being added.
I know 10 gallons are limiting, but it's best to realize that even though they are limiting that we shouldn't stock regardless of tank size. Without knowing the parameters of the tank, it's hard to tell what's going on with the rams.
Putting fish in an uncycled tank typically results in disease or death.

 

I think the first thing is to invest in an API Freshwater Liquid Test Kit. The tank isn't cycled and really needs to go through that Nitrogen Cycle before fish are being added.
I know 10 gallons are limiting, but it's best to realize that even though they are limiting that we shouldn't stock regardless of tank size. Without knowing the parameters of the tank, it's hard to tell what's going on with the rams.
Putting fish in an uncycled tank typically results in disease or death.

Thank you, I'm ordering one soon, and will be sure to constantly check the water and do frequent water changes (maybe 1/3 per week?) I think I'm going to set up more of a nice environment for them too; get lots of plants (I don't have any yet) densely grown in clumps around the tank and make rock formations and caves. Right now all they have is driftwood and a few rocks, along with coarse black gravel.

 

Test kit ordered, arriving on Tuesday. The fish are doing okay but one's a lot smaller than the other and also a lot more discolored. The bigger one is clearly more dominant, and I don't know how to stop aggression when it happens. Anyway, I hope they'll do fine once I keep the ammonia levels stable and all that. Today I'm hoping to go to the lfs to get Java fern and maybe floating plants too, but the tank is starting to get algae so I was wondering if I could get nerite snails to help clean it up? I'll keep the temp at around 79-80 F but would the rams attack the snails?

 

Update: Got a Java fern and three nerite snails and they get along fine. My ram died recently check out this thread Ram Whirling Disease if you have more knowledge about whirling disease please respond to either thread.

 

Hello, I recently did a water change and after I noticed a white spot on the fish's eye. I don't think it's a disease, probably an injury. Can someone tell me what's going on and how to help him? Thanks in advance

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