Setting up my 10 gallon, opinions wanted!

[cyirra]

I decided to set my 10 gallon up in my basement "office" so i could enjoy fish all day while i work but i can't decide if i want to use a rock substrate or sand. I have both sitting around my house just waiting to be used. It gets pretty cold in the basement so if i have to heat it I would want a backup heater set up to avoid an issue.

I have always wanted Angelfish but i think a 10 gallon would be too small. Would love to hear from others what they would do if they had the opportunity to set up a 10 gallon.

I do have a 20 gallon that has just cherry shrimp and a betta in it. I was hoping the betta would help to try and curb the shrimp population but he doesn't really seem to bother them all that much. I could get my 10 set up and put the betta in that and get angelfish for the 20, maybe the angelfish would help to curb the shrimp population? Is a 20 gallon big enough for a school of angelfish? I kind of remember reading that angelfish need a pretty large tank.

 

[WRWAquarium]

Hi

A 20 gallon is too small for adult angelfish, even 1.

They need a deep tank and for multiple adults I think a 50 gallon would be minimum. Bare in mind if a pair forms then there will be fighting for sure.

The 20 gallon would be OK to grow them out in but not long term.

 

[KingOscar]

Take a look at White Cloud Mountain Minnows for the 10. Beautiful active fish, no heater required.

 

[cyirra]

Awesome suggestion! The only cold water fish i could think of were goldfish.

Hi

A 20 gallon is too small for adult angelfish, even 1.

They need a deep tank and for multiple adults I think a 50 gallon would be minimum. Bare in mind if a pair forms then there will be fighting for sure.

The 20 gallon would be OK to grow them out in but not long term.

That was what i was thinking and is probably why i have never gotten angels. I, unfortunately do not have room for a tank larger that 30. I know there are deep tanks out there that have a larger gallon capacity but the prices are just too much for me at this point

 

[OutsideFoodBlob]

Here’s a discussion from a few months ago with recommendations on cold water species suitable to smaller tanks.

Cold Water fish? | Aquarium Stocking Forum | 493658

Hope it helps narrow down what you’d like to do for your office tank!

 

[carsonsgjs]

I think moving the betta to the 10 will open up a lot more stocking options for the 20. If you decide to go with tropical rather than coldwater, you will need a heater up to the job - one with more wattage than you would typically need based on your tank being in the basement. Depends how much you need to increase the temperature by.

 

[cyirra]

I think moving the betta to the 10 will open up a lot more stocking options for the 20. If you decide to go with tropical rather than coldwater, you will need a heater up to the job - one with more wattage than you would typically need based on your tank being in the basement. Depends how much you need to increase the temperature by.

Yeah, it probably gets into the low 60s in winter and up to low 70s in the summer.

 

[cyirra]

I wound up buying a 29 gallon to set up downstairs. I seeded it with water and used the filter from the 20 gallon (filter is large enough for the 29 gallon) and a large shrimp filter from the 20 gallon (I had 2 sponge filters in it to seed it for the basement tank). I went with Florite Black sand that i sifted this time so all the larger pieces were left out of the tank. I have a light and heater on the way! 10 gallon will continue to sit unused but at least i finally got to use the florite sand!

I am very happy with how it looks, i just have to organize all the stuff I had to move to make room for the tank. I think it will make my work days much more relaxing and enjoyable once it is all set up.

 

[cyirra]

I checked the temp of the water numerous times yesterday and again this morning. I first put a 100w in because that is what was in my 20 gallon and put a 50w on the 20, which is upstairs in a much warmer area. I noticed the thermometer in the bottom of the 29 read 70ish, or the low end of the green, while the thermometer at the top of the tank on the opposite side read 76ish so i tossed in a 50w preset near the bottom of the tank on the opposite side of the HOB filter.

I had a 200w on order but was thinking maybe i should go with a 300w but then i read a Q&A on amazon and someone said it is usually "safer" to go with numerous smaller watt heaters instead of one larger heater. I had played with the idea of 2 150w but maybe i should go with a 150w and 2 50w presets near the bottom on each side of the tank. It is winter in Minnesota so the basement gets chilly.

What does everything think if the preset heaters? There are opinions all over the place regarding them.

The tank will house a dozen harlequin rasboras and 6 Cory cats.

 

[kansas]

The advantage of several small heaters is if one of them gets stuck on, it might not get warm enough to kill your fish.

 

[SotaAquatics]

I think your proposed heater sizes are too big for the tank. I use the below link as reference and it has worked well for me. Go down the chart to the size of tank you are heating, then go across - 3 different columns based on how many degrees you need to heat the tank up vs room temp. I do not think you would need more then a single 100watt to reach up to 78 degrees if your basement was 60 degrees for a 29 gallon tank. If you are having uneven heating then you might need to look at a little better water circulation in the tank or making sure the heater is placed by your filter return.

I am not sure what brand of heaters you are using but I have 40 gallons in my basement which also sits in low 60s during winter (I too live in Minnesota). I use a single 100 watt eheim in each of my 40s and they easily heat up the tanks to 74-76 degrees which is my set temp.

I do not trust heaters one bit, I tend to go under rather then over so if it does stick on, I am less likely to cook the tank - I am not worried about a heater failing to off, the fish will be able to handle the cooler water temporarily.

I like to use Inkbirds with my heaters for "special" tanks as a safety net, its a device you plug your preset heater into and then runs an independent thermometer into the tank. Basically it kills power to the heater if the tank hits a preset temperature, but will keep power running to the heater as long as its under that. Preset heater's aren't always the most reliable with their internal thermostats, the inkbird would also in theory let you keep a tank heated correctly even with a heater that is stuck on.

 

[cyirra]

Thanks. I looked at the link. I think 150w is all I will need. I will keep watching the thermometers. It could be the one at the bottom of the tank is inaccurate. I haven't used it in a awhile and can't remember why I had decided to stop using it. It could be a couple degrees off from the one on the other side of the tank. I have a sized up filter from what they give you in the aquarium kits in the pet stores so i think it is large enough to circulate the water.

Thanks!

 

[JustAFishServant]

Thanks. I looked at the link. I think 150w is all I will need. I will keep watching the thermometers. It could be the one at the bottom of the tank is inaccurate. I haven't used it in a awhile and can't remember why I had decided to stop using it. It could be a couple degrees off from the one on the other side of the tank. I have a sized up filter from what they give you in the aquarium kits in the pet stores so i think it is large enough to circulate the water.

Thanks!

Don't quote me as I'm not an angelfish expert (only a betta, snail and goldfish expert), but I've heard of folks keeping angels in 29 gals. Because they're 6" adults 29G should be large enough for 1 or even 2. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen angel experts say 29G is the minimum

Just looked into it on another forum and it seems at 9 months of age, angelfish are spawning devils. Mature angelfish are "bad" tankmates due to this.

Have you looked into Ram Cichlids? They look like angels, are peaceful (so much so that many won't even attack shrimp), and they're smaller too

 

[cyirra]

Don't quote me as I'm not an angelfish expert (only a betta, snail and goldfish expert), but I've heard of folks keeping angels in 29 gals. Because they're 6" adults 29G should be large enough for 1 or even 2. Correct me if I'm wrong, but I've seen angel experts say 29G is the minimum

Just looked into it on another forum and it seems at 9 months of age, angelfish are spawning devils. Mature angelfish are "bad" tankmates due to this.

Have you looked into Ram Cichlids? They look like angels, are peaceful (so much so that many won't even attack shrimp), and they're smaller too

No, I haven't looked into Ram Cichlids. I will have to look them up. Thanks.

 

[cyirra]

New fish arriving on Thursday!