Stocking ideas for 10g tall

[Spinydogfish]

Hello! My friend recently was gifted a tank for christmas, and I figured I'd come here, as I'm not great with stocking suggestions outside of usual dimensions.

Dimensions are 12.5 x 12.5 x 19.5. The tank will be planted, with flame moss and anubias planned. I've already suggested shrimp and snails (ramshorn), which they're happy with the idea of. I wanted to see if any fish- like male endlers- would do alright. I figure it's not big enough, but I wanted to cover all my bases.

As a side note- does anyone know if the light on this is good enough for plants?

 

[Mermegan]

A few male endlers or a betta would be my suggestion. Just watch a betta with shrimp.

 

[chaoticaquatics]

I agree that you should closely monitor a Betta with shrimp. There's a 50/50 chance your Betta could be either chill or a bloodthirsty demon. Mine seemed chill until I added shrimp, then I had to move him cause I was worried they'd become a snack. Shrimp tend to do better in an established aquarium anyway, so if you want a Betta, get him first and observe his behaviour/aggression then decide if you can do shrimp. Although I know some people reccomend adding the Shrimp first so the Betta does not think of the tank as his territory. I don't know...just my thoughts.

A few male endlers or a betta would be my suggestion. Just watch a betta with shrimp.I a

 

[ProudPapa]

• Male endlers would be fine. Small fish like celestial pearl danios or ember tetras would also work.
• Regarding your question about the light, it depends on what kind of plants. There are a number of plants that do fine with relatively low light, but there are many that don't.

 

[Spinydogfish]

Although I know some people reccomend adding the Shrimp first so the Betta does not think of the tank as his territory. I don't know...just my thoughts.

In my experience it's a 50/50 on what could work. Adding them later could trigger a hunting instinct, but putting the betta in with them established could lead to a massacre... I've always let the shrimp settle first so they know where to hide and possibly get an established population.

The plants I'm giving them should give them plenty of hiding room, but we're both definitely aware of the shrimp eating risks. I've offered to start a colony of shrimp myself (as it's already in my plans) and give them shrimp from there, so I feel that'll make things at least a little easier if things go wrong.

They're probably going to go with a couple of endlers or a betta. Neither of us are very comfortable with a schooling fish in a tank with these dimensions.

 

[Mudminnow]

The light that comes with the tank is likely plenty for anubias.

Here's my 5 gallon tall:


The anubias are growing under the light that came with the tank.

The fish in there is a Sumo Loach. I wasn't intending for this tank to become its home, but I put it in there when I was shuffling some fishes around. And, well, it's probably been over a year now.... It seems healthy and happy, so I haven't been that motivated to move it. It shares the tank with an African Dwarf Frog, and that frog's been in there for several years now.

There's a ton of tiny fishes out there that could work with your 10 gallon. I occasionally play with the idea of setting up a small Pea Puffer tank; haven't done it yet, but I think they might be fun to keep.