16 replies to this topic

[Anders247]

What native fish, besides Elassoma sp. and least killifish, would work in a 10 gallon, and how many max of that one type?

[Michael Wolfe]

A couple of rainbow darters and a couple of blackstripe topminnows works out pretty well (I've done that).

 

Three Enneacanthus might work out if well planted.

 

Six yellowfin shiners would work.

 

Bluefin killis (lots)

 

Five pygmy killis work (mine even bred in a 10 gallon heavily planted.

 

Flagfish would be fine

 

Golden topminnows or similar and brown darters would make a very hardy and easy to care for tank.

 

A pirate perch, a mudminnow and a tadpole madtom (all properly sized) could live together in a 10 gallon.

 

Like me, these ideas have a strong southern bias... I'm sure there are others.

[Matt DeLaVega]

Really, you have too many possibilities to list. Obviously you will need to stick with small species, but we have plenty of those on this continent. Michael touched on some very interesting ones. I am guessing you are from MA? Maybe start out with local shiners and minnows if collecting your own fish is legal there. Maybe a local stream theme. Pick up a Petersons field guide, and familiarize yourself with the possibilities if you do not already have one. http://www.amazon.co...n/dp/0547242069

[Sean Phillips]

Lots of Cyprinids and Darters that would work well in a 10 gallon. As stated above there's too many to list.

[Anders247]

Pirate perch, mudminnows, tadpole madtoms get 5 inches from what I read.... too big. Enneacanthus get 4 inches, imo not suitable.

I'm looking for schooling fish that are an inch or less, and non-schoolers that are 2 inches or less.

Yes, I'm in MA.

[Josh Blaylock]

I had a 10gal in my office for 6-7 years (until Terminex killed it).  At any time I would have 4-6 Darters and 6-10 small shiners.  I was running a larger filter, Tom Rapids Canister Filter.  Also, once my shiners grew big enough, I moved them to my big tank.

[Sean Phillips]

5 inch fish are an acceptable size for a 10 gallon, I'd not go any bigger but inactive fish like pirate perch and Enneacanthus that rarely make sudden movements would be plenty comfortable in a 10 gallon. Heck someone on here I believe is keeping four or five central Mudminnows in a planted 5 gallon which I still adequate in my opinion.

[CCat]

I had a 10gal in my office for 6-7 years (until Terminex killed it)...  

 

Can't wait to hear this story.

[loopsnj64]

Swampfish, blackbanded sunnies (and other members of their genus), pirate perch, pygmy sunnies, mudminnows, tadpole madtoms and the like are all suitable

[Anders247]

5 inch fish are an acceptable size for a 10 gallon, I'd not go any bigger but inactive fish like pirate perch and Enneacanthus that rarely make sudden movements would be plenty comfortable in a 10 gallon. Heck someone on here I believe is keeping four or five central Mudminnows in a planted 5 gallon which I still adequate in my opinion.

Hmm. In tropical freshwater a 5 inch fish in a 10g is forbidden. For that matter, so is a 3 inch and some 2 inchers......

[Betta132]

There are two factors that affect what you can keep in any given tank. Water quality upkeep, and fish space requirements. Certain species of one-inch fish can't live in a 10g because they're too active, and some larger fish are just fine because they don't do much. Some species of madtoms just sit in a hiding place about 90% of the time, so they don't need much swimming space and are fine in a 10g despite their size. You just have to keep up with water changes, since cats are messy. 

If it's small and/or inactive, it's quite possibly suitable for a small tank. A 10g is pretty small, though, so I'd get an expert opinion or two on anything you want to keep.

Edited by Betta132, 14 June 2015 - 11:40 PM.

[Anders247]

A one inch fish that is active is fine in a 10, imo. Anything over an inch, like 1.3 or 1.5 inches, or larger, is not suitable in my opinion. Schooling fish, that is.

[don212]

swamp darter, dwarf livebearer, pygmy killi, flagfish , golden killifish , pygmy sunfish, madtom, bantam sunfish

[Josh Blaylock]

 

Can't wait to hear this story.

 

Don't really want to derail this thread, but real quick.

 

I had a 10gal with mesh top in my office for 6-7 years.  I used it as a 'grow-out' tank and kept many fish for a long time in it.  One morning I got in my office around 9ish after an appointment.  I had one fish dead.  I didn't think much about it, fish die.  But 15min later all the fish were gasping at the surface and the belly of one of the darters was bloated.  I knew something wasn't right.  I had a hunch, so I asked if Terminex had been there, and they had came in to spray about 8:30.  I did 3 water changes and added carbon to the aquarium trying to save the fish.  By the end of the day, 4 had died and by the next day all 10-11 had died.  Their gills were flared and red and their belly's were blown out.  I'm assuming either a drop got in the water, or just some from the air got in the aquarium.  It really sucked.

[CCat]

 

... I'm assuming either a drop got in the water, or just some from the air got in the aquarium.  It really sucked.

 

Man, that's terrible.  I can see how that could happen even just from the trace amounts in the air. I was just thinking about setting up a small tank on my desk at work, but now I'm not so sure -- that's not an unusual event, for an office building in the city.

[keepnatives]

I have a 3 gallon nano tank on my desk at work.  I had no problems for months even watched pygmy killies spawn in it.  Then switched it to tropicals and they did well for a short time and in one day all died.  Discovered a week later a coworker had been spraying disinfectant on anyone's cubicle who had been sick or coughing.  I told her to not spray anything near my cubicle any more.  Have it set up with some scarlet shrimp currently and no more spray problems.

[noimdirtydan]

stickleback most shiner dances or minnows