10 gallon darter tank?

What kind of darters...if any can stay in a ten gallon? How hard are they to breed? And I am still in the research stage of this so its not like I am gunna rush into this and just go out and buy them. I think I would like maybe a trio or pair of rainbows or orangethroats best. Let me know what kind of things you guys do for your darters...food, tank size, temp., breeding possible?

Chad

I don't see a problem really with ANY darters in a small tank. as long as you match their environmental parameters. Current, substrate, temp., ...

I have kept Johnny, Orangethroat, and Rainbow in 10 gallons with no problems.

Bill Flowers

I agree. I believe a 10 is adequate for most darters as long as you make an attempt to duplicate their natural environment. THis could prove difficult for dartes that like a lot of current though. Have you considered the more stagnant water darters such as swamp, sawcheek and Iowa?

If you want to go for it, a 20 long is like two 10-gallons on end. Makes for an absoluetly fabulous darter tank. You can get a lot of flow going in it, and it has the room for some really nice rock and driftwood formations, like a real stream.

What kind of darters...if any can stay in a ten gallon? How hard are they to breed? And I am still in the research stage of this so its not like I am gunna rush into this and just go out and buy them. I think I would like maybe a trio or pair of rainbows or orangethroats best. Let me know what kind of things you guys do for your darters...food, tank size, temp., breeding possible?

Chad

Chad,
You will have no problem keeping as many as a few pairs of darters in a 10-gallon tank provided sufficient cover and aeration/water movement. I currently keep many of my darters in 10-gallon tanks. In my Rainbow Darter tank I have about 20 darters. Granted, I do 50% water changes twice weekly and heavily over-filter (is that possible?) the tank. For a few pairs, you could have an airstone and a Whisper 30 hang-on-back filter. That would do the fish just fine. Then, you would want to do about a 10% water change once weekly. I would recommend feeding frozen bloodworms, frozen mysis shrimp, and/or live blackworms. Your fish will do just great under such conditions and may even breed for you. You won't need a heater unless you have tropical algae eaters in your tank. We use Otocinclus catfish in our tanks. The darters seem to take the 75 degrees that the Otos like just fine. Anyway, I'm rambling. For more info on Rainbow Darters or for some more tank ideas, check out our website: http://www.btdarters.com. Have a great day!

Thank you for all of the replies. So what kind of flow do you guys recommend for rainbows? I have always wanted some rainbows or orangethroats. I don't think I am going to keep anything else in there. I don't like mixing tropicals and coldwater species plus you can save a ton on electricity bills without a heater . But anyways do you think if I did a small ten gallon filter and a really small powerhead would that be good? My father is giving me his ten gallon because he is getting sick of caring for it that is why I was going to use a ten gallon. How hard is it to get them to breed? That would be so cool to get breeding. Oh yea and I was just planing on one trio. Also what would be the best substrate...I was thinking about a sand and river rock mix with a bunch of driftwood and some extra plants that I have.

Chad

http://www.nanfa.org...aquariums.shtml

Look at section III.

Thank you alot for that link drew... I guess I was completly wrong on the whole setup. Hahaha I was thinking sand and a rock or two with a bunch of plants....and this says course gravel and few if any plants. Hahaha well I guess it was a good thing that you chimed in. Thank you I guess I am going to have to rethink my plans and redesign.

Chad