Freshwater Enthusiasts Suggestions Needed

[Pinkheine]

Okay it has been about ten years since we had freshwater up and running in our home and at that time we did a lot of aggressive large fish in a very large tank. Though for Valentine's Day I'd like to get little man a ten gallon with a fish or a few small fish.

I was thinking of doing a betta. Or if anyone has any other cute colorful suggestions that would work in a ten gallon.. lmk. I know it is a small size but there is a spot in his room perfect for such a thing and it would make him super happy to have fishies in his own room.

TIA

 

[CHEMCHEF]

german blue rams are a nice choice, and they can live with angels, the only drawback is the german blues need a fairly established tank. I have two little aquatic frogs in a 10 in my daughters room and she loves them.
They are alot of fun to watch and very hardy

 

[georgelc86]

May I suggest a betta and a school of neon tetras.

 

[Pinkheine]

Would the tetras nip at the betta?

Can a betta go with one of those Albino frogs? I remember having a fish bowl type set up in my dorm room with one of those frogs, which became a tank and the two of the frogs spawned over the Summer when my roommate took them home, they got pretty big.

 

[georgelc86]

As much as I love the albino african clawed frogs and have had them i would avoid them. In my experience I havnt had an instance where the neons would nip. Now the larger the tetra the worst they get. Same with barbs. The frogs should really be in a 15 or larger with lots of places to hide.

As for your proposed combination. There is a possibilty the betta would get beaten up by the frog.

 

[Pinkheine]

Thanks. I really don't want to go larger. Our reef offers enough maintenance and I'd like something to allow lil' man to be able to do water changes and clean-up/ maintenance himself. With supervision of course. He's 8 and pretty good with helping on our tank so it would be nice for him to have his own.

He saw the "Mickey Mouse" mollies (I think they were mollies, have mickey mouse type markings on them) He liked those and loves orange. But I am not sure they'd work in such a small space.

One fish or multiple it matters not. Just want something that will be happy in a ten gallon. That he can care for(with help) and that will do well.

 

[gimincorp]

I say if you get a 10 Gallon, get a collection of different colored platys. While they are not agressive, they are pretty hardy, low maint fish. They are also fairly cheap and you can keep a number of them in a 10G. Adding Platys to the tank: 1st buy two females (they usually are sold in pairs); then about a week later, but a male and a female); then another week later you can add a pair of cory catfishes to clean-up the bottom.
Spreading out in time will allow for bacteria build-up and hightening chances of survival of all your fishes.

 

[georgelc86]

I like Gimincorps idea. But platys and mollies quickly breed and are live bearers, while cleaning the filter you may find the babies inside dead or alive. I would stick with all female platys and no more than 6 of them. Platys are smaller in size than the mollies and swordtails so they would handle a 10 gallon and be comfortable. I would do the two corys as well. But I would probably just do one. Mollies need a slightly brackish water, platys as well as the mollies and similar species such as guppies and swordtails are great beginner fish and very tolerent of fluxing water conditions in case he misses a water change or two. Also the mollies and platys are pretty good with eating algae in case it starts to grow. Now that I think of it I like the platys/mollies idea better than the betta/tetra combo. A mix of mickey mouse platys along with red platys and red tail/red wag platys i think would look nice and would enjoyable for your boy.

I also completely agree with gimincorp about adding the fish a little at a time.

 

[Pinkheine]

Thanks for the input guys. I filled the tank today, got a 14g. Starting a fishless cycle. Then fish slowly. Lil' man wants them all of course. Though he knows how many sacrafices we make ourselves in the reef that he understands we have to make choices.

 

[georgelc86]

What fish are you going for?

 

[h20 freak]

Guppys would work, otos are great for algae.

 

[Pinkheine]

We haven't decided on anything yet. Going to take him to the store, look around than go home and read some about what he likes best. I will point out everything discussed here to him and we will go from there. He just wants ANYTHING at this point LOL.. he is feeling the pain of patience right now. haha

 

[georgelc86]

Sounds good Pink, good luck with it!

 

[MlanzYo]

I love my goldfish. There are the fancy ones and have wonderful character. You cant get too many though for a 14g, and they are very hardy, so not much maintenance. Good filter, and you should be fine. They are cold water so you dont even need a heater, unless the room can have extream heat, or cold. I also have a 10g crayfish tank. cheap, and hearty. i have an intank filter and thats it! Now THEY are FUN to watch.....