[Cannedus]

I recently bought a 10 gallon, because i wanted to start off with something not too big, not to small. I have had it for a few weeks, i had a goldfish that i transferred into it from a small tank, unfortunately he did make it, he had been sick in his old tank as well, so i wasn't shocked. I also have a snail, i think he's an apple snail? I'm not sure.
Anyways, yesterday i finally got some new fish i have 4 neon tetras, 3 of them are bright blue/green and one is a very dark blue/violet colour. The man at the store said that i can't have too many in the size tank i have which confused me because neon tetras are so tiny!
So exactly how many neon tetras can i have in this tank?
Or other fish that are the same size like the zebras or glo-fish.
Also i want to get maybe a small molly or guppy. Thank! :fish-in-a-bag:

Any thoughts on what i should do for my size tank?

 

[eagleANTH]

Alot of the time the fish isnt kept in a take due to its size its due to habits it has and swim room. For example the goldfish you kept in the tank has a huuuuuuuuuge bio load hes basically a little golden poop machine. FW enthusiasts will let you know you should never keep a goldie in such a small tank it will cause a nitrate issue which in turn will harm your fishes gills. I find that if you have another aspect you like to work on in the tank your population will check itself shortly after. Have you tried any novice water plants yet? They help add oxygen to the water and eat nutrients in the water column. My point is if you put time and effort into aquascaping the tank you wont want to muck up your good job and pretty aquascape by added 32 tetras and a handful of mollies. Start out small try and keep about 5 fish and check your water parameters... add a fish or two and check parameters again that way you do not stress your bio load and cause your tank to cycle again.

 

[NursePlaty]

If the tank is small, any changes in the tank will happen fast compared to a larger tank. Id keep a small amount of fish if I were you so there wouldnt be too much stress in a tank since a 10 gallon is pretty small.

 

[Mikolas]

The generalized rule for the amount of fish you want to keep is 1 inch of fish per gallon of water. Meaning that you can either have 1 10 inch fish (NOT recommended, it's just a guideline), 2 5 inch fishes, 5 2 inch fishes, or 10 1 inch fishes, etc. However, keep in mind that this rule depends heavily on how much bio waste that particular fish produces, and their personal preferences (if they like to be in schools, if they require a lot of swimming space, etc). Thus, the dimensions of the tank will also affect what sort of fish are ideal for it.

If you plan on overstocking your fish tank with as much fish as "humanely" possible, I would recommend getting a very good filter (such as AquaClear 20+ minimum), and do very frequent water changes (once a week of about 10-25% water changes).

If you have a rather long/wide tank, danios might be fine, but they need to be kept in schools of at least 5. Same with the neon tetras, though if you just started the tank, the neon tetras will not survive the cycling process. White cloud minnows (if you intend to just keep those) are also about the same size/schooling/activity level as the others, but require somewhat colder waters (you wouldn't need a heater for them as they can live in temperatures as low as 50's).

I personally say, return the 10 gallon asap, and start off with a 30ish gallon. A 10 gallon tank is considered "very small" still considering hobbyists typically have 75+.

Contrary to logical belief, smaller tanks does not mean easier to maintain, they are severely limited in what you can do/have and are far more susceptible to contamination, toxicity, etc.

 

[susankat]

The inch per gal rule is so out dated and it just basically pertains to small bodied fish. A 10 inch oscar isn't going to fit into a 10 inch tank.

6 neons would work ok in a 10 gal tank if it is well planted and maint. is kept up with. Neons don't usually need large areas of swimming room. But I wouldn't advise anything else.

The small tanks are more likely to go downhill fast no matter how small the fish are, the larger the tank, less work and more stable. I won't advise what size tank to get, but will say get the largest that you can afford and have room for. You will be happier in the long run.