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I wanted to do this before now but here we go, gotta a 10 gallon, want more plants and more plants so I got some more from AC 2 days ago, currently in this tank I have anubias nana, Pearl weed, and micro sword, I ordered Java fern, root tabs, and moneywort 2 days ago, the fish in the tank is white cloud minnows at the moment,this tank has been set up since like the last day of December, got it for a killer deal at 50 bucks instead of 80, but over these last 2 months I have dropped at least 350 bucks on it, it has been quite a journey that I hope to share with others 🙂. Thanks to @Scaperoot for suggesting to start this topic!!! ps: sorry for the bad pics 🙃

thought i'd start one of these to document my journey as a first-time tank keeper! i'll be updating all my progress with my very first 10 gallon, species-only cherry shrimp tank and all the chaos that may (but hopefully wont) ensue. this is my tank a little over a month old. things are going pretty well, water parameters are quite stable (of course, since there's nothing living in here yet)... ...and we have this! seems to be a biofilm colony of sorts, at least i'm fairly sure. i haven't found any mold that looks strikingly similar to biofilm online yet, so i'm not too concerned, i'd say. i'm also finding more of this similar stuff elsewhere in the tank, but it appears more stringy, like a spider web almost. again, i haven't matched it up with anything potentially threatening or bad for my tank, so i'm not too worried, but if anyone has additional input i'd be very happy to hear it! you might be a bit alarmed by the lack of plants- and i should clarify that there are no shrimp in this tank yet either- but plants are actually the next goal for this tank! once i've got the money and time, i'm going to get them nice and settled in there. i plan on getting java fern, windelov, java moss, and marimo moss balls. considering some anubias as well. i'm thinking maybe in the future i'll appropriate the substrate for some micro sword, too! (but that'd be a bit into the future) i have lovingly named this tank "Shrimptopia" and i eventually want to try and decorate it like it's a town, since i think that'd be cute! i hope you all enjoy your time here watching me progress through my journey in the aquarium world! much love and updates to come soon 🙂

There are a lot of options that I am considering for this 10-gallon aquarium setup I’m planning. (I have been spending WAY too much time pondering and pondering and changing my mind back and forth) I am really interested in keeping a planted aquarium, so I don’t want anything that is known to disturb or eat plants. I am interested in keeping more than one variety of animal; however, I am open to keeping a single species tank. I would describe my experience level as intermediate, perhaps leaning more towards the beginner side. Here’s some of the species I’ve considered and why I like or don’t like them as an option. I would love to know if anyone has experience with the specific things I’ve mentioned or if anything immediately stands out. My main goals with this aquarium are to try new things and just have an enjoyable tank to watch! I love fish with unique behaviors and personalities. What I’ve kept before are bettas, ember tetras, cherry shrimp, and guppies. (Not all together of course lol) Pygmy Corydoras Pros: They are really cute, I love catfish species (someday I’m getting a bigger tank so I can have a pleco lol) Considerations: I might need a sand substrate for them which I am worried might be harder to clean and keep clean, I would want to keep a good group of them, and I feel like I might not be able to have more fish in my tank size Otocinclus Pros: Cute, little catfish, kind of pleco-like Considerations: I worry about getting them enough to eat, or that I’ll have to be constantly cultivating tons of algae and won’t love looking at it. I also feel like they may be less active/more boring to watch, and don’t have the most stunning colors to me (neither do the corys to be fair), not sure how many I should keep Chili Rasboras Pros: Tiny, so I could keep more of them hopefully without overcrowding the tank Considerations: I don’t love the way they look in a lot of pictures/videos I’ve seen them in, however I hear they color up a lot when they settle in/mature, and I like the way they look with the color on them. Green Neon Tetras Pros: Smaller than regular neon tetras, beautiful bright colors Considerations: Will they look good/work well with some kind of centerpiece fish? Neon Tetras Pros: Easier to find locally, striking colors Considerations: Will they be too cramped in my tank? Celestial Pearl Danios/Galaxy Rasboras Pros: Really cool looking (one of my favorites visually), small Considerations: Pricey, and I haven’t seen any locally, they don’t always appear to be as colored up as some pictures I’ve seen online Rummynose Tetras Pros: I don’t know why but I really like the way these guys look Considerations: Probably not suitable for my tank size because of their activity level 1 Male Guppy Pros: Some of the fancy varieties are really pretty and would make a cool centerpiece (like a little betta but non-aggressive) Considerations: I’m not super confident about sexing them in the store and would prefer not to get a pregnant female. Also, I’m not sure if they can happily live as the only one of their species in the tank Honey Gourami Pros: Cool centerpiece fish Considerations: Maybe aggressive? Also don’t want to “spend” too much of my tank space on this without other fish because I’m not SUPER crazy about them. Neocaridina Shrimp Pros: I’ve kept them before and I could get a different color variant to change things up, I love watching them, they are easy to breed which is fun Considerations: I’ve kept them before, I don’t want to stress too much about my shrimplets getting eaten, I don’t necessarily want to end up with a billion of them Kuhli Loaches Pros: They are unique and cool to watch! Considerations: Maybe too creepy lol, not sure how many I can keep in my tank so that they’ll feel safe to come out Apistogramma (Borelli, Agassizii, Trifasciata) Pros: Really cool looking, different from anything I’ve kept, might be able to keep a breeding pair and they are so cute taking care of their babies Considerations: Single species tank, might not have enough time to breed them, might be pricey/not available locally, maybe would do better in a larger tank Zebra Danios Pros: Active, high contrast pattern Considerations: Maybe too active for my tank size Thanks for taking the time to read all my musings! Any insight/personal experiences with my considerations (or pros) would be greatly appreciated. And feel free to include how you would personally stock this 10-gallon tank pulling from my above options?

There are a lot of options that I am considering for this 10-gallon aquarium setup I’m planning. (I have been spending WAY too much time pondering and pondering and changing my mind back and forth) I am really interested in keeping a planted aquarium, so I don’t want anything that is known to disturb or eat plants. I am interested in keeping more than one variety of animal; however, I am open to keeping a single species tank. I would describe my experience level as intermediate, perhaps leaning more towards the beginner side. Here’s some of the species I’ve considered and why I like or don’t like them as an option. I would love to know if anyone has experience with the specific things I’ve mentioned or if anything immediately stands out. My main goals with this aquarium are to try new things and just have an enjoyable tank to watch! I love fish with unique behaviors and personalities. What I’ve kept before are bettas, ember tetras, cherry shrimp, and guppies. (Not all together of course lol) Pygmy Corydoras Pros: They are really cute, I love catfish species (someday I’m getting a bigger tank so I can have a pleco lol) Considerations: I might need a sand substrate for them which I am worried might be harder to clean and keep clean, I would want to keep a good group of them, and I feel like I might not be able to have more fish in my tank size Otocinclus Pros: Cute, little catfish, kind of pleco-like Considerations: I worry about getting them enough to eat, or that I’ll have to be constantly cultivating tons of algae and won’t love looking at it. I also feel like they may be less active/more boring to watch, and don’t have the most stunning colors to me (neither do the corys to be fair), not sure how many I should keep Chili Rasboras Pros: Tiny, so I could keep more of them hopefully without overcrowding the tank Considerations: I don’t love the way they look in a lot of pictures/videos I’ve seen them in, however I hear they color up a lot when they settle in/mature, and I like the way they look with the color on them. Green Neon Tetras Pros: Smaller than regular neon tetras, beautiful bright colors Considerations: Will they look good/work well with some kind of centerpiece fish? Neon Tetras Pros: Easier to find locally, striking colors Considerations: Will they be too cramped in my tank? Celestial Pearl Danios/Galaxy Rasboras Pros: Really cool looking (one of my favorites visually), small Considerations: Pricey, and I haven’t seen any locally, they don’t always appear to be as colored up as some pictures I’ve seen online Rummynose Tetras Pros: I don’t know why but I really like the way these guys look Considerations: Probably not suitable for my tank size because of their activity level 1 Male Guppy Pros: Some of the fancy varieties are really pretty and would make a cool centerpiece (like a little betta but non-aggressive) Considerations: I’m not super confident about sexing them in the store and would prefer not to get a pregnant female. Also, I’m not sure if they can happily live as the only one of their species in the tank Honey Gourami Pros: Cool centerpiece fish Considerations: Maybe aggressive? Also don’t want to “spend” too much of my tank space on this without other fish because I’m not SUPER crazy about them. Neocaridina Shrimp Pros: I’ve kept them before and I could get a different color variant to change things up, I love watching them, they are easy to breed which is fun Considerations: I’ve kept them before, I don’t want to stress too much about my shrimplets getting eaten, I don’t necessarily want to end up with a billion of them Kuhli Loaches Pros: They are unique and cool to watch! Considerations: Maybe too creepy lol, not sure how many I can keep in my tank so that they’ll feel safe to come out Apistogramma (Borelli, Agassizii, Trifasciata) Pros: Really cool looking, different from anything I’ve kept, might be able to keep a breeding pair and they are so cute taking care of their babies Considerations: Single species tank, might not have enough time to breed them, might be pricey/not available locally, maybe would do better in a larger tank Zebra Danios Pros: Active, high contrast pattern Considerations: Maybe too active for my tank size Thanks for taking the time to read all my musings! Any insight/personal experiences with my considerations (or pros) would be greatly appreciated. And feel free to include how you would personally stock this 10-gallon tank pulling from my above options?

Hi everyone, just curious again, lol. What can I keep (if anything) with my WCMMs. I have 5, and a nerite snail in a 10g tank. Cycled, no ammonia, nitrite and 10 nitrates. Ph is 7.5. It is heavily planted. Can I have anything else in there? Thanks

I was gifted a ten gallon aquarium today! (oh gosh, this might be a problem - watch out mom and dad! the fish obsession has been fueled EVEN BIGGER!) Obviously ten gallons is a bit small for any big fish. But I would like to have some "oddball" stocking in there. I was thinking African dwarf frogs, but I personally feel it's a little small for them. So any nano stocking recommendations? I wouldn't mind a species tank either. I also wouldn't mind paludarium / vivarium either (I would actually prefer this, but again, an aquarium is good too :3 ) !!! My domestic water supply has the water parameters of 6.8 - 7.4 || dGH 8 || dKH 6 ... I do not have the means to change these substantially, but ofc I could raise the pH with crushed coral. Thanks for helping!

Got some suggestions? I am clueless about fish tank lights and need assistance on which one I could use on my topfinn 10g starter kit. Thanks and oh here is a picture of my tank if that even helps lol. And also I need one becuase the light currently hanging on the lid is not bright enough for my moneywort and it’s not doing great.

I have asked this a lot and didn’t get a direct answer (don’t get me wrong, u will not get a direct answer every time) because I never directly asked that if you will, like I asked about algae eating fish, shrimp but not FISH if that makes sense, I have five WCMMs currently and kinda want something else IF POSSIBLY, it is a 10 gallon aquarium with softer water, it is COMPLETELY cycled by the fishless version of cycle. I hope I can get some good suggestions and as always, any help is appreciated, thanks in advance 🙂 -Colten

I have an established 10 gallon planted tank, and currently in the tank there are: 5 ghost shrimp 1 hifin platy Would it be overstocked if I added a school of 6 neon tetras/black neon tetras? I am completely fine with doing more frequent water changes to account for it. and in the case that I do get these neon tetras, would I need an airstone to account for the higher bioload? My filter has pretty decent aeration and surface agitation I believe.

So I have no clue if I asked something like this or not but I was wondering about some good kinda high light slow growing plants (got a kit light, it is LED but not sure if it is high or medium…) if that is a thing. The reason I said slow growing is because I have some anubias nana and Pearl weed + micro sword (lots of that) don’t have tons of room in this 10g but anyway thanks in advance of there is a answer, I just needed more plants for coverage because I might get some type of shrimp 🙂 water paremeters with a good ph of 7.5 and nitrates 20 to 25 ppm

I was wondering if I could get a light (like a decent one) for my plants???? Here is a pic, is there a lid I could get that would fit because the fish I have can jump….thanks if there is any answer to this, just curious 🙂the pic is from when the lights were off for the day btw