What is your dream 10 gallon tank set-up?

[Mikhaela]

I know the words "dream" and "10 gallon tank" are probably never paired together. 10 gallons seems super limiting right? I'm curious what you guys would do if you had endless money and energy to spend on a smaller tank size like this. 

I'm in the beginning stages of setting up a 10gal and I've got some ideas for it, but I want to hear yours!!

[Guppysnail]

I love 10 gallons. Of all my tank those are my FUN tanks. 
 

Things I have right now in 10g that I love or have been put in larger tanks but do wonderful in 10. 
 

As tankmates in 10 g. Neocaridina in all and of course snails. Fun snails include livebearing White Wizard and Piano snails. Easier than mystery snails because you get babies without hatching s big clutch that overwhelms a 10g.

Fun fish. 
Psuedomugil gertrudae and luminatus

African dwarf frogs (by far one of my most delightful tanks (Nerite snails with these kids) 

Asian stone anchor catfish
Apistogramma pair. 

Honey gourami pair

Pygmy, hastatus or Habrosus corydora  

Scarlet or black tiger badis (need grindal worms and live bbs)

Least killi fish

Celestial pearl danios

Things I’ve not yet kept but are on the list

Clown killifish

peacock gudgeon pair

Ellasoma gilberti (need live food)

Chili rasbora

 

The list goes on and on  

I prefer 40 gallon and under.  I also enjoy species only tanks where I can really get to know that particular fish.

Many of my dream someday fish were for 10 g tanks  🤗

Edit to add. These are new to me but I loved them enough to order a group after I saw how personable the original one was  

Laetacara curviceps dwarf flag cichlid/ smiling acara  a pair is suited for 10g  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[_Eric_]

Probably a dream 10 gal would either be an aquascape that was well designed or a tank for sulawesi shrimp

[Mikhaela]

@Guppysnail wow thank you SO much for that detailed and creative list!! I had to look up almost every species you listed because I've never even heard of them. So many great options. I thought I was already indecisive 😆 looks like I just need to get a few more 10 gallons 🤷‍♀️

I love the idea of snails. I have a rimless tank with a glass lid, but there's a small gap along the sides, and I've heard that they are great escape artists. Have you had that issue at all? 

@_Eric_ I LOVE THAT IDEA. I have often thought about keeping a single species shrimp tank. Sulawesi shrimp are beautiful! Have you had much experience with them in community tanks?

[Biotope Biologist]

My dream 10 gallon is ‘The amazon, things that live under leaves’ and I would just have all those tiny cute anchor cats and pencilfish and a pair of black darter tetra!

The males look like viperfish to me (see profile pic).

[Guppysnail]

On 8/6/2023 at 11:52 AM, Mikhaela said:

love the idea of snails. I have a rimless tank with a glass lid, but there's a small gap along the sides, and I've heard that they are great escape artists. Have you had that issue at all? 

My piano and wizard snails are in tanks with no lids just some floating plants. I have not seen them even go above the waterline. The give birth to live young so do not need to leave the water like mystery snails to lay eggs. 
Nerites my black racers do not escape all others live to take walks. 
Mystery snails always escape as well as rabbit snails. 

[Mikhaela]

On 8/6/2023 at 9:22 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

My dream 10 gallon is ‘The amazon, things that live under leaves’ and I would just have all those tiny cute anchor cats and pencilfish and a pair of black darter tetra!

The males look like viperfish to me (see profile pic).

hahah I need to start giving aquariums creative titles. AND ANCHOR CATS ARE SO CUTE. I love this concept. 

[Guppysnail]

On 8/6/2023 at 12:30 PM, Mikhaela said:

hahah I need to start giving aquariums creative titles. AND ANCHOR CATS ARE SO CUTE. I love this concept. 

If you want to see anchor cats put in Java fern short cryptocorene and anubias nana or nana petite along the front glass. They don’t like out in the open and perch in low bushy plants like birds. 
 

Here are some of mine. Included big egg belly girl photo. 

[Mikhaela]

On 8/6/2023 at 9:43 AM, Guppysnail said:

Here are some of mine. Included big egg belly girl photo. 

OMG 😍 okay that solidifies it. I need.

[_Eric_]

On 8/6/2023 at 10:52 AM, Mikhaela said:

@Guppysnail wow thank you SO much for that detailed and creative list!! I had to look up almost every species you listed because I've never even heard of them. So many great options. I thought I was already indecisive 😆 looks like I just need to get a few more 10 gallons 🤷‍♀️

I love the idea of snails. I have a rimless tank with a glass lid, but there's a small gap along the sides, and I've heard that they are great escape artists. Have you had that issue at all? 

@_Eric_ I LOVE THAT IDEA. I have often thought about keeping a single species shrimp tank. Sulawesi shrimp are beautiful! Have you had much experience with them in community tanks?

I don’t have any experience with them (still a dream 😆) but I don’t think I’ve heard of them kept in community tanks.  They like really hard and hot water from what I have read.

[Maximus]

On 8/6/2023 at 3:13 AM, Guppysnail said:

I love 10 gallons. Of all my tank those are my FUN tanks. 
 

Things I have right now in 10g that I love or have been put in larger tanks but do wonderful in 10. 
 

As tankmates in 10 g. Neocaridina in all and of course snails. Fun snails include livebearing White Wizard and Piano snails. Easier than mystery snails because you get babies without hatching s big clutch that overwhelms a 10g.

Fun fish. 
Psuedomugil gertrudae and luminatus

African dwarf frogs (by far one of my most delightful tanks (Nerite snails with these kids) 

Asian stone anchor catfish
Apistogramma pair. 

Honey gourami pair

Pygmy, hastatus or Habrosus corydora  

Scarlet or black tiger badis (need grindal worms and live bbs)

Least killi fish

Celestial pearl danios

Things I’ve not yet kept but are on the list

Clown killifish

peacock gudgeon pair

Ellasoma gilberti (need live food)

Chili rasbora

 

The list goes on and on  

I prefer 40 gallon and under.  I also enjoy species only tanks where I can really get to know that particular fish.

Many of my dream someday fish were for 10 g tanks  🤗

Edit to add. These are new to me but I loved them enough to order a group after I saw how personable the original one was  

Laetacara curviceps dwarf flag cichlid/ smiling acara  a pair is suited for 10g  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I second the idea of a honey gourami pair, with plenty of cover in there, floating plants too. It's been fun to watch the bubble nesting and they look great. 

[Mikhaela]

On 8/6/2023 at 10:21 AM, _Eric_ said:

I don’t have any experience with them (still a dream 😆) but I don’t think I’ve heard of them kept in community tanks.  They like really hard and hot water from what I have read.

Noted! Hopefully this dream becomes a reality soon! I think its an awesome idea. You gotta share it on this forum when it happens 😊

[Mikhaela]

On 8/6/2023 at 11:26 AM, Maximus said:

I second the idea of a honey gourami pair, with plenty of cover in there, floating plants too. It's been fun to watch the bubble nesting and they look great. 

Bubble nesting isn't something I'm familiar with! Did a quick google search though and it looks super interesting. I bet it would be fun to observe them doing that!

[River]

I love the 10 gallon I have right now; I’ve attached a pic of it. It’s honestly pretty close to dream setup. It’s got dragonstone and driftwood for hardscape, and lots of plants that have been in there for years so it’s very natural looking (I actually like a bit of algae and mulm in a tank).  It’s got a couple of Amano shrimp, a nerite snail, and 2 neons in it currently (the neons were from PetSmart and most of them died; I know they need larger groups). I’m currently quarantining some new neons from a better source and once those are in I’ll add a betta if the tank tells me it can handle the bioload.

If I had the money for another 10gal setup, I would do a hillstream-type with celestial pearl danios, hillstream loaches, and maybe a lesser-known goby. And whatever inverts and plants that can tolerate the slightly cooler water CPDs and hill streams like.

[Mikhaela]

On 8/6/2023 at 1:01 PM, River said:

I love the 10 gallon I have right now; I’ve attached a pic of it. It’s honestly pretty close to dream setup. It’s got dragonstone and driftwood for hardscape, and lots of plants that have been in there for years so it’s very natural looking (I actually like a bit of algae and mulm in a tank).  It’s got a couple of Amano shrimp, a nerite snail, and 2 neons in it currently (the neons were from PetSmart and most of them died; I know they need larger groups). I’m currently quarantining some new neons from a better source and once those are in I’ll add a betta if the tank tells me it can handle the bioload.

If I had the money for another 10gal setup, I would do a hillstream-type with celestial pearl danios, hillstream loaches, and maybe a lesser-known goby. And whatever inverts and plants that can tolerate the slightly cooler water CPDs and hill streams like.

wow wow wow love the natural look on this tank! The grow out looks awesome. I've also wanted to experiment with having a female betta in a community tank; it seems like a really neat dynamic. I also love the way hillstream loaches look and would love to incorporate them into a tank one day.

[Lennie]

I love shallow tanks, so not a 10g but I wanna do a 12g shallow. I love their looks.

Some examples from online:

[Mikhaela]

On 8/7/2023 at 1:31 AM, Lennie said:

I love shallow tanks, so not a 10g but I wanna do a 12g shallow. I love their looks.

Some examples from online:

oooh! I also love the look of shallow tanks! that last inspo pic is so clean. I've seen some really cool biotopes done in shallow tanks. Having an aquarium like this is definitely on my bucket list.

[beastie]

At one point i made a list of suitable 10 gallon inhabitants. For me the volume is weird, i either have 25 liters or 54, so 5 gallon or a 12 one, but still.

groups of (8 and more):

Nannostomus marginatus, Chela dadiburjori, Trigonostigma hengeli, Corydoras pygmaeus, Corydoras hastatus, Corydoras nanus, Danio margaritatus, Oryzias woworae,
Boraras urophthalmoides, Boraras maculatus, Boraras merah, Microdevario kubotai, Microrasbora erythromicron, Boraras naevus, Paracheirodon simulans, Otocinclus affinis, Axelrodia riesei , Axelrodia riesei, Hyphessobrycon amandae
Heterandria formosa, Neoheterandria elegans , Micropoecilia, Quintana atrizona, Pseudopoecilia festae, other natural Poeciliidae - live bearers, need good maintenance and they will breed so keep that in mind

African dwarf frogs - Hymenochirus curtipes, Hymenochirus boettgeri - to be kept in a group but without any fish

Hara jerdoni - smaller group of 3-4

pairs to trios

Dario dario, Plesiolebias lacerdai, Neolamprologus brevis, some of the Rivulidae

single:

any sort of betta except the large ones (Betta pugnax, Betta macrostoma) - some of the bettas could be kept in pairs too, some Nothobranchiidae or Adrianichthyidae killifish - again, could be kept in pairs
mexican crayfish - Cambarellus patzcuarensis - could be kept with fish, but considerations should be made

There are more species available now, i for example have Indostomus paradoxus in my 5 gallon, pseudomugil luminatus in 12 gallon, am purchasing epiplatys annulatus ( clown killifish) soon for my 10 gallon. I have had all the rasboras at one point, loved the most my horny gourami pair in the 12 gallon that didn't survive, but were super amazing behavior wise.

unless you count courting / breeding behavior interesting most of the shoaling fish will always be tad more boring than solitary/pair fish. Some fish are interesting in appearance, some in behavior, some in behavior in large groups as opposed to solitary... So many choices 

[Guppysnail]

@beastie awesome list. You have a few on your list I’m going to borrow for my list 😉 

[Lennie]

On 8/8/2023 at 12:41 AM, Guppysnail said:

@beastie awesome list. You have a few on your list I’m going to borrow for my list 😉 

She always use the latin names. Whenever we talk, I be like, one sec, lemme google what you mean! 🤣

 

Reading her recommendation list, feeling like I'm reading a science paper😄😄

[Guppysnail]

On 8/7/2023 at 6:03 PM, Lennie said:

She always use the latin names. Whenever we talk, I be like, one sec, lemme google what you mean! 🤣

 

Reading her recommendation list, feeling like I'm reading a science paper😄😄

I’ve had a few miscommunications on fish using common names. That prompted me to “try” to learn 🤣

Google is still my BFF

[Mikhaela]

On 8/7/2023 at 2:26 PM, beastie said:

At one point i made a list of suitable 10 gallon inhabitants. For me the volume is weird, i either have 25 liters or 54, so 5 gallon or a 12 one, but still.

groups of (8 and more):

Nannostomus marginatus, Chela dadiburjori, Trigonostigma hengeli, Corydoras pygmaeus, Corydoras hastatus, Corydoras nanus, Danio margaritatus, Oryzias woworae,
Boraras urophthalmoides, Boraras maculatus, Boraras merah, Microdevario kubotai, Microrasbora erythromicron, Boraras naevus, Paracheirodon simulans, Otocinclus affinis, Axelrodia riesei , Axelrodia riesei, Hyphessobrycon amandae
Heterandria formosa, Neoheterandria elegans , Micropoecilia, Quintana atrizona, Pseudopoecilia festae, other natural Poeciliidae - live bearers, need good maintenance and they will breed so keep that in mind

African dwarf frogs - Hymenochirus curtipes, Hymenochirus boettgeri - to be kept in a group but without any fish

Hara jerdoni - smaller group of 3-4

pairs to trios

Dario dario, Plesiolebias lacerdai, Neolamprologus brevis, some of the Rivulidae

single:

any sort of betta except the large ones (Betta pugnax, Betta macrostoma) - some of the bettas could be kept in pairs too, some Nothobranchiidae or Adrianichthyidae killifish - again, could be kept in pairs
mexican crayfish - Cambarellus patzcuarensis - could be kept with fish, but considerations should be made

There are more species available now, i for example have Indostomus paradoxus in my 5 gallon, pseudomugil luminatus in 12 gallon, am purchasing epiplatys annulatus ( clown killifish) soon for my 10 gallon. I have had all the rasboras at one point, loved the most my horny gourami pair in the 12 gallon that didn't survive, but were super amazing behavior wise.

unless you count courting / breeding behavior interesting most of the shoaling fish will always be tad more boring than solitary/pair fish. Some fish are interesting in appearance, some in behavior, some in behavior in large groups as opposed to solitary... So many choices 

 

 

Such an amazing list!! I really appreciate you taking your time for this response. I've added a few to my wish list. I want to learn the latin names! How did you begin learning the names? It's seems like an intimidating feat

[beastie]

Well i am from europe, so our common names are vastly different and everyone uses the latin ones to not be confused ;)) we have nice lists with both names so latin is what we commonly use 🙂 seriouslyfish also uses latin/common names

[Guppysnail]

On 8/8/2023 at 12:34 AM, Mikhaela said:

 

Such an amazing list!! I really appreciate you taking your time for this response. I've added a few to my wish list. I want to learn the latin names! How did you begin learning the names? It's seems like an intimidating feat

Here is a start. I’m lucky my neighbor who founded our fish club gives lectures on the subject. I’m still incredibly weak but I’m getting better. 

 

 

[BlueLineAquaticsSC]

I could definitely spend a lot of money and time on a 10g if there were no limits. My first thought are crocodile toothpicks with some fun tank mates:

Dealers choice on some kind of shrimp, and/or thai micro crabs.

alligator or zebra otos 

Anchor cats

Some sort of small fish like chili rasbora, CPDs, endlers, rocket killis, bluefin killis, etc.

scarlet badis or pygmy sunfish

sparkling gourami

 

Edited August 8, 2023 by BlueLineAquaticsSC