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WWYD with a heavily planted 10g with lots of surface cover?

Kirsten

By Kirsten,
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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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So, my second betta fish is circling the drain and I'm feeling a little burned out on betta. Just as the tank was finally coming into its own as a betta paradise with jungle val, duckweed, all sorts of niceness.

So he's in quarantine, again, with his floating log, and we'll see if he pulls through. But if not, what should I do with the tank?

PXL_20210329_144438955.jpg.37889c693affdba9face6fa78088fdf3.jpg

Currently home to 2 nerite snails, a bunch of ramshorns, and 4-5 pygmy cories who I'm thinking about moving to a larger gourami tank to give it a little more action (along with some more friends). 

As you can see, it's got lots of hiding places, particularly up top, and only has a sponge filter, so it'd be great for another labyrinth fish or for fry to hide. I have 2 heaters in it to keep it at 78, since my house is usually around 65 in the winter, but it's getting on toward summer and I don't have central air, so a fish that can take up to 78 would be preferable.

What would you do?

-  2 to 3 dwarf gourami in a species only tank

- Apistogramma breeding pair (not a lot of floor space though)

- Golden lyretail killifish (SO hard to find online, though!)

- Pygmy cory species-only tank

- Another betta! Third time's the charm.

- Shrimp tank time!

- Don't you have a billion and a half endlers? Put your males in there, dummy!

- Something else? (I'd love to do a sparkling gourami species-only tank, but guides seem to put them at 20g minimum)

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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Just now, lefty o said:

id load it up with ember tetras.

Funny! I have some on the way from Aquahuna as we speak! Was intending to also put them in the 29g croaking gourami tank to help brighten it up. But that is an option!

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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5 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

I'd get some Apistogramma borellii 'Opal', or some Apistogramma macmasteri.

Beautiful choices! Will the lack of much floor space be a problem for them? There is already a plastic log "cave" though, so that's a plus.

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Brandy Grand Master

Brandy

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 I think I would want to try breeding honey gouramis in it, or get a pair of A. agassizii 'fire red'. Not having done either, of course.

However, until I reduce some of the other stock I have raised I would probably force myself to go with Option 7:

51 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

 Don't you have a billion and a half endlers? Put your males in there, dummy!

Only in my case it would become a grow out for some of the 150 EBA fry I have...😬

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Jungle Fan Veteran

Jungle Fan

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32 minutes ago, Kirsten said:

Beautiful choices! Will the lack of much floor space be a problem for them? There is already a plastic log "cave" though, so that's a plus.

How big is the tank? A 30 gallon would be ideal for a pair, 20 long might work. If less than that I'd go with the killifish, or the shrimp. Not that I'm anti-betta but I could see you wanting some variety, although there are some very impressive options for bettas out there these days.

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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1 hour ago, Jungle Fan said:

How big is the tank? A 30 gallon would be ideal for a pair, 20 long might work. If less than that I'd go with the killifish, or the shrimp. Not that I'm anti-betta but I could see you wanting some variety, although there are some very impressive options for bettas out there these days.

10g. So I was thinking killifish, too, but it's so hard to find gold lyretail / golden panchax, which is what Cory recommended for a 10. Any other killi varieties that could go in such a small tank?

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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1 hour ago, Brandy said:

 I think I would want to try breeding honey gouramis in it, or get a pair of A. agassizii 'fire red'. Not having done either, of course.

However, until I reduce some of the other stock I have raised I would probably force myself to go with Option 7:

Only in my case it would become a grow out for some of the 150 EBA fry I have...😬

Yeahhhhh I'd probably be foolish to buy any more fish at this point while I'm still overstocked on endlers. I just dropped off about 30-40 youngins at the pet store this weekend and still don't feel like I've made a dent. I have an angelfish on the way but it'll probably be awhile for a baby angel to get big enough to eat anything but the smallest fry. I also have some shipping supplies coming to me because I can't seem to sell them locally, and seeing the state of some of the fish in my local pet store...let's just say it doesn't fill me with joy to bring them there.

So into the 10 they'll go! At least some of the males, if/when I can catch them! Fast little buggers.

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CorydorasEthan Mentor

CorydorasEthan

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2 hours ago, Kirsten said:

What would you do?

-  2 to 3 dwarf gourami in a species only tank

- Apistogramma breeding pair (not a lot of floor space though)

- Golden lyretail killifish (SO hard to find online, though!)

- Pygmy cory species-only tank

- Another betta! Third time's the charm.

- Shrimp tank time!

- Don't you have a billion and a half endlers? Put your males in there, dummy!

- Something else? (I'd love to do a sparkling gourami species-only tank, but guides seem to put them at 20g minimum)

Let's narrow that down:

2 hours ago, Kirsten said:

- Pygmy cory species-only tank

Of course, this is a biased opinion, and honestly, any of the options listed above will probably work (maybe not the apistos though). Just go ahead and choose which one you like best. Good luck!

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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3 minutes ago, Jungle Fan said:

Duhh, I need to pay more attention to detail, you had said it in the very headline! Sorry about that. With it being such a nicely planted 10 gallon  I would absolutely try to go with the killifish, I would look on Aquabid, they usually have quite a selection listed.

https://www.aquabid.com/

Oh right! Aquabid! Totally forgot to look there. You're right, much better chance of finding them there.

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Kirsten Mentor

Kirsten

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53 minutes ago, Brandy said:

What about clown killies? they have to be tiny enough for a 10g? I know nothing tho.

Yeah... while a responsible fish owner should use it to alleviate the crowded conditions of another tank... I'm going down the killifish rabbit hole and getting seriously psyched for them. Great, just what I need! More babies! 😄

Given my luck, my betta will make a full recovery and I'll just be chewing on my thumbs until I can find space for killis somewhere.

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