# Fish in a 10 Gallon Tank



## tropicalfish (Mar 4, 2011)

Currently I have these fish in my 10 gallon tank:

-1 Platy
-1 Zebra Danio
-1 Clown Loach
-1 Swordtail
-2 Cory's 
-2 Guppy's

I know that the clown loach is not going to work in this size tank and am currently working on re-homing him. Are the other fish okay for the tank?

Thank you!!


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

It's a bit too much for that tank. I overstocked a 10 gallon and ended up with finrot and ich. You should make sure you overfilter it with a good quality filter AND do 30 - 50% water changes every week. The other problem is that you have several fish that do better in groups, and in larger tanks. 

I don't know much about clown loaches... other than he will outgrow your tank.

Your platy and your swordtail are from the same genus, so they will interbreed. I have some platies in a 10 gallon tank, and they are not as happy and thus not nearly as active as my platies that are in a 40 gallon tank. When you keep more than one platy, which is essentially the situation you have with the swordtail and the platy together, you always want to have twice as many females as males. If you have two females or two males, you are ok.
I haven't had guppies yet but I'm pretty sure their needs are going to be very similar to that of platies and swordtails.

Your zebra danio really needs to be kept in a group of five or more, and should be kept in a larger tank to accomodate his high activity level. They like to swim fast, far, and they like to play together. Without buddies, they sort of just die slowly. I would recommend that you return him to the store. If you bought him within the last two weeks and kept your receipt, you should be able to get a refund (with the chain stores, like PetSmart).

Cory cats are another fish that should really be kept in groups of five or more. They'll do ok, not as badly as zebra danios, when kept alone or in a smaller group... but it's not ideal. I'm not for sure about this part, so you should confirm it, but I believe five would be ok in a 10 gallon tank. But you wouldn't want to add much else. Maybe five cory cats and a betta?




 I'm sorry. How long have you had this setup? Has it been a short enough time period that you can return some of the fish and do something else, or can you afford to set up a larger tank?

You should go to www.aqadvisor.com I have found that site incredibly helpful in researching the fish I want by finding out if they will be compatible in my community tanks, finding out if they will even fit in my community tanks, and deciding if I need extra filtration.


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## Ghost Knife (Mar 12, 2008)

I say get rid of everything except the 2 Cories. Then I would pick a 6-8 sized school of one you like, but it needs to be something small like Neon or Cardinal Tetras. Also, you'll need some type of small algae eater like one of those Chinese Algae Eaters.


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## tropicalfish (Mar 4, 2011)

egoreise said:


> It's a bit too much for that tank. I overstocked a 10 gallon and ended up with finrot and ich. You should make sure you overfilter it with a good quality filter AND do 30 - 50% water changes every week. The other problem is that you have several fish that do better in groups, and in larger tanks.
> 
> I don't know much about clown loaches... other than he will outgrow your tank.
> 
> ...


I knew most of this and am working on rehoming the fish. I've had these fish for about a year and the platy and swordtail as well as the 2 guppies have been fine together. 
Thanks for your long post, I appreciate the help!


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## tropicalfish (Mar 4, 2011)

Ghost Knife said:


> I say get rid of everything except the 2 Cories. Then I would pick a 6-8 sized school of one you like, but it needs to be something small like Neon or Cardinal Tetras. Also, you'll need some type of small algae eater like one of those Chinese Algae Eaters.


Thanks!
I saw in your signature that you have a betta in a 2.5 gallon tank. Could I put a betta in a 1 gallon tank? I've heard that this was too small, but when I bought the tank it said that it was for bettas.


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## humdedum (Feb 18, 2009)

Ghost Knife said:


> I say get rid of everything except the 2 Cories. Then I would pick a 6-8 sized school of one you like, but it needs to be something small like Neon or Cardinal Tetras. Also, you'll need some type of small algae eater like one of those Chinese Algae Eaters.


Chinese Algae Eaters will grow to 12 inches and become very territorial...while indeed they will keep algae under control while they are small, a 10 gallon tank can only really be a temporary housing. 

They also like to beat up other fish. Suitable tankmates would be fast ones (like danios or tetras) or equally aggressive ones, like African cichlids, who will hold their own. (http://aqualandpetsplus.com/Oddball, Chinese Algae Eater.htm)


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## egoreise (Mar 16, 2011)

I've been told chinese algae eaters also have a tendency to give up eating algae once they realize you are putting food in the tank!


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## Chaos553 (Apr 2, 2007)

Ghost Knife said:


> I say get rid of everything except the 2 Cories. Then I would pick a 6-8 sized school of one you like, but it needs to be something small like Neon or Cardinal Tetras. Also, you'll need some type of small algae eater like one of those Chinese Algae Eaters.


Agree 100%.


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## Skorpy (May 1, 2011)

tropicalfish said:


> Currently I have these fish in my 10 gallon tank:
> 
> -1 Platy
> -1 Zebra Danio
> ...


Yes, that is fine for that size tank. Although it is said that you can fit up to 20 fish in a 10 gallon. I wouldn't recommend it. It would be overstocked imo. But what you have is fine, except for the clown loach, which grows around 5inches. But you already know that, so you are prepared


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