Combos of Freshwater Fish

[structure]

Hi everyone again.
Well I asked my parents and they agreed to let me have fish. No saltwater tank :(, but at least I get fish. They won't let me get a 20-30 gallon tank (for now) since it is I AM new so... I'm stuck with a cylinder-shaped 10 gallon tank. Until I can show them I can take care of fish. -_-

I like attractive, colorful fish, but not too expensive costing (low budget aquarium), not too big, not too hard to take care of, and.. you get the picture.

For your opinion, what combo of fish should I FIRST get? These are the fish I want:
- 2 Bettas (A male and a female, specifically Twin Tail Bettas)
- 3-7 Glowfish (or Neon) Tetra
- Golden Lyretail Panchax Killifish (don't know where i can find this)
- Suggestions?

LiveAquaria.com Stats
- Betta: Minimum Tank Size: 10g; Tank Conditions: 75-86°F; pH 6.0-8.0; dH 0-25; Peaceful; Up to 3"; Carnivore.
- Tetra: Minimum Tank Size: 30g; Tank Conditions: 72-77°F; pH 5.5-7.0; dH 10-12; Peaceful; Up to 2"; Omnivore.
- Killifish: Minimum Tank Size: 20g, Tank Conditions: 73-79°F; pH 6.0-7.5; dH 5-8; Peaceful; Up to 2.5"; Carnivore.

What's dH mean?

Also I don't know some good fish/invertebrae/etc. that can filter the tank. Any ideas?
10 gallon tanks really limit from what I can choose from. :(

And any good books recommended for reading?? Thanks!

[edit: Oh yes. The tank, fake plants, rocks, is over 4-5 years old. Is that bad if I use all of those again?]

[RicksReefs]

you might want to search FW forums, but i'll
dust off my FW years for you.

1) PR. of Bettas, the male can be quite 'persistant'
if he wants to breed. if the females not ready,
he may kill her. in a 10g she'd have no where to run to.
& the specialty bettas like the double tail,butterfly,
etc.. cost a bit more.

2) neons should really go into an established tank.

3)Killifish, ahhh! the killis, generally expect to pay
top $$ for these. be ready to breed them before
you get them as many of them only live a year.

if this is your first foray into fishkeeping, i'd recommend
a pair of dwarf cichlids like kribs or apistogrammas if
you can find them, they spawn readily & raise the young.

a trio of corydoras cats (1F 2M) are always good. research
for the smaller ones like C pygmeus (sp?) or C. hastatus
cool cats that again, spawn readily.

a good midwaterfish could be pencilfish, rasporas (& neons.
after your tank cycles at least)

i'd top it off with a pair of the dwarf gourami variants.
(Colisa lalia)

HTH

[RicksReefs]

oh,
dh is degrees hardness. basically your alkalinity level.

the cory cats are good at eating the excess food but
theres not much that will truly filter your tank except
live plants (or a filter ;) )

i've been out of the FW game to long to recommend
any recent books.

you should be able to reuse just about everything.
i'd give the plants, decorations, & tank a chlorine
bath. just fill the tank with water, pour in about a
cup of bleach, let sit overnight, nuetralize chlorine
(i've used Amquel & recommend it), rinse everything
REALLY REALLY well, then refill tank & overdose it with
chlorine nuetralizer, let this sit overnight, then drain
& rinse again & it should be sparkling & germ free. :)

[mr_alberta]

Cool, a 10G cylinder. I've never seen one of those!

Like saltwater fish, make sure you cycle your tank first! There really aren't that many fish you can cram into a 10G tank. Probably 6 - 8 at most depending on size. If you are dilligent with water changes and what not, you might be able to squeeze in a few more. Just remember to take your time and actually enjoy the hobby!

Now for fish:

Bottom: Corydoras Catfish. Cute little buggers. I like the Panda Corys personally, but they are sensitive to the water quality and not as hardy as other types of Corys. Make sure you get more than one though as I've heard that they act strange when alone.

Middle: Rasboras. The ones I had always schooled. Very pretty fish. I'd get a nice school of 5 or 6.

That's probably all I'd get fish wise for the 10. You can put in a couple of Ghost Shrimp too. They are pretty neat to watch (if you can see them!)

Also, have you looked into something like a bumblebee goby?

You should check out these sites for more info on FW stuff:

http://www.fishforums.com/phpBB/

http://www.fishprofiles.com/interactive/forums/

[Lucunae]

I would go with a male betta, a trio to 6 neons, and a couple corycats. I would forgo the killie as they are hard to find, you can find eggs on the net but not exactly a beginners tank there trying to feed and raise the small fish. Since your goal is to prove that you can keep your pets alive, go with a small number of easy fish that wont pose any aggresion problems.

B

[Lucunae]

oh yeah..im my tanks the ghost shrimp always die soon. The acidic ph of my water doesnt treat them well. Something to look at before getting any as a dead shrimp in a small tank can smell rather badly.

B

[drew22to375]

www.aquariacentral.com

[SurferDude771]

swordtails are beginner fish and come in all different colors and the young are easily raised

[structure]

Thanks all!

[oktoberain]

Speaking from experience, I'd recommend livebearers in general - swordtails, and platys in particular. They are extremely colorful, they have lots of "personality" and are hardy and easy to care for.
Red Velvet Swordtails and Marigold or Mickey Mouse Platys are good choices for color and pattern.

You might want to consider cycling your tank before adding any fish. You can do it easily by asking your LFS for a few cups of used substrate, and adding it to your tank along with a few drops of pure ammonia. Test your water weekly, and when your ammonia and nitrites read zero, you can safely add some fish. It usually takes about 3-4 weeks to cycle completely.

If you don't plan on keeping live plants, I'd also suggest adding three teaspoons of sea salt to your ten-gallon tank and letting it dissolve and circulate for a day before adding the fish. Slightly brackish water is soothing to swords and platys, and it helps them recover from the stress of being moved from the LFS to the aquarium. I've been keeping and breeding livebearers for years, so I know a little bit about them. ;)

Hope this is helpful. :D

[tanker]

Structure: If you looking for killies or other small fish (for a 10gal) try going to "Ocean Aquarium" on Cedar ST in SF. They have lots of small tanks and fish for small tanks. If you need directions send me a personal e-mail. PS--They have lots of cool "low-light" plants also.