I bought my daughter her 10G Betta tank about 2 1/2 weeks ago. Lots of dollars, mistakes and learning later, the tank is pretty stable now.
That being said, I have the itch. I got all of this for $40 on FB marketplace. It obviously needs to be cleaned, but I thought it was a hell of a deal. I am in no rush to get this up and running as I still have a lot of learning to do and need to focus on the 10G. I want to take my time with this one and plan everything to the T.
I’m mainly looking for ideas what to do with this when the time comes. I’m intrigued by the aquascaping stuff. I’d like to have a community and perhaps even frogs if it’s feasible. I’m thinking some fish, snails, bottom feeders, frogs and shrimp if it’s possible.
I’ll do my research, but wanted to hear some opinions.
Posted by FlexSealClubber
4 Comments
Not horrible for $40. Now when setting up a tank, either think about what fish you want to keep or what kind of aqua scape you want. And then decide afterwards.
I just started my 10 gallon. I thought I was being careful by waiting a week. I added $25 worth of cherry shrimp, and man it was way too early for that. If I was starting again, I would have bought some kind of powdered bacteria starter to get the walls a little grimy first. Not sure if my shrimp are going to live long.
I was going to start with some mountain cloudfish, but the store was out.
I also like the aquascaping stuff, but 100% of those videos on youtube have co2 + nice aquarium soil. This will cost more than the tank.
The other commenter is right, start with the specific fish you want, or start with the aquascape and then think about what fish “belong” there.
You can either say “I want a paradise for a single pretty fish” or say “I want a cluttered tank with lots of little schooling fishes”. Having a starting point helps other people tailor recommendations for what you want.
You mentioned possibly having a community with a bunch of little fish, I personally recommend ember tetras, as they are a reasonable starter fish and you can fit a good amount of them in a 10 gallon. You could do a dual species tank and get Pygmy Corys with it, and have a pretty solid stocking, with a couple other friends to make it feel more like a full community.
Heres an example that ive had all together in a tank once!
https://preview.redd.it/cdzzfcrp0xog1.png?width=550&format=png&auto=webp&s=2425a31c6fc61af09d914b0716954515bbc8c5ac
The image has the site used, aqadvisor, it can be helpful for figuring out whats “reasonable” even though its not a perfect tool.
Also, consider seeing if your daughter is interested in a couple shrimp in her betta tank, theres no perfect guarantee that the betta wont attack them, but its not something bettas are usually interested in hunting/hurting and with a full 10 gallon for her betta, theres plenty of room for the shrimp to hide or run away anyways!
Frogs would ideally be in a species only tank rather than a community.