I’m getting a lot of hate on TikTok for my 10 gallon freshwater setup, so I wanted to come to the people of Reddit.
I’m adding a pre filter sponge, a few guppies, driftwood, and live plants. Corys and snails will come later once the tank is more established.
People are heavily criticizing the decor and the colored gravel. Everything in the tank is labeled aquarium safe, and my kid picked out the decorations because this is a fun science project for him.
So I’m just wondering is the decor actually unsafe, or is it more of an aesthetic preference?
Posted by waterislife4
15 Comments
People like to be haters. So long as you have all your boxes checked, which it sounds like you do and if you and your kid like it, then who cares what people say
Please do not put Corydora in a 10 gallon with gravel substrate, they need to be in a group of 6+ of their own species in a minimum of 20 gallons and prefer to have sand to sift through.
The gravel and decorations aren’t toxic, they just indicate that this is your first aquarium.
Have you familiarized yourself with the nitrogen cycle?
The paint will chip off the painted gravel.
The plants should be in there already, is there anything under the gravel? The plants may not get nutrients from that at all.
I wouldn’t call having fish a fun science project… they are a responsibility and living creatures.
Ha don’t come to reddit for grounded feedback on anything 😂
It’s far from the worst I’ve seen. If it’s cycled and chemically stable then it’s fine. 10 gallons is also fine for a guppy tank as long as you have a plan for over population.
The decorations ime are safe for a time. The longer you use them the higher chance they have of leaching if they are going to. I don’t like them because they create dead water space and trap waste. They create a mess and I’m lazy so I stick to plants and wood and rock. The only other criticism I have with the decor is making sure they aren’t sharp enough to snag guppy fins and don’t have holes that are likely to trap fish.
Everything else is purely aesthetic. If it holds your attention and keeps you coming back and maintaining it, I would argue that’s the most important factor. You/your kid your interact with a tank you find boring.
Aquarium safe until it starts to break down. The rocks and decor can chip which gets into your water and can severely harm your fish.
Also some background “lore” the SpongeBob pineapples used to be toxic and indicative of someone being an amateur. The SpongeBob decor is actually pretty good quality now. I don’t ever see any problems with the new ones.
Also Corydoras do best on sand and not gravel plus you need a schooling number of at least 6 for them to be happy for the most part. I wouldn’t add them to this tank. However that’s my opinion.
The only thing that really needs to be change is the rocks. I’ve and such poor luck with them and from dealing with returned fish it’s actually a somewhat common killer. Tank could be fine from months to years and it’s the gravel that finally gets to the fish. It’ll break down over time with water changes when you take a gravel sucker to it.
But honestly, tank is fine where it’s at. It’s clean you’re adding to it still before considering fish. Don’t worry too much.
People genuinely just hate the pineapples lol. There used to be a thing about them leaking chemicals but that’s not a concern any longer. I know people have also had issues with the squidward house where fish will get caught and die in the eye holes
This is very online stuff though, doesn’t really matter what a bunch of insecure people online think about your setup
Personally I’d skip the corydoras tho, 20 gallons are pretty agreed upon as a starter size for them
Everything in this tank is wrong, Except for the bubbler. Make it more natural fish aren’t decoration. Get sand, live plants, driftwood. Reddit will be more cruel to you than TikTok so have thick skin
Your pothos leaves can’t be in the water, they’ll rot and leach ammonia- you only want the end below the lowest leaf to be in the water.
This tank set up is controversial and, admittedly, not ideal. I wouldn’t recommend corys for a variety of reasons that another comment has already touched on.
What I would recommend is leaning more into the true science of fishkeeping by starting with research!
Have your kid look at the various care needs of different fish species and find a hardy fish that you both feel like you can truly commit to. Your tank should mimic their natural environment and make sure your decor is safe. Some fish (like bettas, corys, fancy guppies) have delicate fins that would rip on something like your anglerfish decor and potentially your pineapple.
Another thing to look into is the risks of paint leaching harmful chemicals into your water. This is controversial so you both can read up (Google or here on Reddit, there’s plenty of info) and decide for yourselves if the perceived risk is worth it (although if you look at examples of tanks here in this forum you’ll find that a naturally planted tank is gorgeous and, IMO, superior aesthetically to these neon artificial tanks)
You also **NEED TO LOOK INTO THE NITROGEN CYCLE** !! Do not skip this step before adding any living animal to this water.
Ultimately, you fun science project CAN be fun but it should also be done properly and keeping in mind that you are committing to keeping a living creature alive and you should respect their various needs instead of purchasing on a whim / on impulse! 🙂
Plenty of us are here if you have questions (ignore the hate, there will be plenty of it) but please don’t get discouraged. As a mom myself, this is a great learning opportunity for your kid!! Just make sure they’re actually learning what goes into proper care 🙂
So obviously people can decorate their aquarium however they want. I don’t think it’s fair to judge anyone based off the decoration even if it’s not a popular choice. However, I am kind of concerned about the colored gravel. I had colored gravel and my aquarium for a long time, I had shrimp and fish with health issues which i think were caused by it, and I’ve heard things about paint coming off of these rocks so honestly, I would be wary about using them. I’m also kind of worried about this tank because it appears to be too small for corys who like bigger, much bigger tanks, as well as proper sand because they like to sift through it. that’s kind of their #1 thing so im wondering why you did not think of this? Also, just in my opinion, with any/most type of fish, they like to have plants and greenery to be around and for comfort / hiding. So I would maybe consider investing in some plants. Other than that, it looks fine to me, it is just always important to, figure out which fish is best for your tank. sorry i wrote this speech to text i hope it makes sense
The decor should be safe people just hate on the SpongeBob decor because the pineapple used to leech chemicals and flake paint into the water but that’s not a concern anymore. Pygmy Cory’s are fine in a 10 gallon but don’t do well with gravel, sand is much better. They can’t sift thru the gravel to find food like they can the sand and Pygmy Cory’s could potentially get stuck in the gravel too. It’s possible the colored gravel could start to flake eventually but I know someone who’s used colored gravel for 3 years and it’s been fine. The live plants may struggle to get nutrients once planted unless you use root tabs, or it’s an epiphytic plant like Anubis or Java fern which get nutrients from the water column.
Yeah I definitely look at that pineapple as
“The Pineapple of Death”
purely because of all the comments about them.
It’s not a the worst setup, but it does need some work.
I recommend Cory with Aquarium CoOp for solid advice. YouTube or website reading.
If you end up loving this hobby, you’ll find there is a ton of creative stuff you can do and lots of creatures that are cool to vibe with. Your kiddo will enjoy learning about it with you, too.
My kiddos watched me go from tanks like this to heavily planted tanks, and actually retained the information because we all learned it together. Its a great bonding experience. And its most definitely always a science project in one way or another.
Best of luck friend. 💛🦐
TikTok has a lot of brainrot users and many times they are wrong. A lot of fishkeepers like natural looks like rocks wood and plants only. If your kiddo likes it and everything else is good for the fish there’s no problem! I would add a patch of sand and maybe some tall hardy plants as well.
Paint can get off those decor and toxicate the fish… also corys are sensitive to what type of substrate you have… if sou don’t have real plants you need to do a lot more water changes as there will be nothing to absorb the nitrate… 10 gallon is quite small, only suitable for nano fish or 1 betta… please do your research before adding fish.
Reset the clock
There is nothing critical here, your aquarium just does not meet the taste of most advanced aquarium owners who advocate everything close to nature. As long as it is large enough for your fish species, has the necessary equipment, and the basic needs of the fish are met (for example, you were correctly advised about sand for corridors, this is very important for them), then this is a completely normal beginner aquarium.