# My First Tank - 10G



## NorthShore (Aug 9, 2011)

I started about 2 weeks ago and I wanted to start small. I have a 10G tank with:
1. blue gourami (male)
2. corkscrew snail
3. small fiddler crab
4. dragonfish
5. platy (male)
6. fortune lobster

Wish I went online before I went ahead. I lost 4 fish so far I didnt know the lobster had an appetite. so now hes well fed and the other 5 critters seem to live in harmony.


































I like seeing crawling things on the bottom but also like to see greens and livelier fish. Need you help with:
1. what other bottom dwellers can I get?
2. what other fish can I get?
3. what plants can I get?

Im willing to remove and replace the other 4 except the lobster and crab. Thanks!


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

NorthShore said:


> I started about 2 weeks ago and I wanted to start small. I have a 10G tank with:
> 1. blue gourami (male)
> 2. corkscrew snail
> 3. small fiddler crab
> ...


You're way overstocked. 

Dragonfish, gets extremely long and don't belong in a ten gallon tank. 

If you're going to have a Craydad with bottom dwellers, you need a big tank and lots of hiding places, the bottom dwellers also need to be fast. 

The Blue Gourami is too big for your tank. 

You do realize you're mixing brackish water species with freshwater? 

I suggest you return the Dragonfish and the Gourami. 

Get three Mollys since they can survive in brackish water. 

Make sure you have sand for the fiddler crab.

Don't add any more fish than that.

and you'll have a nice ten gallon brackish tank.


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## NorthShore (Aug 9, 2011)

thanks for the response *pigeonfish*!

I forgot to mention I used pebbles to fill the bed. Also that I lost 2 tetras, 2 platys and 2 mollys to the lobster. Other than a molly, is there another fish I can get that can go with the rest? I wanted something more colorful and bigger. perhaps take out the gourami & dragonfish and get a puffer or beta?

is there any plant I can get that they wont nibble on?


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

NorthShore said:


> thanks for the response *pigeonfish*!
> 
> I forgot to mention I used pebbles to fill the bed. Also that I lost 2 tetras, 2 platys and 2 mollys to the lobster. Other than a molly, is there another fish I can get that can go with the rest? I wanted something more colorful and bigger. perhaps take out the gourami & dragonfish and get a puffer or beta?
> 
> is there any plant I can get that they wont nibble on?


You really should get sand for the fiddler crab. Get a good depth of 3-4"

The Puffer will most likely be very aggressive, so you should only keep it by itself with the Fiddler Crab and the Crawdad.

Your tank will have to be treated like a brackish tank, which means you have to add salt to the freshwater, a Betta doesn't really belong in brackish water, that's why I suggest the Puffer instead of the Betta.

You could go with most low-tech plants. Like the Java Fern, Java Moss, Anubias, Anacharis... You can anchor those to rocks or just keep them floating. I don't suggest rooted plants because the fiddler crab might uproot them when trying to hide in the sand. You'll have to keep salt doses low though, since they need more freshwater.


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## NorthShore (Aug 9, 2011)

Sand sounds like its harder to clean. And after seeing how the others have made different themes, I might have to rethink my tank then. 

Thanks again for the advise


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

I'm a little confused about the substrate for the crab.... you do have an area where it can come right up out of the water and burrow right? If not, the crab won't last long.

Not much will get along in a 10g with a lobster.... I'm thinking, return the crab (if you can't build up an 'out of water' area for him) and the lobster. The blue gourami will also get too large.

Have you thought about* African Dwarf Frogs*? You can have 2 or 3 in a 10g tank. (I did until I moved everyone over to the 20g.) The are completely aquatic, so you don't have to worry about having any out of water areas for them. The only thing is they often need to be handfed, as they don't see very well to hunt, and they do not eat food from the surface. I use a pair of 10" stainless steel tweezers to feed mine and it works great. (Make sure there is a lid on the tank with no holes! They shoot up to the surface to breathe and if there is no lid, they can sometimes overshoot and jump right out of the tank.) They can live in a community tank with things like guppies, mollies and platys. I love 'em! They're super cute! *BE SURE YOU DO NOT GET AFRICAN CLAWED FROGS!!!!! * They are sometimes mis-labeled as ADF's, but they get huge and will eat anything in the tank with them. Definitely NOT suited for a 10g tank! If you research ADF's and ACF's, you will be able to tell the difference.


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

NorthShore said:


> Sand sounds like its harder to clean. And after seeing how the others have made different themes, I might have to rethink my tank then.
> 
> Thanks again for the advise


Just post your ideas. ADF's seem like something that you would be interested in. You can also try a Shrimp colony tank with a ten gallon.


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## NorthShore (Aug 9, 2011)

Let me just say - thank you again for your input!

I have a thing against frogs so thats probably not a go. I really want to have bottom dwellers but also want active, pretty fish and plant life. I *might* consider getting another 10G tank (instead of getting one 20G tank) and put them next to each other (best of both worlds right?)

as for holly's question - my fiddler crab is supposedl not semi-aquatic, but he has left the tank a couple of times (dont know how he did it) but he was there again outside the tank this morning


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## NorthShore (Aug 9, 2011)

Pigeonfish said:


> You can also try a Shrimp colony tank with a ten gallon.


oooo I like that idea


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## Pigeonfish (Jun 23, 2011)

NorthShore said:


> Let me just say - thank you again for your input!
> 
> I have a thing against frogs so thats probably not a go. I really want to have bottom dwellers but also want active, pretty fish and plant life. I *might* consider getting another 10G tank (instead of getting one 20G tank) and put them next to each other (best of both worlds right?)
> 
> as for holly's question - my fiddler crab is supposedl not semi-aquatic, but he has left the tank a couple of times (dont know how he did it) but he was there again outside the tank this morning


Holly's right actually, the fiddler will try getting out of the aquarium in any way it can trying to find land. Haha. you can probably keep the ten gallon for the fiddler crab if you make a little land hill with some sand...

There's another thread floating around where someone was asking tips on a shrimp colony, though I suggest keeping them without the crabs and the crawdad and only some small top/mid dwelling fish... 

http://www.aquariumforum.com/f66/does-anyone-know-anything-keeping-freshwater-17925.html

Found it.


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## holly12 (Apr 21, 2011)

He's escaping because he'll die if he doesn't have some land to get to. (Don't listen to the Petsmart people - that crab does need land and water.)


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## NorthShore (Aug 9, 2011)

Read the thread on shrimp colonies. Looks good...


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## NorthShore (Aug 9, 2011)

updated the first post with pics


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## alagerstrom (Aug 11, 2011)

Thats a nice looking tank. congrats


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