The 10 gallon aquarium is one of the most common aquarium sizes. Its also usually what the beginner aquarist starts with. The 10 gallon poses its own set of challenges because it is such a small volume of water, but that does not mean it is not a viable tank to create a beautiful aquatic ecosystem. This is a list of fairly hardy species that could live in a 10 gallon aquarium. This list also includes some that you can make your own decisions as well about adding to your new aquarium. There are also some “biotope” ideas at the end of this guide to give some ideas.
Sources: Personal experience, 101 Best Freshwater Nano Species by Rachel O’Leary and Mark Denaro, and Anders247’s guide on Fishlore.com.
Look it up, they are one of the most useless creatures in existence
It really cracks me up there is a community on tumblr that unites around mutual hate of the sunfish.
I have read lots of it, while compelling it doesn’t change the fact that it still exists. Natural selection has not forced it to extinction. So it obviously has some essential roll in the ocean ecosystem we don’t fully understand yet
It can’t even be eaten. It is pointless and worthless. Not everything evolved to have a purpose other than to breed and make more of itself. They have had absolutely zero value in impact studies and they can’t even choose what direction to go in. They eat, shit and grow. I mean, something needs to put nutrients back in the water but goodness.
They aren’t typically eaten by humans but yes they can be eaten, mostly only occurs in Japan and Taiwan, but they are very much a food source for other aquatic life. They lay over 3 million eggs a year creating. You guessed it another food source for aquatic life.
They are active predators and feed on a variety of things but largely jellyfish. Helping to keep jelly populations in control. They commonly only eat certain parts of the jelly creating ANOTHER food source for bottom feeders.
And like you said, they also add nutrients back through just being a damn fish in the water.
Just cause you seem to think they have zero value to people. It doesn’t mean they don’t hold value in sustaining an ecosystem.
There is actually some speculation they might be related to the plankton family.
I meant that aquatic predators don’t even really like them much. It is not uncommon to find live Mola with bites taken out of them, having been rejected as a nutrient source by sharks. And so many other things eat jellyfish that molas eating jellyfish literally means nothing imo. They lay more eggs than literally any vertebrate out there. They just produce themselves. That’s what they do. Just because they aren’t detrimental doesn’t mean that they have like, some gigantic necessary requirement that I like them.
I don’t want them all dead or something. I just can’t their big dumb faces. I can’t stand the dumb faces of many animals, even the ones I enjoy. Feel you you feel but try not to judge others for coming to conclusions that differ from your own without literally threatening something you hold dear. My dislike of Molas was mine and I shared it cuz I can. I don’t want to change my opinion.
Yeah this was never an attempt to get you to like Mola’s. It was just a correction of incorrect facts. You’re not the only person I have seen go through great lengths to try and disprove any significance the fish may have in to ecosystem which is simply untrue.
I’m sorry you felt I was judging you or whatever, that was not my intention. it’s fully within your right to not like something, just because you don’t like it. That was not the point I was arguing. I was arguing the statement they were “worthless and pointless”
I really hate spiders, i wouldn’t mind burning them all with so much fire. But I wouldn’t because of all the other lifeforms that would be impacted that I don’t hate. That’s the only point I was making, even things you hate have purpose and value.
So I’m not dead. I just needed to step away from most social media for a bit. In the meantime I’ve started a new hobby.
Meet Zoa Muruchi. He’s a male Cambodian CrownTail betta. He’s a sweet and gentle soul that I can not convince to flare for me, so this shot is the best I’m gonna be able to get to show off his fins. I got him shortly after Christmas. He’s in a 5 gallon portrait aquarium with a bunch of live plants and a nerite snail that I can almost never find. I know it’s still in there because it poops 20x more than Zoa.
This is where he sleeps. I’m not being cute, he goes in here every night after his lights go out.
And he’s a shameless beggar.
This is Zigra, he’s a male Halfmoon betta. He’s considerably more active and aggressive than Zoa. I got him about 3 weeks ago, and he’s had a pretty dramatic color change since I brought him home.
Day one:
I was worried about that brown splotch on his head, but whatever it was is gone now, along with most of the white in his fins. He was listed as a ‘Butterfly male’ because petco likes to take some artistic license in labeling betta fish.
Ziggy got a better tank than Zoa because my boyfriend is an enabler and this Fluval went on sale. (Some day I might get Zoa a longer aquarium to replace his portrait, but he seems pretty happy for now.) Unlike his step brother, Ziggy lives alone. I don’t trust him with a snail, and I don’t trust a snail to not escape through the hole in the fluval’s lid.
The new project is a planted bowl I’m setting up for my mother. It can only hold about 3 gallons, so for now it’s just plants, but once it’s matured a little she’s going to try to keep a few dwarf fresh water shrimp in it.
I haven’t quite figured out how to move it yet. I’m probably going to have to drain it most of the way before I try. It’s possible I didn’t think that part through.
I’ll return to my usual steampunky shenanigans soon. Unless the fish eat me.
Here ya go, ya’ll. Petco’s dollar per gallon thru the end of the month.
GUESS WHO’S GETTING A 20 GALLON TANK SET UP. My 2 baby goldfish, Finn and Poe, are far too big for the 10 gallon now (Mostly Poe. For some reason, Finn hasn’t grown much) and will be getting a nicely planted 20 gallon. (They’re fantail goldfish, which stay much smaller than typical ones. Even still, Poe is about 2 inches sans tail)
My room will need remodeled first, but the frogs will be getting an upgrade to an Exoterra Tall Large terrarium too! I’m so excited. >w<
Please go larger! A 40 would still be really cheap with this sale!
Goldfish, even small fantails, really need larger. They shouldn’t have been in a 10 gallon for any period of time – that’s why Finn hasn’t grown much. And a 20 gallon just… isn’t big enough. If you’re going to upgrade, I implore you, go bigger!
My fantail, Atom, tripled in size in the first six months. His body is the size of a tennis ball now and I can’t imagine him in a 20 gallon (he lives in a 60!). They really do grow quickly if given the room and proper nutrition! Please get them a big home!
(Love the names btw omg!!)
They were very very small when I first got them (less than an inch). As for the 20gallon, I can always take it back and upgrade but I’m somewhat limited on space. Most of my research said that a 20 gallon would be alright with proper filtration and water changes, as well as being planted. Is that a common thing for aquarist forums?
Yep, they stat out so lil! That was about how big Atom was when I got him. They grow FAST.
Trust me, the 20 is a waste of your money! Go bigger now, they’ll thank you! A 20 just… I promise it’s not big enough long term. Technically it is big enough for ONE goldie with good filtration but… talk to any goldfish keeper that’s done that and they’ll tell you their fish seemed cramped, so they went bigger anyway.
Filtration and water changes doesn’t change the fact they need ROOM to explore and move! It helps with their waste load, sure, but you still gotta consider their activity level and how big they get.
A pair of goldfish should always be in a 40gal tank minimum, if you can’t provide that for them you honestly need to think about rehoming them. I’m on mobile so I don’t have the tank size link on hand but I’ll write out the basic size guidelines below:
10 gallon (only suitable as a quarantine/hospital tank and not suitable for longterm housing)
40 gallon (2 goldfish) < This is the minimum size for two goldfish for the majority or entirety of their life.
50 gallon (3 goldfish)
55 gallon (3-4 goldfish depending on the size of the fish and how often you do waterchanges/your filtration/etc)
60 goldfish (4-5 goldfish)
and you see the trend. The reason why I’m not including 20-30gallon tanks is that they are not suitable long term housing, most fish will outgrow them within mere months with proper feeding and filtration. During the DPG sale it would be a waste of your money and time to set up a 20gal only to find that in two months your fish are cramped again and your waterquality is degrading faster. Take it from someone who has grown out tons of goldfish. You’ll thank yourself by starting off with the proper size setup.
I had two in a 60 and that was more than enough haha.
My power has been out for over 24 hours, but these guys look incredible under a flashlight.
I have some tips! This isn’t aimed specifically at you, goldfishe but as a general info sort of thing.
Get a Car Battery Charger with an AC adaptor. They’re like $50 which can be a bit expensive, but the battery lasts a little while when it’s charge and used for running a filter. It’s actual use is to jump-start a car and the AC adaptor is useful to charge phones in case of an emergency.
Keep jugs of treated water basically get 1 gallon jugs of water and store them somewhere for quick changes just in case. [I have a storage area under my tank that I use]. It makes water changes quicker that I can replace some or most of the water without walking back and forth to a sink or using a hose. This also helps if you have to leave for a long period of time and need someone to do a water change for you [like “use this item to remove water from the tank and fill with these jugs” I tend to tell people to use a cup into a bucket].
I just woke up so that’s all the brain energy I have! Your fish look beautiful under the flashlight Goldfishe sorry for hijacking your post.
Thank you for hijacking this post. This is some great information! I’m going to go see if I can find one of those battery chargers ASAP. 🙂
So someone in a group asked me to tell them why I hate the ocean sunfish so much, and apparently it was ~too mean~ and was deleted. To perpetuate the truth and stand up for ethical journalism, I’m posting it here. [Rated NC-17 for language.]
Disclaimer, I care about marine life more than I care about anything else, for real. Except this big dumb idiot. And it’s not like an ~ironic~ thing, I mean it IS hilarious to me and they ARE THE BIGGEST JOKE PLAYED ON EARTH but I seriously fucking hate them.
THE MOLA MOLA FISH (OR OCEAN SUNFISH)
They are the world’s largest boney fish, weighing up to 5,000 pounds. And since they have very little girth, that just makes them these absolutely giant fucking dinner plates that God must have accidentally dropped while washing dishes one day and shrugged his shoulders at because no one could have imagined this would happen. AND WITH NO PURPOSE. EVERY POUND OF THAT IS A WASTED POUND AND EVERY FOOT OF IT (10 FT BY 14 FT) IS WASTED SPACE.
They are so completely useless that scientists even debate about how they move. They have little control other than some minor wiggling. Some say they must just push water out of their mouths for direction (?????). They COULD use their back fin EXCEPT GUESS WHAT IT DOESNT FUCKING GROW. It just continually folds in on itself, so the freaking cells are being made, this piece of floating garbage just doesn’t put them where they need to fucking go.
So they don’t have swim bladders. You know, the one thing that every fish has to make sure it doesn’t just sink to the bottom of the ocean when they stop moving and can stay the right side up. This creature. That can barely move to begin with. Can never stop its continuous tour of idiocy across the ocean or it’ll fucking sink. EXCEPT. EXCEPT. When they get stuck on top of the water! Which happens frequently! Because without the whole swim bladder thing, if the ocean pushes over THE THINNEST BUT LARGEST MOST TOPPLE-ABLE FISH ON THE PLANET, shit outta luck! There is no creature on this earth that needs a swim bladder more than this spit in the face of nature, AND YET. Some scientists have speculated that when they do that, they are absorbing energy from the sun because no one fucking knows how they manage to get any real energy to begin with. So they need the sun I guess. But good news, when they end up stuck like that, it gives birds a chance to land on their goddamn island of a body and eat the bugs and parasites out of its skin because it’s basically a slowly migrating cesspool. Pros and cons.
“If they are so huge, they must at least be decent predators.” No. No. The most dangerous thing about them is, as you may have guessed, their stupidity. They have caused the death of one person before. Because it jumped onto a boat. On a human. And in 2005 it decided to relive its mighty glory days and do it again, this time landing on a four-year-old boy. Luckily Byron sustained no injuries. Way to go, fish. Great job.
They mostly only eat jellyfish because of course they do, they could only eat something that has no brain and a possibility of drifting into their mouths I guess. Everything they do eat has almost zero nutritional value and because it’s so stupidly fucking big, it has to eat a ton of the almost no nutritional value stuff to stay alive. Dumb. See that ridiculous open mouth? (This is actually why this is my favorite picture of one, and I have had it saved to my phone for three years) “Oh no! What could have happened! How could this be!” Do not let that expression fool you, they just don’t have the goddamn ability to close their mouths because their teeth are fused together, and ya know what, it is good it floats around with such a clueless expression on its face, because it is in fact clueless as all fuck.
They do SOMETIMES get eaten though. BUT HARDLY. No animal truly uses them as a food source, but instead (which has lead us to said photo) will usually just maim the fuck out of them for kicks. Seals have been seen playing with their fins like frisbees. Probably the most useful thing to ever come from them.
“Wow, you raise some good points here, this fish truly is proof that God has abandoned us.” Yes, thank you. “But if they’re so bad at literally everything, why haven’t they gone extinct.” Great question.
BECAUSE THIS THING IS SO WORTHLESS IT DOESNT REALIZE IT SHOULD NOT EXIST. IT IS SO UNAWARE OF LITERALLY FUCKING EVERYTHING THAT IT DOESNT REALIZE THAT IT’S DOING MAYBE THE WORST FUCKING JOB OF BEING A FISH, OR DEBATABLY THE WORST JOB OF BEING A CLUSTER OF CELLS THAN ANY OTHER CLUSTER OF CELLS. SO WHAT DOES IT DO? IT LAYS THE MOST EGGS OUT OF EVERYTHING. Besides some bugs, there are some ants and stuff that’ll lay more. IT WILL LAY 300 MILLION EGGS AT ONE TIME. 300,000,000. IT SURVIVES BECAUSE IT WOULD BE STATISTICALLY IMPROBABLE, DARE I SAY IMPOSSIBLE, THAT THERE WOULDNT BE AT LEAST ONE OF THOSE 300,000,000 (that is EACH time they lay eggs) LEFT SURVIVING AT THE END OF THE DAY.
And this concludes why I hate the fuck out of this complete failure of evolution, the Ocean Sunfish. If I ever see one, I will throw rocks at it.
LIVE OCEAN SUNFISH UPDATE: FISH DISCOVERED TO BE MORE DUMB THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT
So
the top and bottom fins kind of wiggle all of the time and they are not
sure exactly why but think it’s stabilization. BUT they can jump by
turning on their side and using them as
wing type things. It is suspected they do this as a way of “scratching”
their parasite ridden bodies. So learning that I was like “huh okay they
have a skill.”
Then I discovered this: Since they
are so terrible at swimming, the current will carry them into deep cold
water. Then they die. So I have learned that they are so stupid they
just get slowly consumed by a freezing death. All while they have the
full ability for that to not happen. Because they’re fucking worthless
floating garbage
i read this out loud to my marine bio nerd friend and she agrees
They’re trying their best, and that’s all that matters
lovingdread 