I'm not sure if this is in the right spot.
After I upgrade my commet to a twenty gallon I want to put something in my 10 gallon.
I had thought and am still thinking of a male or 3-4 female bettas, but heaters can be expensive and I'm on a penny pincher's budget.

What small cold water fish could I keep in the 10 gallon?
I'd want more than one, so they'd have to be low on the waste production scale.

I was also thinking that maybe I could have two diffrent kinds of fish.

My friend has been absolutely dying for some kind of "Sucker fish" (As she so affectionately dubs plecos)
She can't keep fish, but if I got one, she would be very entertained.
Would a common pleco be alright with several small schooling fish?
Could I keep a common in a 10 gallon tank, or would he get to big?
(not to mention it would make it SO much easyer to pull her over to the Goldie side.)

So, Any Ideas?

Fresh water fish are better than anything that requires salt.

She has also been pining for an Albino Ruby Shark. Anyone ever hear of that or know how to care for one?

I'm just throwing around possiblitys.

I was also entertaining the possiblilty of keeping some kind of frog in the 10 gallon, with a secton of land, and a section of water. Buuut. I don't know.
Do frogs require warmer tempatures?
Lights?

Either way, I'm looking for a pretty hardy species.
Mom will not put up with another tank that I fuss over as much as my Commet's and is always talking about how one fish is boring.

If whatever I ended up getting spawned for me, I'd have to leave the fry to fend for themselves.
The tank would have to have a relitivly controlled population.

Just thinking, Thanks for the insight in advance.

Female bettas would be nice. You could keep five in a 10 gallon, and if your home is warm (around 70 f. in the winter), they can do well without a heater. If you decide on female bettas, try to get them from a communal tank in the pet store. They do much better if they have been living together, and add them all at the same time. This seems to work the best. I wouldn't add any other fish in a 10 gallon tank with 5 females. That would be about the limit for a 10 gallon tank. I have kept a group of female bettas in a 10 gallon tank for 2.5 years now without a heater and they have done very well.

Another possibility would be white cloud mountain minnows. You could put a nice school of those in a 10 gallon. They don't require a heater and they come in fancied up versions now. There are gold white clouds, and long finned ones. I still find the original strain very attractive, though. They remain small and you could put about 8 in your tank without problem.

As for a sucker type fish, I wouldn't go with a common pleco since they get too large. A bristlenose would be OK, but even those can sometime get to five inches. You could try hillstream loaches. They do best in a group of three and remain very small. They like very clean water with some current. Also, they need algae, so it is best to not introduce them into a new tank. After a bit, they will start eating commercial fish food, but because they are wild caught, they don't recognise it as food when you first get them. I currently have three that I have had for a few years and they love ProGold goldfish pellets now, but it took them a couple of months to start feeding on them. Now they are out there with the goldfish waiting for the ProGold

Just a few suggestions, and please feel free to ask questions.

My tank, depending on how warm the water I do the changes with, sits around 70-74 degrees.
Even several days after. I don't know exactly why, but I think it has to do waters specific heat, and the warmth of my house.

So I could keep Female Bettas in there?

She likes the idea of a pleco with whiskers, and says that 5 inches is still very big.

Do Bettas and bristle nose or rubber pleco's mix?

I'm still saving for a 20 gallon and a smaller filter for the 10 gallon's inhabitants.
I plan on using my penguin 100 bio wheel and my regent on the 20 gallon.

With 5 female Bettas, what would be my filtration requirement?

Would one male Betta mix with the White Clouds?

My friend is dearly intent on getting a "suckerfish" and likes the "dumbfounded" look of the Rubber Nose plecos.

Rubbernoses are smaller than bristles. What about putting the pleco in with the goldfish in the 20 gallon tank? I have never kept pleco type fish with my female bettas, but you could try and if it didn't work, move the pleco to the goldfish tank.

The tank temperature of 70-74 f. sounds great for female bettas. As I mentioned, I have been keeping mine for 2.5 years in a tank at room temperature and they are doing fabulously.

Your filtration requirement for the 10 gallon with female bettas would be a small hob filter such as a AquaClear mini or a small Penquin. Bettas are not messy fish and any small filter rated for a 10 gallon tank would do.

I have kept male bettas with white clouds and they got along fine. It mainly depends on the personality of the male betta. Some don't like any company at all, but mainly I have found that they are OK with fish like white clouds. Just be sure NOT to get the long-finned variety if you plan to keep them with a male betta. The regular or gold ones with short fins would be the ones to try.

Also, remember when you start up a new filter for the 10 gallon, to use media from your established filter to kick start the cycle. I have done this many times and my tank has been cycled immediately.

Please feel free to ask more questions if you want

You have a point there, the rubber nose with the Commet.
Thing is however, My fish is a Commet, and I hear those need 20 gallons each. Or is that mainly a space requirement because they get big and swim fast?

I think, that If I could find them, a few betta girls will be my option.
About the very desired pleco though..
I'll tinker with the subject, its going to be a while before I get the 20 gallon.

What about an otocinclus? They are very small "suckerfish" and stay undertwo inches. They snack on soft green algae and brown algae, but need to be supplemented withalgae wafers. The only thing is that they do prefer slightly warmer temps and can not go into the goldfish tank because of their small size and spiny dorsal fin. It would most likely be eaten and the spike could get stuck in the goldfish's throat. If you decide on saving for a heater, you could get some african dwarf frogs. They are fully aquatic so you can keep them with small, docile fish as long as you be sure they get their share of food. Ghost shrimp create very very little ammonia and will do fine in a coldwater tank, but I'm not sure how those bettas would treat them...

I think you would be OK keeping a rubbernose with the comet in a 20 gallon. With a good regimen of water changes and filter maintenance, I think it would be fine.


Kissy is giving you some other options, too. Choices, choices

I'm good about water changes.
The are easyer now that I've gotten the hang of it all.
I change according to my Ammonia, nitrate and nitrite readings.
Weekly if eveything is fine, but that has yet to happen. (I'm not cycled yet)
Unfortunately, I have no gravle vacume.
Buuut, I've got just a sprinking of gravle for my baby to play with.
I can stirr it up and little to no yuck comes up.

I almost compleatly forgot the UGF that came with the tank!
Could I use that for the female bettas?
What about the other kinds of fish?

Somehow i think the idea of frogs would absolutely gross out my mom, and or glue my brother to the tank.

Rubber nose plecos will generaly eat the waffers, right?
I've trained my commet to be hand fed, and could feed him while dropping the waffer so no stealing would occur.
Could I teach betta, or white clouds or even frogs to be hand fed?
Some how I doubt it, but what about the plecos?

Hand feeding ensures that no yuck sinks into the gravle, and since I would have to remove the gravle to get it all out, thats good thing.

The otocinclus are hansom little guys. Could I put them with bettas, or are they a go with only more.. timid fish?

For my "sucker fish" I'd want to premote the growth of some algae. Just how would I acomplish that without turning my water green or covering up all of my glass?

I just read in another post that Pleco's like peas?
I experimented feeding my commet a pea yesterday, and he took the mangled pea inards from my fingers just like flake food.
It took him a bit to chew, so next time the cuts will be smaller, but he didn't reject it or anything.

Most plecos will need real driftwood to munch on to keep healthy. Sometimes it can mess with the pH in your tank and cause trouble if you are not careful. Otos are actually considered catfish I think, and do not need driftwood. They are compatible with most docile small fish, and I think they'd be okay with a betta. Of course you can hand feed your fish! In my tropical (heated) tank, I have black neon tetras and ghost shrimp. I've got a couple otos in qt that are ready for the tank and soon I will have a honey gourami. The otos are very skiddish and afraid of me, but the tetras are sharks when it comes to food. They will jump and bite my fingers while feeding and they make sure no crumbs are left over. I also hand fed my shrimp last night ^^ I think most fish can learn to be hand fed, but some take more time and patience than others. Plecos and catfish are more grazer types and may not take the food from you.

Have you seen cory catfish? They stay 2-3" and like small schools. They will clean up any missed crumbs in the tank along with their designated food. Some varieties, like peppered, bronze, and albino will be comfortable in cooler waters and most of the time do not need a heater. Unlike other fish, you can mix and match different types of cories for a school.

A school of danios might be another cool-water option....but I think they may need more room to swim than a 10 gallon allows because they are very active.