Hellooo, I just have a few questions. I've got a spare 35 litre tank (which I think is just under 10 gallons?). I've had goldfish for a while but thought I'd venture to tropicals for a small tank in my bedroom.

I've had a good look on websites for information on the following type of fish but (not surprisingly) advice does tend to be contradictory. I would appreciate it if anyone could advise on basic details for the folowing fish, in terms of compatiability, and stocking levels, temperatures etc. I would rather be understocked than overstocked from the start as it is a small tank and I've learnt my lesson from not researching goldfish needs!

My heart is set on a male blue dwarf gourami, they're so lovely. Do these need to be kept with a female, or are they ok on their own?
I also like harlequin rasboras. Would these be suitable to be kept with a dwarf gourami? I was thinking 4-6 would be a suitable number. Do they breed easily?
And of course, I could get danios, a small shoal of a few different types (I presume they would all get along ok, even though they're different species?).
I'm not sure if these or harlequins would be too darty to keep with a gourami. WOuld I be able to keep perhaps 3 harlequins and 3 danios? Or would this be too high a number?
If I could get away with it, I would maybe add an albino corydora, but I don't mind if this would be unsuitable.
Finally, someone told me yesterday that gouramis shouldb't be kept with anything but other gouramis. I don't believe this but I wouldn't be opposed to having 2 or 3 of these instead. Could I keep this amount in a 10 gallon?


I would appreciate it if anyone could advise on basic details for these fish, in terms of compatiability, and stocking levels, temperatures etc, or even better suggestany other small fish that could be suitable (but not guppies!).

Thanks!

With tropical fish the 1 inch per gallon rule is a pretty good start. Not the size when you get them but the size of your fish when full grown.
Is this tank going to have live plants? It has been my experince you can "fudge" some on the tank load if you have live plants. Not a lot but some.

No live plants for now, I've bought some tall silk ones for the gourami though.
So, the gourami will likely be around 2 inches, same with danios, so 4-5 danios, or maybe 6 harlequins?
or 4 harlequins and a cory?
Oh the choices!

I've just remembered that corys are schooling fish so scrap that idea!

i'm pretty sure some gouramis are community, and some semi-aggressive. i know that at my store we have platy's and swordtails in with the community gouramis and they seem to do great.

Dwarf Gourami's are one of the more aggressive of the gouramis, so you'll want to be careful with them -- Just watch to be sure they are not picking the other fish.... The on-line tropical fish guide that I refer to says that rasboras do well in a community tank ONLY with small or peaceful fish, so this may not be a good pairing. (http://www.popular-freshwater-tropical-fish.com/fish/rasbora_heteromorpha.htm)

Why not just do a school of five rasboras in your ten gallon tank. Add a whole bunch of green plants to make their colors pop out on the green and it will be so pretty! OR you could do a dwarf male gourami (and a female if you want) and three albino cories. There are adorable pygmy corie catfish that are really nice. They stay under an inch and you could have like five of them in a ten gallon tank with a pair of gouramis. Put in a couple of pieces of driftwood and they'll be very happy.

I wouldn't recommend the danios in a ten gallon tank. They are very fast and zippy and almost go crazy in a small tank. I had three of them in a 12 gallon tank for YEARS and felt sorry for them. They really do need larger water and bigger schools.....

Tropical Fish Hobbiest has a great article on what to put in a ten gallon tank this month. You can read it here:

http://www.tfhmagazine.com/current-issue/

That article is so useful, thanks so much!

OK, danio idea scrapped (and I've a good mind to go back to the fish store and tell off the guy that told me I could keep 5 in a 5 gallon space *horrified*)

I may abandon the gourami idea too for when I live in a bigger place and can have a larger tank for them to establish a pecking order amongst themselves.

I still do love the rasboras, would a small school of those and a small school of neon tetras work ok, like 5 of each, or would that still be overstocking?

5 harlequins to start with, and then maybe 2 or 3 corys, maybe dwarf ones, at a later date, if I think the tank can cope?

How does that sound?

Sorry for all the questions but I would rather not make a big mistake.

That sounds like a good plan. Start with the harlequins and keep on top of your water changes. Monitor the water parameters to be sure that ammonia isn't spiking. After a few weeks, add the pygmy cories. You should go with at least three of them as they like to shoal together.

Remember, with that many fish, you want to stay on top of the water changes -- 30-50% should be changed every week.....

What kind of filter is on the tank? Are you going with live plants? Freshwater tropicals are wonderful!

I have a large silk plant (that will be ideal for hiding from me whenever I go near the tank, no doubt) and two small Java ferns on some driftwood. At the moment I only have a small filter (Fluval 1) but having had goldies for nearly 2 years I always try to be on top of how the filter is performing, and water changes etc. (I am a little worried about the siphoning of such a small tank with such tiny fish in it, the goldies just headbutt the siphon and are too big to go up it, but I have visions of these little fish being terrifed out of their scales or getting sucked up!).

New fish!

My tank was ready for fish a week ago, I have had my hillstream loach in there since then. He seems fine, other than sulking a bit at first.

I have just got back from my LSF with 5 white clouds. No sick or injured fish in the tank they were in, and the guy who owns it does know his stuff about tropicals (he will NOT listen to me about goldfish stocking levels though, but that is another matter!)

Anyway, they'd been flaoting for 20 mins so I gradually let a bit of water into the bag etc for another 5 minutes before eventually releasing them.

There are two smaller ones and three a bit bigger. The two small ones seem fine, swimming around. One other is kind of hovering at mid level, seemingly struggling to swim. The two remaining ones have just gone straight to the bottom and aren't moving. Their fins aren't clamped and they are breathing.

The tank light isn't on and they are in a totally silent and shock free room.

Is this normal? Are they just in shock for some reason and will snap out of it? I really don't want to lose them already!