Don't Put These Fish in a 10 Gallon Aquarium!

Well everyone, this is Jason from Primetime Aquatics. If you've got a 10 gallon aquarium, you're going to want to see this. These are common fish that are often put in a 10 gallon, but long term they usually don't work. I'm going to give you some better options as well. Thank you so much for being here. Hope you enjoy the video. All right, so the first fish on my list is the Garami. Most Garamis get either way too big and or too aggressive for a 10 gallon aquarium. So if you are thinking about a Garami, like you see the Pearl Garamis here, just going to be too big. The Dwarf Garami, smaller, but often is too aggressive even though they show this really great color. Now that doesn't mean all Garamis are bad for a 10 gallon aquarium. We just have to be a little bit more thoughtful about the ones we pick. So for instance, a couple of really good examples might be the Honey Garami. This is a smaller Garami, less aggressive. In a 10 gallon, I might only put one in a 10. The other option is the Sparkling Garami. You can put a few Sparkling Garamis in a 10 gallon. They're going to stay much smaller, be much less aggressive, and they're going to be far more enjoyable in that smaller 10 gallon tank. This next one might be a little bit shocking for some, but it is the Cory Cat. Most Cory Cats, believe it or not, are going to get too large for your 10 gallon aquarium. And the reason for that is not only are they fairly big fish at around two to two and a half inches when full grown, they're taller, they're wider bodied, but you also want to keep them in groups. And so sometimes you're looking at the Panda Cory here. Sometimes these Cory Cats, they just get too big for that 10 gallon aquarium. If you've got a half a dozen of them or so swimming around the bottom of the tank, that might not look great in a 10 gallon aquarium. But once again, there are better options. One is the Pygmy Cory. This is a much smaller Cory Cat that will look fine in a 10 gallon aquarium. You can keep four to six easily in that 10 gallon. They're only going to max out at about an inch or so. And so it's a really good option. By the way, if you want more information on the fish that we are featuring in this video, check out the description below. There'll be plenty of species profiles down there for you. So you can learn a lot more about the fish and their behaviors. Also, if you want more 10 gallon stocking options ideas, check out the video in the upper right hand corner. I will put it in the description as well. Now, this is a question we get quite often. That is, can you put mollies in a 10 gallon aquarium? And for that, I would say no. One, because the mollies get too big. And two, because sometimes they can be prone to aggression, especially with males chasing females around and males being aggressive towards other males. And so I would stay away from mollies in a 10 gallon aquarium. I just think it's too small. I would prefer to have at least a 29 gallon, if not a larger tank. The sail fin mollies get even larger. Now, if you really like the live bears, there are better options. One would be the Endler. This is a great fish, full of color, full of personality. It's a live bear, something that you can breed in a 10 gallon relatively easy. And there's lots of different options when it comes to the Endlers. And so this would be a really good option because of their size. They are a very active fish. So keep that in mind. The other option that you have, of course, is the Guppy. And Guppies are fantastic. Again, it's going to stay a little bit smaller. We've done lots and lots of 10 gallon Guppy tanks in the past. Best with both the Endlers and the Guppies. For every male that you have, I would have at least three or four females. That way, if the males want to breed, they have lots of options and it's not going to stress out the females, especially in that smaller volume of 10 gallon aquarium. Next up on the list are barbs. Most of the barbs are not going to do well in a 10 gallon aquarium. They just get too big. You need to keep them in groups of at least six or more, but ideally in groups of 10 or more. And so things like the Emerald Tiger barb that you're seeing here, or the Standard, the Melon barbs, Snakeskin barbs, these are fish that just get too big and require too large of a group to comfortably keep in a 10 gallon aquarium. Usually there are going to be problems when people try. The better option, if you like barbs, is the Cherry barb. This is a much smaller fish. Again, going to max out right around an inch to an inch and a quarter. Awesome color as you're seeing here. And not only that, they're not going to be super aggressive and you can keep a group of six or eight. They're not going to be super aggressive towards one another and usually not overly aggressive towards other fish. There's albino versions and long fin versions. Another common fish you keep in a 10 gallon is most of the Tetras. And I actually don't think a lot of the Tetras are great options. Here you're looking at the Red Cherry Tetra. This is a great fish in a 20 gallon. But if you keep some of your medium size Tetras in a 10 gallon, again, you want to keep them in large groups of a minimum of at least six, but usually eight, 10, 12, or 15 or more is going to be really awesome. Even some of the Neons when full grown get a little bit too large. Better options, the Ember Tetra is a really nice option. This is a fish that's going to max out at about an inch. And so if you keep eight to 10 in a 12 in a 10 gallon, that is going to be, it's going to look nice. It's not going to be overly crowded. If you like the schooling behavior of the Tetra, the other option is take a look at some of the Raspboras. These are also really great fish. Here you're looking at the Rummy Nose Raspbora. You've got the Chili's, the Dwarfs, the Emeralds, the Celestial Pearl Daniel, otherwise known as the Galaxy Raspbora. These are going to be much smaller, still give you that schooling behavior, not as aggressive, not as finnipious as some of the medium sized Tetras. And proportionally, it's just going to look a lot nicer in that 10 gallon aquarium. Next one to consider are Plecos. Most Plecos are going to get too large for a 10 gallon. This Clown Pleco might work okay, but most others just get too big, create too much of a mess, and it just doesn't work. Even the smaller Bristlenose, better option if you're looking for that algae eating organism, Mystery Snails. Mystery Snails can be a great option for that 10 gallon aquarium. This was a 20 long breeding Mystery Snail tank, worked out great, but they will do wonderful in a 10 gallon. Put three or four in there. They provide a different amount of, different kind of interest in the tank. They're usually pretty silly, fun to watch, but that would be a really solid option for your 10 gallon. Last one, and that's Cichlids. Most Cichlids, even the smaller Cichlids, are going to be too territorial for a 10 gallon tank. Here, you're looking at various types of Rams, but even the Shell Dwellers that max out right around an inch to an inch and a quarter. Once they start breeding, they start becoming more territorial. If any of these fish start to breed, just 10 gallons is not enough of a footprint for most Cichlids. They're going to probably start chasing fish around. Does it work sometimes with some of the smaller Cichlids? Maybe. It's just not a chance I'm willing to take in a 10 gallon. I prefer at least a 20 for the smaller nano type Cichlids like you're seeing here, but Cichlids overall, it's probably not a good idea. Would love to hear from you. What were some of the fish that you kept in a 10 gallon aquarium that just didn't work out that well? Or some fish that worked out great? Put that down in the comment section below. Once again, if you want more information on some of the fish featured here, check out the description. We'll have lots of species profiles for you there. Really appreciate you being here. We'll see you in the next one.