10 gallon too small?

Creighton · Post by **Creighton** » 23 Jan 2006, 07:07

Hello,
I plan to keep 3 gold-nuggett's [i am told this variation only gets to be 5 in (came from 5D tropical)], 3 royal farowella's, and 1 royal panaque in a 10 gallon aquarium only for 1.5 months at most. These fish will only be about 2inches each when i recieve them. I was wondering if you guys/girls thought that there would be problems with aggression,food competition,growth stunting, overcrowding, or even a possibly outgrowing such a small aquarium in this short time.
Thanks,
Creighton

Post by **Janne** » 23 Jan 2006, 11:30

I am sure that is to small to keep them even in so short time as 1,5 month...maybe 1-2 days.
They are all sensitive until they have settle in and they will also be stressed going in such a little tank with now possibilitys to hide from each other. Every species of Gold nuggets will grow to a size of at least 8", maybe the three "Royal Farowellas" could be kept for a month in a 10 gallon but not all these together.
You will end up with dead fishes and regret that you put them together, at least 25 gallon is needed and even then they need lots of care for the first month.

Janne

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 23 Jan 2006, 13:02

I don't think outgrowing in that time is a problem, but 6 fish of around 2 inches each, which all require bottom space territory in a 10 gallon tank is by far too much. 6 two inch Corydoras would be fine, since they are happier together than separately...

I wouldn't worry about the max size of the Gold nuggets, as the max size of the Royal Panaque will outgrow any of the species you've listed by several inches (they reach 16-18" in size, albeit rather slowly).

As an aside, if you do keep these 6 fishes in the same tank, you'll have a struggle to make sure they get the right food...

You need a bigger tank...

--
Mats

Creighton · Post by **Creighton** » 23 Jan 2006, 22:22

Ooookay....thats what I feared. Well the fish are coming in tomorrow from the LFS so maybe i'll just ask the guy to hold some while i get a bigger tank set up. I'm so sad...but at least i'll have live fishes. In your oppinion what is the best food to feed small "royal farowella"'s and gold nuggets?

Though the 10 gal is to small i just need to hold them over until i can transfer them into a 120gal planted tank, but I have a 40 gallon tank setup with tetras,corries,and dwarf ciclids on which I was planning on adding the plecos, but i recently discovered that my Oscars have HITH and I added a baby comon pleco from the infected 120gal tank to the 40gallon tank, which contaminated the whole tank!!!

Also,
...I eventually want to keep discus in the 120gal and they are HIGHLY suceptable to HITH when they are juveniles so i can't add them to the 40gallon, and rather than kill all my tetras I borrowed a 10gal from the LFS to try to house the pleco's until I can get the 120gal up and running.

And now the question... What do you think about the possiblity of HITH (which from what i've read is a parasite that lives in the intestne and is spread through fish feces) traveling from my possibly infected pleco to the rest of the fish in that 40gal tank.
Sorry for typing so much.

p.s
the "gold nugget" may not be a gold nugget at all, and its coming from the 5D facility in flordia. I have no idea of what their version of a "gold nugget"

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 24 Jan 2006, 11:04

Surely the LFS will be happy to keep your fish for a while, whilst you sort out your tanks.

Royal farlowella would be best fed on vegetables.
Gold nuggets are omnivores, so need a mix of vegetables and more meaty products. For a short term, you may be able to feed only vegetables.

Panaque's need wood as well as vegetables in their diet.

As far as I'm aware, HITH is caused by a parasite - not sure how it spreads. But generally, the fish will be resistant to attacks, except when stressed. Certain types of fish are more sensitive than others... Clean water will help...

Gold nuggets aren't farmed, so whether they are imported to florida or somewhere else will not make much difference. They all come from around Altamira in Brazil. The three distinct varieties are around 50 miles apart. See the Catfish of the Month article linked by .

--
Mats

Creighton · Post by **Creighton** » 24 Jan 2006, 16:37

Thanks.
I've got frozen bloodworms to feed the GN and some sweet potatoe's and zuchinni to feed the Royal Farowella's so hopefully that will work well.
Hopefully I can set up a larger tank soon to house these fish.
Creighton.

Phathead6669 · Post by **Phathead6669** » 24 Jan 2006, 17:48

Surely the LFS will be happy to keep your fish for a while, whilst you sort out your tanks.

and if they don't it shows they care more for the money than the fish and I would not return to the store.

Creighton · Post by **Creighton** » 25 Jan 2006, 08:19

Hey!
Today I went down to the LFS and go a job and some pleco's. I come in once a week and clean the tanks and in return i recieve an employee discount plus min wage. So far its saved me alot of money. Anyways... I bought 1 royal panaque and 1gold nuggett, but held off on the Royal Farowella's. I placed the Panaque and Gold Nugget in the 10gallon for the time being. I also purchased a 30gal that is instantly cycled thanks to the Pet Supermarket manager who gave me 2 seeded sponge filters, so tomorrow I can go get some substrate hopefully from the LFS for free!!!

But... the Royal Panaque and Gold Nugget are not really eating. I placed some frozen bloodworms and brine shrimp along with a peice of Zuikini and algae wafers into the tank and they haven't touched a thing(Though the gold nuggett was nibbling on a banana plant that i added, but not eating). They both appear to be in good health,but neither have pooped yet. Should I wait a few weeks to let them settle into the 10gal and let them begin to feed well or should I move them immediatly move them to the 30gal when it is ready? Does it normally take these fish a few days to settle in?

Tank Parameters: 10gallon
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: haven't tested
Temp: 77â??F
Decoration/plants: 2 small peices of driftwood, 1 random bannana plant, and a few bunches of hornwort
Filtration: 1Xsponge filter, Small cascade in tank filter.
Thanks,
Creighton

MatsP · Post by **MatsP** » 25 Jan 2006, 10:01

Two things I think of immediately:
1. Gold nugget will want to hide somewhere. A cave made from some rock, e.g. slate, or terracotta plant pot/saucer(or bits thereof).

2. Fish that has been moved recently usually do not eat. Give them a couple of days. You may want to also search this forum for "not feeding", as it's a fairly common question. Keep feeding, but remove any uneaten food. And keep a close eye on your water condition - nitrate, nitrite and ammonia.

3. Check the tummy on the fish - if it's quite sunken in, you're likely to have a battle on your hands. If it's slightly bulging, it's fine. If it's much bulging, it's another bad sign.

Whether you move those fish now or in a few weeks probably won't make much difference - but it's perhaps easier to observe them in the smaller tank.

--
Mats

Taratron · Post by **Taratron** » 29 Jan 2006, 13:02

Something about HITH, though admittedly with a marine blue angelfish, which is nowhere near that similar to a freshwater oscar...but what are you feeding your oscars? Hikari pellets, goldfish, shrimp, what?

Our blue angel had HITH, and once we added some smaller tankmates to school around her, the HITH went away. However, her HITH never got beyond her eyes, and the pits were never very deep. Her lateral line was never touched. I think this could be, in addition to the extra water changes we did, due to her diet of NLS pellets.

(No, I do not work for Pablo Tepoot, but I've never had any problems keeping fish alive on NLS in the short two years I have used the food.)