Freshwater peeps help please!!

I have kept black mollies in an older reef tank I had,great fish for saltwater,plus they can be great algae eaters.

I think he's gonna need a plecostomus too,right?And they need way bigger than a 10 gal. seeing that some species of them can grow to about 4ft.LOL

Get your credit card out cosmo!:yelrotflm

 

lol, this is getting dangerous. Now I'm reading up. I did love my cichlid tank back in the day.

 

I have to put my 2cents in... I'm a loach FREAK! I have 9 diff types of loaches in my FW. They are AWESOME! Fun to watch - VERY different - GREAT bottom cleaners - SO intriguing !
Look at an African Dwarf Frog & a kuhli loach (your pref), a betta, even some ghost shrimp & some little schoolies. That would all fit in a small tank no problem without having to worry about going bigger.
You'll enjoy it more with diff layers to it rather than FISH...
There's tons you can fit in a small tank as long as they all do their job!
Keep in mind - less FISH - less maint!!! Fish are poo'ers!

 

Thx my brain is screaming stay small, my reefing heart is saying bigger.

Have a feeling my brain is gonna win this. This is GOING to be my kids tank, so i should keep it smaller and simpler. Thx for the good info, I think he would like the extra critters.

 

The extra critters & the differences keep it very active & interesting!
It keeps our 10 & 7 yo's interested in helping for SURE!
There's always something going on to watch!
There are also dwarf crawfish that are VERY cool but hide alot. So many dwarfs to look into.
It helps ALOT if you let THEM pick! But give him a broader list to choose from than a betta & danios!
ENJOY!

 

Thx. Well the betta is his number 1 pick, so that has to stay. We've 2 dwarf frogs already in their little mean cube for over 2 years! so they can upgrade, and he'll dig the shrimp, then well go to a LFS and I'll steer him towards all these suggestions.

 

Kuhli loach and dwarf pleco

 

You got alot of great suggestions here,just keep in mind,it's a fun tank for your boy to call his own (with your help).So,i'd gather a few google pics of the options given,show him and let him choose.

I've heard of neon tetra disease,but had many neons over the years and i've never ran into it,plus it's not a reef,many fw fish are captive breed,so if you have a trouble maker or a floater,it's no biggie to grab him and buy/trade in on something else.Most mentioned are $2 to $5 fish.

The cory cat was a good idea,excellent bottom feeder.

Likewise with the ghost shrimp,if a few get munched,they're dirt cheap and many people buy them just for feeders,so what if your betta gets a tasty snack once in a while.I'm quite sure you frequently visit your lfs .

Happy kid=happy dad+easy on wallet.

 

If you want neon tetras to thrive, you need to make sure the wayer is soft. I kept them in hard water an they caught neon tetra desiese. Their fins rotted and they all died. The end.

Still, id go for them! There awesome fish!

 

Thats interesting.

I've lived where i'm at for quite a number of years.My incoming tds runs on average between 145 to 125,as a matter of fact,i'm making ro/di right now and my incoming is 132.Mabey having softer water/less dissolved solids and minerals is why i've never seen the disease.I've see many peoples threads where thier tds runs 350 to well over 500.Great point!