10 gal aquarium-thinking of getting platies-how many?

Question

and also what other fish live well with platies? how many fish max should i have in this size aquarium? aso.--heater and light-are they the same thing?--im new to fish.thanks.

Answer 1

5-8 Platties in a well filtered aquarium.
Or a mix of Tetras (such as glo-lite, Von Rio), zebra danios, white clouds, platies.
Platties prefer a higher pH of 7.5+ and even more important platties need a kH of 160 ppm (80 ppm minimum), Wonder shells help here, so does arogonite- Do Not Use Baking Soda (unfortunately this is still popular with aquarists who have not done their homework)

Here is more basics:

Filters:
I always recommend two filters minimum per aquarium for redundancy and for improved biological (denitrifying) filtration. For a small aquarium, a combination of a hang on the back (power) and a sponge filter. Or a sponge filter and an internal power filter. You want to make sure and rinse your sponge or cartridge out in used aquarium water to maintain your beneficial bacteria for bio filtration. Another note about the HOB filter is that they are far more efficient as bio filters if used with a sponge pre filter such a filter max.

There are four types of filtration:
Biological; the removal of nitrogenous waste (ammonia, ECT), which is the most important type.
Mechanical; the removal of larger debris (organic and inorganic) before it can go through the nitrogen cycle (organic)
Chemical; The removal of chemical contamination via carbon, zeolite or many other products. This becomes less important in a healthy, established aquarium.
Germacidal; The use of UVC or ozone to kill disease pathogens and control the Redox potential.


Heater:
Most tropical fish do well at a temperature between 76 and 80 degrees Fahrenheit. (Discus prefer warmer).
I recommend 25 watts for every 10 degrees of ambient temperature you need to raise your aquarium temperature. EX: If your home is 68 degrees and you have a 40 gallon aquarium, to reach a temperature of 78 degrees you would need a 100 watt heater.
A light does not pass for a heater, you cannot leave your light on 24/7 (an exception would be an Infrared reptile lamp, which are great for bettas)

Cycling:
Your aquarium will not be at peak biological filtration for 6 weeks (or more). To start your biological filtration, there are many cycling products available, such “Cycle” by Hagen. My success with these products is mixed at best, it is very difficult for the aerobic bacteria that are needed for cycling your aquarium to live in a sealed container kept at room temperature, as they die very quickly without oxygen.
I prefer to add gravel and/or used filter sponge or cartridge from another aquarium.
This method of adding media is much faster (you still have to take it slow), and provides all the necessary bacteria, the only negative is adding disease pathogens to your aquarium, but I have rarely encountered this problem.
If you add plants (many such as hornwort remove nitrogenous waste), you can stock somewhat faster as the plants will remove ammonia too.
We used this method for our Aquarium Maintenance route for years and never lost a fish to Ammonia or nitrite poisoning.

Another method is fishless cycling where un-scented ammonia is poured into the aquarium (3-5 drops per gallon pure ammonia) so as to bring your ammonia level to 4-5 ppm. Then it takes about 3-8 weeks for the aquarium to cycle. Although this method is growing in popularity, I do not recommend it, not because it does not work (it does), but because human nature is to want to add fish sooner than the 3-8 weeks it takes for this method.
The method of adding media is much faster (you still have to take it slow), and provides all the necessary bacteria, the only negative is adding disease pathogens to your aquarium, but I have rarely encountered this problem.


Cycling is what is referred to as the Nitrogen cycle. Waste (nitrogenous) from the fish is broken down first from ammonia (NH3, the most toxic) to nitrites (NO2, less toxic) to nitrates (NO3, least toxic- but high amounts can stunt fish growth and lower disease resistance).
At a pH of 6.5, NH3 (ammonia) converts to NH4 (ammonia) which is basically non-toxic to most fish (many ammonia removing chemicals to a similar ion change, as they do NOT actually remove ammonia). If you have plants in your aquarium they will directly consume the ammonia (especially hornwort), thus rendering the NO2 (nitrite) part of the nitrogen cycle null. The danger here is if your pH climbs above 6.5 the ammonia can change to much more toxic NH3 and the aerobic bacteria needed for nitrite consumption will be sparse.

Live Plants:
Live plants are desirable in my opinion, but many artificial plants can look quite realistic when properly arranged or used in conjunction with live plants. For a beginner live plants are more difficult, but not a lot.
The benefits of live plants are they are great at nitrate removal and keep a natural balance to the aquarium, removing CO2 and adding oxygen (only during daylight). Hornwort is an excellent plant for nitrate removal (and even ammonia removal), and is relatively easy to grow. Banana plants (when available) are also a very easy plant.

Fish Acclimation:
Once you have removed your chlorine (if necessary) adjusted your temperature, checked basic water parameters (kH, pH, Ammonia), you can start with a few fish. It is best to wait at least 1-2 days for the first fish after initial set-up.
Float the bag your new fish came in for 10 minutes, then open the bag and add a small amount of water. After 5 more minutes add some more water, and continue this process for about 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, gently remove your fish without adding ANY of the bag water to your aquarium to prevent disease transfer.


Feeding:
I recommend feeding high quality fish and plant based foods. Quality ingredients include: spirulina, fish meal, FD Brine Shrimp, shrimp meal, Vitamin C & E, lobster shell.
Fish cannot digest proteins from beef well, and fish get most their energy requirements from fats. Some quality foods include: Omega, Spirulina 20, Ocean Nutrition, Hikari, Sanyu.
Feed you fish two to three times per day what they will consume in three minutes.
Feeding foods high in poor quality proteins can increase your nitrate levels, as an essential ingredient in protein is nitrogen, and if unusable by the fish, it is excreted, entering into the nitrogen cycle.

I recommend feeding what the fish will consume in 3 minutes twice per day.
But just as importantly, I recommend with pellets in particular, but even with flakes to soak your food in water for 5 minutes prior to feeding. This softens the pellet, but more importantly prevents air from being released in the digestive tract and causing gas and infections.

Cleaning:
You should try and have a schedule of changing 20% (or more) of your water every week. I recommend using a gravel vacuum, you need not remove the fish while using a gravel vacuum. Make sure the water you add back in is the same temperature and ph, and has no chlorine or chloramines.
For established aquariums you can go longer between changes, especially well planted aquariums. Use the Nitrate levels as a gauge, if your Nitrates exceed 30-40 ppm (depended on your fish tolerances), change water.

Chemistry:
Keep your ammonia level at 0, your nitrite at 0, your nitrates below 20-30, and your KH above 80 ppm. Ph of 7.5 + for platties.
Crushed Coral and/or Wonder Shells (Wonder Shells are much faster at dissolving to the desired KH) can help maintain a high pH when you desire an aquarium with a higher pH, KH, & GH, especially where tap or well water is very acidic.

Answer 2

It really depends on the size of the other fish to tell how many you can have but any docile fish will work well with the platys. You shouldn't have more than 5 or 6 in there. It is a small tank and platys usually grow to about 2-2 1/2 inches in length so you can easily overcrowd the tank but platys like to have more females in there than males. Some good tankmates are mollies, swordtails, cory cats, angels, and large tetras. Platys also do well with 1 Tbs of aquarium salt added per 5 gallons of water. You will need a heater and a light. The light will only warm the top of the water. You want the water to be between 78 and 82 degrees. Hope this helps.

Answer 3

5-7 is a safe number, but be sure to get a test kit for pH, ammonia, nitrate, ect... a heater and light are not the same thing. light's can't be controlled and won't heat evenly if they heat at all. try running the tank with just the light first though, put the thermometer closer to the bottom of the tank since the light will heat the top of the water more. monitor it for a week while you cycle it. if it's a good temp then you don't need a heater, if it fluctuates a lot then you'll want a heater.

good luck!

*edit*
the person above me makes a good point, they do reproduce quickly, but pet stores are usually happy to take fish for free. you'll want enough for a school though, and I wouldn't recommend more than one male. so maybe try 1 male and 3 or 4 females.

Answer 4

First, a heater and a light are two very different things.

Please join www.aquahobby.com and learn a bit before getting fish. They will thank you!

Your tank will need to be cycled--there is an article on the web page that will tell you how to do it.

I would only start with 2 males and 2 females, they are likely going to reproduce a lot, so you are going to max out this small tank really fast. Start thinking of what you will do with the extra baby fish.

Alsom people will tell you "one inch of fish per gallon" but this rule is garbage, it does no account for many things regarding particular fish and is not a good rule to follow.

Answer 5

Honestly I'd avoid tanks smaller than 29-30 gallons. They are harder to keep. (More water volume the slower changes in temp, water chem, and the like.) In a tank like that you could keep maybe 10 slim bodied fish like platies. The key is to not stock it all at once. In a tank this small ammonia build up will be lethal quickly. Try cycling the tank for at least 2 week, or only adding one fish per week, and watching your ammonia levels closely.

In a tank this small I'd stick to platy, swordtail, and guppy. Molly simply aren't hardy enough.

Answer 6

adding to what some have said...when you get fish, especially livebearers make sure you have at least 2 females for every male...also aquariums 29 gallons and up are much easier to take care of..i had a 10 for the last month...just set up a 40L....fish are doing much better and water quality has improved a great deal in the larger tank.....

had a 100 gallon 20 yrs ago....will never go back to a small one again

do alot of research before beginning.....also it is very wise to set your tank up with everything except fish for a week or so..especially helpful in getting the thermostat set at correct temp for the fish...i have mollie, platties, neon tetras, cory's, and 2 other types i dont know what they are but i keep my temp at 75...to high a temp can cause ick which is deadly if not treated at first signs...ick looks like white spots on fish..some ppl call it sugar spots...looks like grain of sugar or salt and that is indication water temp is to warm

small tanks are hard to regulate the temps...i had that problem with my 10 gallon but since i set up the 40L havent had any issues with temp

do alot of research before buying any fish even if your tank is just set up and pump is running for a month or 2 before adding fish......

research....alot of reading..also advice from ppl who have experience in fresh water setups is helpful

Answer 7

5

they'll grow and have babies... you'll have an endless supply of platies for now on, if you do it right.

just search on the net for beginner's guide to fish keeping...
no.. heater is not the same as light.

Answer 8

You can put a lot of fish in a ten gallon tank if you have an airator and a good filtration system. I have had over 100 fish in ten gallons but it is more work to take care of.