PlanetCatfish.com

Hello All, I'm new to the forum, and mostly to fish keeping in general, but here's my question:

After 4 yrs my beloved (and spoiled) pearlscale goldfish succumbed to dropsy and went to that big fishpond in the sky, now I have a sad, empty 10 gallon tank. I'm going to head off to college in the fall, and We're allowed to keep up to a 10 gal. aquarium, so I'd like to bring it with me, and I want to try my hand at something other than a solitary goldfish. I've been doing some reasearch on the good ol internet, and I think catfish (plecos, and whatnot)are just adorable, especially the upside down ones. My Question is: What are some small species of catfish that would do well in a 10 gallon tank (with all the proper filtration, etc.) I'd like to get a few small ones, or maybe one that would do well with a few other small tropicals. Any help on small species of catfish and what other small fish they would be compatible with greatly appreciated

I have a few otos and a clown pleco in my 10gal and they all seem to do fine and that tank is going with me to college too.

Are you allowed 10 gallons of water, or a 10 gallon sized aquarium?

To quote our handbook "students are not allowed to keep any pets in the dorm, with the exception of fish in an aquarium that is no larger than 10 gallons"

I would do a pair of German Blue rams with 4 Otocinculus. And 1 L260. Set the tank up with some live plants like anacharis and cabomba, some rocks, a cave and a small piece of driftwood.

There are quite a few corydora catfish that could do fine in a 10g and they are rather active and fun to watch. You could also add some other fish to that mix. I have a 5g with two panda corydora and two dwarf otocinclus. My college only let us have 5g but when I was in school I had a 10g...they did not notice but them I brought the 20g and they did notice that .

One trick to get some more water volume would be to have an external instead of internal filter. Then the volume of water IN THE TANK is still 10g, but you get another half a gallon or so in the filter, which is always a good addition, compared to the filter taking up some of the tank-space. It'll cost a little bit more than an internal filter, and you'll need some more space, of course.

Small catfish - there's plenty of them...
- Otocinclus spp. (dwarf pleco's)
- .
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- All of the Corydoras spp.

Just to give a few examples, there are LOTS more small catfish(and of course even more LARGE ones).

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Mats

A 10 gallon tank with Otocinclus species and live plants will give you exactly what you are looking for. Otos like to hang every which way, including upside down! Syno species require tanks larger than 10 gallons, I believe. Please correct me, if I'm wrong, anybody. Otos should also fit a college student's budget.

The Syno's that I quoted are amongst the smallest available, around 60mm SL, so they should go fine in a 10g tank.

However, I think Oto's are probably a better choice, if nothing else because they are compatible with just about anything that isn't big enough to eat it. And they are easy to get...

The syno's also need to be kept in a group, so they offer no big difference there. The cat-eLog doesn't say anything about eating it's tankmates, so I don't think that would be a problem.

I haven't got a clue as to availability of this particular specie of Syno's. Some of the bigger species of Synodontis will grow to over a foot in length and are suitable for 100g+ tanks, but will outgrow a 10g tank quicker than a student blows his weekly allowance on beer. [Perhaps not really, but it seemed like a fun way to express the fact that they aren't suitable for a 10g tank...]

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Mats

Thank you all so much for your help! I'm hoping to sneak a 15 gal past the Dorm Monitors ....but if they demand a 10 so be it...

If they demand 10, explain that you only actually have 10 gallons of water in the tank. That is how I got around the rule.

Synodontis contractus are very difficult to obtain. They remind me of little spacemen the way they flit around the tank. In my view contractus really are too large for a 10 gallon tank unless you are only keeping one which really doesn't make sense. They are about 3 inches in length and have some girth and are quite peaceful. Contractus ship poorly and are often emaciated when they are available. I think you are better off with Oto's in a planted tank with a few corys and tetras.
Mark