# 10 Gallon Cichlid Set-Up? Is that possible?



## okcomputer820 (Mar 3, 2009)

Someone gave me an unused 10 gallon and I'd like to do something with it. I'm a big cichlid fan, but not sure if there are any dwarf cichlid's that would even suit well for such a small tank? Is 10 gallons too small for a pair of Bolivian Rams? What would you guys recommend I could get away with without having too many brutal wars in the tank?


----------



## BRANT13 (Feb 18, 2009)

you can try looking in the coockie cutter sections....ure goin to be extremely limited by number and species most deffinately


----------



## Stellaluna (May 8, 2006)

I've tried this with shelldwellers ("desktop cichlid") but found that even mild-mannered N. brevis needed more space. The male eventually killed his mate. I transferred him to a N. leleupi tank with a new mate and they were very, very happy there with the added floor space. They require a bigger territory than you'd think.

Rams might work, though.


----------



## DiscusQueen (Jul 16, 2007)

Hi... I know you were wanting to go cichlids... but that's a very small tank.. If you don't want to just keep it as a qt tank/hospital tank.. Just a thought here...
I've seen some really beautiful 10 gallons that are homes to bettas.. A male betta and some dwarf cories or small tetras can look amazing and be a bit different. The male bettas are totally different once you get them out of that tiny "betta bowl" attrocity... They gracefully swim the entire tank and are beautiful to watch.. I've even had them in a 29 gallon with tankmates,, They are easy to care for and with the right, non fin nipping tankmates really make for an attractive tank.. Otherwise in a 10 gallon, I don't think even rams will be happy.. They need floorspace... And I don't think a simgle apisto would be very appealling... you could make it a dwarf corie tank as well.. but to each his own... Good luck with whatever you decide to do... HTH Sue


----------



## naegling23 (Jan 4, 2008)

bolivian rams might not work, but one pair of blue rams will. You could also do a smaller apisto species, or checkerboard dwarfs. Lactacara are usually peacful, so you may be able to squeeze a pair in there. I wouldnt go beyond a pair for any of them in a 10, and keep it planted so they can hide from each other. I think you can pull off a pair of smaller non-aggressive dwarfs just fine in a 10, in fact, a lot of people use 10's as breeders.


----------



## naegling23 (Jan 4, 2008)

oh, and you could add a few otto cats for cleanup, and a small school of a small body tetra, like 4-6 neons in there.

If done right, it could look really neat, the perfect kitchen tank or something like that.


----------



## gage (Feb 7, 2007)

only cichlids i recommend for a 10g are Blue Rams and Apistos.


----------



## Jack Is The Best! (Mar 18, 2009)

Hi,

You know, you most definitely can keep them in there. I kept 3 Bolivian Rams with like 9 other fish cause I have Guppies and they have babies in a tank a little bigger than 10 gallons (38 litres).

*WARNING:* Ask the person at the aquarium to feed the fish cause when I bought mine they wouldn't accept the food so you must tell them to feed it. :fish:

Hoped it helped. :thumb:


----------



## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

I personally wouldn't keep any SA cichlids in a 10 gallon tank. I'm using a 15 gallon tank as a hospital tank at the moment for my two laetacara curviceps, and from my observations, even with very good aquascaping, a female dwarf cichlid would still have a lot of trouble escaping the unwanted attention of a male.


----------



## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

> I kept 3 Bolivian Rams with like 9 other fish cause I have Guppies and they have babies in a tank a little bigger than 10 gallons


 :-? Are you kidding???


----------



## DeadFishFloating (Oct 9, 2007)

hollyfish2000 said:


> > I kept 3 Bolivian Rams with like 9 other fish cause I have Guppies and they have babies in a tank a little bigger than 10 gallons
> 
> 
> :-? Are you kidding???


I certainly hope so.

I cringed when I read that, and hopped no one would notice.


----------



## RaysFan (Mar 24, 2009)

I have 3 cichlids in a 10 gallon tank. 2 yellow lab cichlids and 1 jewel cichlid. They get along fine and I have enough hiding spots in plants and a rock. They have been eating and everything and are doing fine. I've had them for a week now.


----------



## Newbreed (Feb 23, 2009)

Dont tell anyone here that , they will bite ur head off. Yellow labs in a 10g? they yelled at me for having those in a 20 at the beginning


----------



## Stellaluna (May 8, 2006)

RaysFan said:


> I have 3 cichlids in a 10 gallon tank. 2 yellow lab cichlids and 1 jewel cichlid. They get along fine and I have enough hiding spots in plants and a rock. They have been eating and everything and are doing fine. I've had them for a week now.


That is great, and stay on top of water changes. Watch the tank and you will soon see what is meant by the above comments about this not likely to work out.


----------



## Stellaluna (May 8, 2006)

Newbreed said:


> Dont tell anyone here that , they will bite ur head off. Yellow labs in a 10g? they yelled at me for having those in a 20 at the beginning


You called it!

No biting of heads, just a caution. We've all tried things, believe me. If you watch the tank carefully you can see when things start to go south and do something about it. However, the way these fish behave, this tank is not enough room for them and they will react poorly to the circumstance. They can't be happy in a setup like that long-term.


----------



## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

> 2 yellow lab cichlids and 1 jewel cichlid. They get along fine and I have enough hiding spots in plants and a rock. They have been eating and everything and are doing fine. I've had them for a week now.


What the people on this forum are trying to say is that fish have certain needs and as responsible "fish keepers," it's important that take the time, energy and money to meet those needs for the fish -- NOT to just do what you want because that's what you want regardless of the fish.

So while your three fish can live in a 10 gallon for a short time when they are extremely small, they will outgrow that tank very, very quickly. If you do not move them into larger quarters, they will most likely hurt each other and/or get sick and die. Since that's not fair to the fish, you really should either get a bigger tank or give them away to someone who does have a bigger tank. Did you know that a yellow lab will grow up to be a 5" fish or larger??? Do you really think that size fish can live happily in a 10 gallon tank??


----------



## Jack Is The Best! (Mar 18, 2009)

hollyfish2000 said:


> > I kept 3 Bolivian Rams with like 9 other fish cause I have Guppies and they have babies in a tank a little bigger than 10 gallons
> 
> 
> :-? Are you kidding???


You might think I'm kidding but I'm not!!! Its real!


----------



## Jack Is The Best! (Mar 18, 2009)

RaysFan said:


> I have 3 cichlids in a 10 gallon tank. 2 yellow lab cichlids and 1 jewel cichlid. They get along fine and I have enough hiding spots in plants and a rock. They have been eating and everything and are doing fine. I've had them for a week now.


Hey, are your cichids grown up already???
If not, then the worst might come! One day, may be one fish will kill all the others!!!


----------



## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Wow, I have to say this thread has me depressed . . . A 10 gallon tank is too small for three Africans and too small for nine Bolivians+other fish . . .

Let's put it this way -- you could live in a closet with two other people for a long time and not die, but I don't think any of you would be particularly happy . . .


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

okcomputer820, you could probably keep a pair of German blue rams in this size tank. Other than that, you're quite limited in the cichlid world. But, those little rams are awfully cute and have loads of personality.

RaysFan, you will likely wind up with one very miserable fish. That tank is entirely too small for those 3 fish.


----------



## okcomputer820 (Mar 3, 2009)

I put mollies and emporer tetra in the 10 gallon so I wouldn't have to deal with any headaches in the future. I didn't realize this thread was still going :lol: I was thinking about those German rams Cichlidaholic, but I tried them before and they are waaaaaaaaaaaay too sensitive to everything. For now I'm keeping my 2 Bolivians with the Severum because they get along (in fact when the Rams start bickering, the Sev comes over and breaks it up...pretty comical).


----------



## cichlidaholic (Dec 7, 2005)

> For now I'm keeping my 2 Bolivians with the Severum because they get along (in fact when the Rams start bickering, the Sev comes over and breaks it up...pretty comical).


Not in the 10G, right???


----------



## okcomputer820 (Mar 3, 2009)

In the 40 gallon


----------

