Predator fish for a 10 gallon aquarium
- Thread starter Benthebassmaster
- Start date
I thought avocados need a lot of space and very high flow because they are extremely active.
Avocados yes are very active but you probly gonna max out at 3.5 inches if u lucky so you can even put a pair in there
In reality every fish that isn’t a herbivore is a predator of some sort. Small tetras would eat small fry or small bugs. I agree with the betta option and minnows, you could feed them live daphnia to watch them hunt.
yes they can get to 4.5” are extremely active need high flow and youd have to be pretty irresponsible to cram them into a 10 gallon. youd have to have high enough flow so that they are constantly fighting the current to avoid relentless glass surfing in such a small tank. they’re notorious for frantically surfing the glass. i think most puffer keepers agree that even a 2” puffer species from slow water needs a 20 gal let alone a pufferfish fish double that coming from fast waters. 20 gal long recommended minimum and i really wouldnt do anything below 40 breeder. i had one in a 30 gallon when i was younger and im not sure it ever left the glass.
4.5 inches is rare ......really rare ...I kept 3 in a 240 gallon for year and and they barely hit 3.5 inches.....I agree 10 gallon is small but as far as options a 2 inch fish is not bad at all
for a long time i thought a small fish could be kept in a small tank because it was proportional to something like an oscar in a 100 gallon but i learned this is not the case and that tank sizes cant be judged based on proportions of a fish if you put a few neon tetras in a 2.5 gallon it would be a very spacious tank based on that kind of thinking. but the neons would die of stress after about year. ive found that restricted fish tend to reach a breaking point at a certain point in time where they start to swim with their tail fin pointed down within a few weeks of this theyll likely die.
i personally think that if puffers were captive bred they could be kept in smaller tanks but theyre mostly wild caught and spend most of their lives openly swimming in a river. when puffers are put into a tank that looks spacious to us it is often obvious how unhappy they are with their small space. ive tried to put puffers in too small of tanks that i rationalized based on the size of the puffer and eventually the surfing turned into bouncing off the walls aimlessly he then died soon after. it is also my opinion that a rheophillic species require twice the tank size as another fish from calm waters their size example: pike cichlids need twice the tank size as an oscar the same size as themselves.
i assume you know this and is why you decided on a tank 24 times bigger than what youre suggesting another person put an avocado puffer in. putting an active puffer in a 10 gallon is like putting a prisoner in solitary eventually theyll have a mental breakdown its just a matter of time.
