Tetra Set Up

Question
I am in the process of dividing some of my fish from a 29 gallon tank into a 10 gallon tank. I set up a 29 gallon aquarium about 4 months ago. In the tank I have a one foot block that releases bubbles, and three pieces of petrified wood, and small round gravel. In the filter I added a bag that is suppose to remove ammonia from the water. My filter is apart of the hood and the water exits from two seperate small spouts giving a waterfall effect. I syphone the gravel once a week. I let the aquarium run about three days before adding (2) 4in fancy goldfish, (4) 1 in" black skirt tetras, (4) 1 in" balloon mollies (one died almost immediately after being trapped in the leaves of an artificial plant that I removed) (3) baby live beares and (2) 2" horse faced loaches and a pleco over about a months time. They have done great. They eat tropical flake, and blood worms and brine about every other day. Currently my pH is about 7.4 and my hanging test says that my ammonia level is "ideal." I add "Prime" to my tank when adding tap water during water changes. I also add "cycle" in hopes of keeping my ammonia down. I have a strong current in my tank. I was thinking about seperating my tetras and now 1/2 inch live beares into a 10 gallon aquarium and adding bleeding heart tetras, diamond tetras, and serpae tetras. What is the appropriate number of fish for this size aquarium. Also what is a good filter to get for them? My other question is.. I know it sounds like a weird mix but can blood parrots and my current fancy gold fish be placed in the same aquarium with my mollies and loaches? Or is there another combination I can try with the fish I already have... I really would like to get a pair of blood parrots. Also are tri colored sharks aggressive and can they co exist with any of my current fish? And finally what kind of water current should I set up in my aquarium?
Thanks
amanda

Answer
Dear Amanda,
Goldfish and tropical fish really don't mix well together. Not only do goldfish produce far too much waste and bioload for the aquarium, but they need plenty of space and require cool water temperatures. While Tropical fish need an aquarium heater to keep the water warm.
Goldfish can also grow to a large size and actually it would be best if for your current two Fancy goldfish to have the 29gallon just to themselves.
Two goldfish is just about as much as a 29gallon can handle.

You could certainly add the tetras and livebearers to your 10-gallon without any problem. You mentioned adding Bleeding Heart tetras, Diamond Tetras, and Serpae tetras? Is this for the 10-gallon or the 29gallon? Adding all these fish to your 10gal would really be overstocking it especially since these tetras must be in schools. Now there is really no hard rule for how many fish you can keep in your 10gallon. But it's best to try to limit the bioload (amount of waste produced) to a minimum. Something like for example- a school of 6-7 small fish like Neon tetras or Rasboras with 4 small Cory catfish and something like a dwarf gourami should be fine. As long as you maintain the water quality with frequent partial water changes. This is just an example and just try to keep stocking levels to a minimum if you can.

The Parrot cichlids are beautiful hybrid fish. I currently have one whose body size is bigger around than the palm of your hand. So they generally need a large aquarium. And since they are tropical, goldfish really can't mix. Parrot cichlids can generally go with most medium sized docile fish but small fish will be eaten. A pair of red parrots should be able to live in your 29gallon but you'll have to be sure to keep the stocking density of the other fish low and moderate. With time, parrot cichlids can grow larger and require an even bigger aquarium, so please keep that in mind Something like a 55gal would do well.

Tri-colored sharks (I hope you mean the Bala Sharks) also are fish that grow large (10" inches or more) and require a very big aquarium (at least a 6 foot long tank) when full grown. Although they aren't aggressive. Tricolored sharks should be in a small group. If you are talking about another kind of shark please let me know. To help confirm that I am talking about the right fish here is a link to a picture of the Bala shark-
"http://www.aquahobby.com/mbala.html"

The best kind of filter I have found is the hang-on-the-back type power filter (Sometimes called HOB filter) such brands such as Emperor or Regent brand work well, but most all brands do a great job at filtering and oxygenating the water.

I really hope this helps!
Karen~