Exciting fish tank

Question
I was wondering if you could tell me how many fish can you put in a 10 gal tank?

And can you recomend some brightly colored fish that can live well together?

We have a tank (Just a couple of tetras, african frogs and an algee eater now) But would like to get something colorful and exciting for our 9 month old son to watch.

Also any common myths or misconceptions that might make my tank healthier or better? Any tips would be great!

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Sonita!

Well, the answer to how many fish you can put in a tank is a tricky one. It all depends on 1.) how often will you clean the tank? 2.) what kind of filtration does the tank have? 3.) the species of fish you are putting in it.
Now most people get filters that comes with the tank in a kit sold at petstores. These are hang-on-the-back type power filters. They have worked really well in all the fish tanks I have. I believe the most important thing in keeping fish is keeping their water clean, clean, clean!
Don't listen to the all-too common statements that you only have to clean an aquarium once a month, It's not true!
Toxins build up quickly in aquariums and when you wait the 4 weeks until you change the water the poor fish are in horribly dirty water and the small 10-25% water changes that are often recommended is not enough to efficently keep the water fresh and clean. The best all-around water changing routine would be about 20% of the water siphoned out and replaced with fresh, dechlorinated water from the tap TWICE a week. Though this simply depends on what species of fish you have... Something like an fish you may have heard of called an Oscar cichlid is a large thick bodied fish that would do better with about 50% water changes once or twice a wekk due to their high bio-load to the tank.
You may have already known all of this but I just thougt I ought to let you know about it...

Now, the best little fish that does extremely well with begining fish keepers and experienced alike, comes in a huge array of bright colors, is very hardy, regularly has live little babies about once a month, and is a overall cute fish is Platies. They are just plain great fish.
A trio consisting of 2 females and 1 male would be a great choice. Chose any color you like, they come in reds, oranges, yellows, multi-colored, and even blue.
Feed them a good quality tropical flake food and perhaps a food with spirulina algae in it, and keep their water clean and warm at about 75-80 degrees fahrenheit.
Another option is Guppies-------males to be exact...
They come in a huge array of colors but I have found them to be not as hardy as Platies but when you get strong healthy ones, they are are a great fish as well. Their care is about the same with platies and if you get females, they too will have live babies about once a month. Guppies will catch any ones eye (including your Son's) because of their very active swimming behavior and big, brightly colored tails.

Well there you go, two great fish options for your tank...
I'm not sure how many creatures exactly you have in your tank at the moment. But just to be safe, Don't go past 10 creatures and even that is somewhat risky. You can make it work out by changing the water very frequently.
I think a trio of platies, about six guppies and the other fish and frogs you have would be a great combination.
Note that it's best to just have all male guppies.
Males pester females all the time unless you have about twice as many females as you do males.

I would also like to know if your tank has been established and cycled or if you have just started the tank up. If you have started it up recently then it may not have been fully cycled and it would be very risky to add a bunch of fish in it right away. Explaining about cycling a tank will be pretty long, so if you think your tank hasn't cycled
(has been up and running for less than 4 weeks) just email me again and I will clearly explain a good way to cycle your tank. But if your tank is cycled you shouldn't have anything to worry about.

To help simplify things in answering all your questions:
1.) Is your tank established and cycled (again if you don't know, just email me and I will tell you all about it)
2.) Do frequent water changes of about 20% twice a week siphoned out and replaced with fresh, dechlorinated water from the tap that is the same temperature at the tank water.
3.)Try not to go over 10 creatures in the fish tank. More frequent water changes allow you to keep more fish than usual.
4.) A small group of platies and guppies make a great combination. Make sure you buy healthy fish from a decent petstore. Check the fish in the tank you are planning on buying--A healthy fish has full fins, good color, no strange spots or growths on them, and is actively swimming.
5.)Carefully acclimate them to the aquarium, float the bag in the tank for 15 minutes, then add a small cupful of tank water to the bag and let float for about 10-15 minutes more. Then very carefully net the fish out and into the tank.

The best way to make your tank healthier is to change the water frequently, keep the tank warm with an aquarium heater, and don't overstock!

Sorry for the long, long letter but I want to give you all the info I can...I hope I helped in answering your question!

If you need anymore info, or have more questions---just email me again in 'ask a followup question' on the answer page.

Best of luck to you and your tank!

Happy fishkeeping!
Karen~