10-Gallon Honey Gourami Tank
This 10-gallon tank was established in 2023 when I had just moved into a new apartment after graduating college. It gradually evolved into a densely planted ecosystem as I added plants and hardscape. The first inhabitants were 3 corydoras I took from my 5-gallon tank. I also added 6 guppies and eventually 2 amano shrimp as well as malaysian trumpet snails and ramshorn snails. In 2026 I moved the tank in a different direction; I transferred the guppies to my 45-gallon tank, and added a honey gourami. Right now I have the gourami, the two amano shrimp, and the snails. I plan to add a shoal of pygmy corydoras to occupy the bottom layer of the tank.
The Setup
My setup for the 10-gallon tank is pretty simple. I have a hang-on-the-back (HOB) filter which has Seachem matrix for biological filtration, a sponge for mechanical filtration, and some crushed coral to buffer pH. I also have a basic heater. The substrate is Seachem Fluorite Red. The hardscape includes some small pieces of driftwood and dragonstone.
The inhabitants, as mentioned earlier, are one honey gourami, two amano shrimp, and a bunch of malaysian trumpet snails and ramshorn snails. I keep cryptocorne wendtii, jungle valisnaria, tiger lotus, a small amazon sword, dwarf water lettuce, and anubias. I also have pothos growing with their roots submerged in the tank. It’s a low tech, no CO2 injection tank, but medium-light plants have been thriving.
Current State / Future Plans
The aquarium is currently doing well, except the amount of algae has been increasing and coating the leaves of slow growers like anubias. I did a couple of water changes which will hopefully help. The only maintenance required right now are bi-weekly water changes and managing plant growth. I remove duckweed and dwarf water lettuce and trim the jungle valisnaria. My plan is to replace the dragonstone and small pieces of driftwood with one large piece of driftwood when I find the right piece.
As I mentioned earlier, I plan to introduce a shoal of pygmy corydoras to this tank. Currently, no fish occupy the bottom layer. I want peaceful fish to occupy this space that will get along with my gourami and also be really interesting to watch behavior-wise, and this is why I chose pygmy corydoras. Other than these additions, I want to maintain good plant growth and solve the algae issue. I plan to keep this as a low-tech, medium light tank for the time being.