We have an empty 10 gallon aquarium. What pet should we get?

[jtbuko]

Kids are 5 & 7, we already have cat, dog, dwarf african frog ecosystem, and Betta fish.

In the past we have had and enjoyed pairs of rats, but are not into other rodents.

I am tempted to do reptile rather than fish, but considering guppies or something else small and tropical.

Low maintenance is a must, and fun to watch and or interact with would be good.

Favorite pet research website suggestions welcome!

[greenmagick]

Hmmm, you could do a pretty nice planted tank with a couple small fish or a betta in that tank.  Would be pretty.  Thats what I would do lol, a natural planted tank

Definitely not good to keep rodents in there anyways, and I am not really up on reptiles though I guess there would probably be some small ones that would do ok in that size aquarium:)

[Petie1104]

When I was single I had a tarantula.  He died when dss was about 3 or 4 and I haven't had the opportunity to have another one, but if I had to choose, that's what I would get.  Mine was really wonderful to interact with and would sit on my shoulder while I walked around the house doing chores or reading or just about any time I was home.  Maintenance is a piece of sponge with some water in it (no water dish as they can drown).  Feeding was once a week throwing in a few crickets. 

OK, so maybe not a tarantula, then you could get an iguana.  Higher maintenance, but definitely something you interact with.  Of course, you have to interact early and regularly to train them and space would become an issue as it grew.  Diet is difficult because you have to have a specific proportion of vitamins or they get sick. Dark greens are best, kale, collards, spinach, etc.  Throw in some melon occasionally, mine liked that.  But as I said, maintenance is a bit more intense.  UV light is a must, but must be regulated, they can die if it is left on all the time.  Warming rock with a towel over it otherwise they can get burns from it.  Mine loved going swimming in the bathtub about 2 times a week. 

Maybe a smaller reptile, but I've never owned any so I'm not sure how high maintenance they are.

[Oubliette8]

Reptile wise, Crested Geckos might do ok in that size tank. They are fairly low maintenance- they do need to eat special food (crested gecko diet or fruit baby food) but as reptiles go they are pretty easy. They can be handled, carefully, and are interesting to watch.

Anoles can also fit in a 10G. They are mostly just pets for watching, they are very fast. But, they change colors, from brown to green, and the males will display- they have a bright red throat flap they puff out. They eat crickets and meal worms.

If you wanted a rodent, the only thing you could do in a 10G is a pair of mice, or maybe some Roborovski dwarf hamsters (these are a specific dwarf species- they are tiny, not your "normal" pet store dwarfs) Both are quite fast and interesting to watch, a bit hard to handle, but can be done

I would NOT recommend an iguana. 10G is not even big enough for a small one- and then they grow to 4-6ft long!

For fish, remember the rule, 1 inch of fish per gallon of water- and thats full grown fish. So say, 7 guppies or so. It can be hard with a 10G because you can't keep many fish in them.

[jtbuko]

Thanks for the feedback. I am going to research anoles since the live feedings would be a draw for the kids.

[jtbuko]

and now I am thinking we will use it to give the african frogs we already have a better home with cool hiding places and some friends :)

[jtbuko]

UPDATE: We gave it to the frogs, and got them some snail neighbors and live plants. The kids really dig the snails (and I thought they would be boring!), and the frogs are much better off now that they have more space (I googled those little complete EcoSystems and they are BAD! BAD! Bad! I should have known better... ). We may add some neon tetras or a couple more frogs down the line, but for now they make for very cool pets.

[MacKinnon]

We have a 15 "tall" tank with frogs, live plants and a pleco (sucker fish). It's in the kids room and we leave the light on at night (instead of the day). The kids love them! They are fun to watch. They like to eat frozen blood worms, by the way, and like good hiding places as well. Have fun!