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[piatotsini]

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[RobertHenry]

I would say that you can have six neons or cardinals in that tank. A betta would be a nice colorful addition.

 

[Weaver]

Hi
Unless you have a mature tank I really wouldnt go for either neons or cardinals.They are both very fussy fish.Most danios that I can think of will find 10g too small as they are fast swimming fish.
If you want something colourful why not go for honey dwarf gourami which are also quite hardy or some of the smaller rasbora.You could also try some pygmy cory to add interest to the bottom of the tank.

 

[dwarfgourami]

You could probably fit in about 5 harlequins and still find room for a couple of otos. But let the harlequins go in first, and wait until the tank is mature before adding the otos. There are also smaller species of rasboras, but of course it's a question of what is available at your lfs.

 

[lljdma06]

Ohhh! The dwarf gouramis are pretty!

However, my concern is the plants. I'm doing a fully planted tank, and I've heard that larger fish would either eat the whole thing or rip it apart. That limits my choices with fish even more

Thanks for bringing up the rasboras! I've been eyeing harlequins for my tanks too. But as always, I don't know how much of them I could stock in my tank....any ideas?

Btw, I'm also planning on getting 2 otos for algae control. (Don't panic!!! Others said one is too many for a 10 gallon tank, but at the same time, it may get lonely being alone...so I'm getting two and feed them with algae wafers)

Dwarf gouramis, though they do consume vegetable matter, wouldn't do any damage to plants. I have croaking gouramis in my 10g, T. pumilus, and they don't do anything.

Have you thought about Amano shrimp for clean up and algae? They are used in planted tanks all the time. However, if you inject CO2 and your nutrients are in order, algae will not be as big a problem as you may anticipate. My 10g doesn't really have algae.

If you do corydoras, stick with C. habrosus or C. pygmaeus. C. habrosus is small and stays more to the bottom, while C. pygmaeus is even smaller and kind of shoals all over the place. I personally adore my C. pygmaeus. I have 7 in my 15g (don't pay attention to my stocking, I don't follow inch per gallon). Rasboras are an excellent choice, particularly R. brigittae if you can find them. They stay very small; under an inch. Right now, I have a 10g planted that has 3 croaking gouramis and 3 bridget rasboras (I want a school of 9).

 

[lljdma06]

I personally don't think you'll be too overstocked, but I have never followed inch per gallon strictly. I have always conformed more to cm/liter. If I were keeping them, I would have like 15, but my experience tells me what I can get away with. Boraras maculatus doesn't really produce much waste at all and it's similar to rasbora brigittae. That was an alternative species for me before I settled on the brigittae. Just make sure you are cycled beforehand, and you have good filtration.

If you only get 10 or so, and then the shrimp, if your really, really good with your water changes, and since you will have a planted tank, you will be, you could probably get away with a trio of croaking gouramis or sparkling gouramis as a centerpiece fish. But I would add those much later, like after 6 months or so.

I have a feeling this is going to be a very pretty tank when done. All rasbora species get the most amazing colors when in a planted, slighly tannic tank. A very elegant tank. Keep me posted with pictures.