Stocking ideas/Am I over stocking? 10g.

[Leafy]

I just bought a 10 gallon tank and somewhat new to this aquarium stuff. I got some fake driftwood and plan on planting some java ferns, anubias, and glossostigma to give my future fish some hiding spaces.

My current plan to to get a beta fish, six neon tetras, and three corys, but I’m under the impression that’s overdoing it. I might forgo the tetras and just stick to the beta and coreys. I’ve looked for multiple answers on what would be a good balance, but they often don’t line up with each other.

Another plan I had was to get two dwarf gouramis and corys.

I don’t plan on introducing any fish until I’ve cycled it for a few weeks and until my plants have been established, so I have plenty of time to decide on what to do.

Are there any other suggestions for a 10g tank or any improvements I can make? Any other fish species I should look out for?

 

[libertybelle]

Welcome!

How are you planning on cycling?

The Gouramis are likely to be overdoing it both in terms of bioload and territory. Both bettas and gourami can be territorial so having both in a small space isn’t likely to work well.

Neons are usually fine with bettas; they’re very mellow; but in my experience they hide all the time and seem stressed until you get to much higher numbers in the school. At least 10-12, which you don’t have room for. And cories are schooling fish too which enjoy 6+ buddies.

If I were you I’d stick with the betta and the cories, one of the smaller species. I personally adore the Pygmy cories for such a small tank. (Who am I kidding I adore them in general and would 1000% put them anywhere they won’t be eaten; cute little buggers!). Throw in a couple nerites and some ghost shrimp (if your betta doesn’t go after them ) and you’ve got a fun little community!

 

[Leafy]

I’ll be doing a fishless cycle using ammonia and API Quick start. I’ll likely poke around a few more recommendations before settling on this one though.

I hope my aquarium shop sells Pygmy cories! They sure are cute little fellas and I’ll be sure to get them a snail pal too.

 

[T-Dog]

A 10 gallon you are pretty limited with. Whatever you decide to go with just make sure you have good filtration and do 25-30% weekly water changes and you can over stock a little

 

[CheezDoodles]

Hmm, what kind of cories? You can keep 2-3 dwarf cories in there...the bigger ones...I would say 1 for each 7-10 gallons

 

[libertybelle]

Oh the Pygmy cories stay teeny and love big groups. I’d do at least 6 in a 10. That’s how many I have in my 10 and I wish I had more! I had more but lost nearly half in the couple days after adding them (big box store source and they weren’t in great shape, unfortunately.) They were out in the open constantly until their numbers got down to 7 or 8 and then now that there are only 6 they hide a lot more.

Their bioload is minuscule. Between them and a ton of shrimp I still barely measure nitrates at all.

Cories are very social and will do much better in large groups. Just two or three in a group wouldn’t be ideal. Do your research on the species your lfs can get because even among the non-dwarf species some of them do get bigger than others and would be less suited for a 10.

 

[Leafy]

Hmm, what kind of cories? You can keep 2-3 dwarf cories in there...the bigger ones...I would say 1 for each 7-10 gallons

Pygmy cories were a strong recommendation, so I’ll probably go with those (About 6-8 of them)

 

[libertybelle]

They’re precious, I recommend them to everyone now! I just wish they were more commonly available in my area!