Thoughts on my 10 gallon

[Nelo]

Now that my 10 gallon is established I added some fish. Before my tank was fully cycled (before nitrates were showing up in my tests) I had added a betta and 3 Julii cories. I left for a weekend and came back to find a dead cory, weak betta, and ammonia readings of <.25 ppm (yellowish green test tube). Since then I waited until I was seeing nitrates to add my next fish and the water parameters have been sitting around

0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrites
5 ppm nitrates

I currently have a male betta, male platy, and two cories. I was considering adding more cories (1-2) since they do better with a larger shoal but I feel like I'm already pushing the stock of my tank.

Attached is a pic of the tank when I first set it up. I will take a new picture but the only difference is the fish and I added a new Anubia plant. I also have a homemade water bottle baffle attached to my filter to control the strong current

 

[Coursair]

I would say julii won't have enough room in a 10g. They may be young now, but since they are mainly bottom fish they need at least a 20g Long IMHO.

Platies are quite messy for their size, like all Livebearers. Nice fish, just higher bioload.

I would remove the Cories ( not good for uncycled tanks anyway ) and make sure the Betta and Platy are ok. That's a tiny tank to mix a Betta w other fish.

The Betta may attack the Platy. The Platy may grab all the food and nip the Betta's tail.

Keep a very close eye on parameters. Keep up on water changes. Consider adding some live plants for hiding spots and to help stabilize the tank.

If you decide to start over, Nano fish might be a better option. No Betta, no Platy.
A group of Celestial Pearl Danios
Or
Ember tetras
Cherry Shrimp

 

[Stellah]

I agree with the above poster-

another thing I consider could be female bettas? I had a group of 6 in my 10 gallon with 2 ADF and 2 snails. They got got along great are were awesome to watch. They developed pretty colors just like the males- and the biggest lady grew to -/+4"! I upgraded them to a 30 after about 8 months. something to think about.

 

[Nelo]

I tried 2 adf before adding the betta and platy but I noticed they were pretty sick after bringing them home from Petsmart (I only have a petsmart and petco in the town I'm in for school) which I was afraid of. When I went back to return the two dead frogs (I was pretty upset) I noticed there was only one live frog left at petsmart.

 

[Nelo]

Here's another pic of the tank

 

[absolutangel04]

If it is possible to order online, I would consider ember tetras or some similar nano schooler with a betta. They is what I have stocked multiple 10-12g tanks with, and I personally really like the combo a lot.
I agree that you are currently capped out. I agree that julii cories would be better suited to a bigger tank. I would not another for the sake of space, and keep in mind that an upgrade in the future would be in their best interest IMO. They are petite, but they are so active! Sometimes when people house cories in small spaces with bettas, the cories will actually nip the bettas fins. I have not really heard of it happening in bigger tanks, just in little ones. It is something to watch out for.
If the betta and platy get along fine now, I would just leave it alone and not push anything. It really is not a huge amount of space for fish, so you really will not be able to keep much in there. But, a betta will utilize a 10g well. I do understand that it may look rather empty to you. That is why I have chosen the route of a betta with some nano schooling fish in the past. That is why I suggest looking into ordering fish, since all you have at your disposal are those 2 stores.
And as for the frogs, that is a common issue. Finding healthy afd can be a chore.