T3Knical5urg3

I got a betta a few months back and have fallen on love with fish. Im kinda short on space, but I believe im only going to get a 10 gallon tank. I would like to stock it with as small of fish as possible with as much variety as possible without overstocking it. Doing research I found these fish that interest me:

Dwarf Gourami
Corydoras Catfish
Neon Tetra
Gold Barbs
Zebaa Danio
Platy
Apple Snail
Ghost Shrimp

Ide like to get as much variety as possible and make sure all levels of the tank are used. What would be the best combinations (please include numbers of each) to fully stock my tank?

Chief_waterchanger

5 zebra danio, 2-3 corydoras, and 3-5 ghost shrimp
OR
3 platy (all male if you want no fry), 2-3 corydoras, and shrimp
or
5 neon tetras and one of the bottom dwellers you list (cory/shrimp)
or
A dwarf gourami and 2-3 corydoras and shrimp

Tons of possible combinations there.

The danio/barbs/tetras are going to be constantly moving surface dwellers.. Don't want to mix those with gourami if able to help it, because gourami are territorial surface dwellers, usually.

The Platy are not really mid-water fish, but hang out in the upper 2/3rds of the tank.

The ghost shrimp have very little bioload and are a bottom dweller, as is the corydoras catfish.

I have not done enough research on apple snails to advise one way or the other on them.

EDIT:

The danio/barbs/tetras should be kept in groups of 5 or more for schooling behavior and comfort of fish.

The platies can be kept singularly in a community tank. (We speak from experience on this.)

momo9700

well if you get platies you would need 2-3 and those get to be about 2 inches, so i dont think you would want to get those if your going for lots of fish. neons would be good, you could get away with only three of those. ghost shrimp would be great, you can get lots of those because they dont add much to the bio-load. cory cats, i dont know alot about stocking with them, i'm not sure if you could put just one in there. and i have no expierience with the other fish.

Alessa

Dont get a dwarf gourami right now. they have a horrible virus problem and will most likely die within a few weeks/days/months.

peacemaker92

Well, you shouldn't worry about getting fish NOW. You first need to cycle your tank so think about the fish a few weeks after you started cycling your tank.

But what fish i'd recommend are some Neon Tetras and Zebra Danios and some Ghost Shrimp. Nice community together and they would look nice! Or you could get some platys? Or you can just follow Chief's options.

Good luck!

T3Knical5urg3

Thanks for all the options. I wont be impulse buying my fish! I plan to first get my tank cycled before I put my first fish in. My question is this; if I were to put 5 neons and 5 danios and maybe a single shrimp, would that be to much? I know it's kinda pushing it and slightly greedy buy dammit im short on space and ide really like a more active tank. Reprimand me if this is wrong please

Alessa

Ahhh (sigh) im facing your exact same problem, for some reason, no matter how big the tank is it never seems to be enough.

I dont think you can fit them there... the single school of neons would be enough without pushing the limits...

if I were you i'd get like four guppies (VERY active fish) and three otos (you would be legally overstocked by .5 inch)

the good thing about shrimp is that they add almost nothing to the bioload.... Dont get a Snail! a single snail needs 2.5 gallons!

T3Knical5urg3

Thanks I had no idea about the snails

Evelyn1919

like Alessa1235 said i would get some guppies cuz they are very nice looking fish and you can do 4 or 5 and like 3 ottos. another option would be 5/6 neon tetras and 3 ottos or some ghost shrimp. neons grow to be about 1.5" and they are very active fish so they need their space to swim. if you put 5 neons and 5 danios that would be WAY overstocking your tank.

good luck and let us know what you go for!

T3Knical5urg3

What if I get 6-7 neons tetras of different types? Will they still swim together and feel comfortable? Then the only other thing I would put in the tank would be like a shrimp for cleanup.

Alessa

I have heard that neons and cardinals will school although I am not sure... also cardinals are way bigger...

The shrimp is ok, they dont add almost anything to the bioload!

momo9700

for the neons, as long as they look similar and are the same size they will school. maybe get 3 black neons and 3 normal neons(the blue ones)?

as for shrimp, if you get ghost shrimp i believe you could put in two-three along with 6-7 neons.(correct me if i'm wrong)