matmatmat

I've never had an aquarium, but I've been doing a lot of research. I thought it would be nice to have a school, bottom(ish) dweller, and an individual fish. However, the tank is only 10 gallons. So this some I've been looking at:

SCHOOL
Neon Tetra (6)

BOTTOM DWELLER
Oto (3)
Pygmy Cory Cat (3)
Ghost Shrimp (1)

INDIVIDUAL
Betta (1)
Dwarf Gourami (?)
Sparkling Gourami (?)
Guppy (?)


How does 6 neons and 3 otos sound?

Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated.

Barbrella

6 neons and 3 otos would be fine, but you can't put anything else in a 10 gal.

Both types of fish are rather sensitive, so you must make sure your tank is completely cycled and stable before adding the neons. Then I would wait a bit to put the otos, so they'll have some algae to eat.

Both types like some plants to hide in and otos appreciate a piece of driftwood.

You could put fish from two of the groups you've chosen, but not all three. Since they're all pretty small, they shouldn't add up to more than around 10" total length when adult size.

And no neons with bettas!

Blub

Remember the 1" of adult fish per gallon rule. Most experts reccomend stocking a 10gal like an 8gal. Unfortuanatly, the only way to have bottom dwellers, schooling fish and a centrepiece fish involves a lot of searching. It involves:

8 Ember tetras
3-5 Shrimp
1 Pygmy goruami (Sparkling gourami)

There are different mixes, but that's a good example.
Or, you can have 6 Neons.

I would personally get the small fish, but that's because I'm lucky enough to be able to find all of them easily in my local area. If you can't find them, get a Betta!