cathrinetta

What is the most colorful stock option for a freshwater 10 gallon with a variety of fish and well balanced appearance. I want swimming at all levels and lots of color.

Fish selection in my area isn't that great but still interested in all options as I know one store could possibly special order or put me on a waiting list.

Thanks in advance!

jdhef

With a ten gallon tank, you are really limited on what you can put in there. The general rule of thumb is one inch of adult size fish per gallon of water.So you could put a small school of guppies, rasporas, small tetras etc. Or you could put a single betta in there.

Jess

Hi cathrinetta and welcome to Fishlore : )
Because of the 1" of fish rule (very basic guidelines)
These are some possible colorful options. . .
A small school of . . .
Harlequin Rasbora-5
or
Cherry Barbs-5
or
Cardinals-5 (sometimes more difficult to find)
or
Neons-5

Focal Fish or your center piece-Dwarf Gourami but just 1.

Algae cleaning crew. . .
Then you might want to consider a few ottos at least 3 to help clean up your algae
or you could consider some shrimp. Bumble Bee shrimp or Red Cherry shrimp. I'm not sure of the temperment of the Gourami with shrimp. But I do know shrimp could be colorful and helpful with algae.

So with a school of 5 small fish, 1 Dwarf Gourami and a few ottos or shrimp you would be at your bio limit for a 10 gal aquarium. This is based on the adult fish.
I believe this would give you a visually appealing aquarium. And if you planted it with live plants all the more appealing and colorful.

I'm sure others will post with more suggestions, have fun planning. : )

agabr123

as you can probably tell by my tanks, i'd get a betta! you can try shrimp or corycats with him, but be prepared to remove them if he gets aggressive. i've had two that did wonderfully with corycats (aside from trying to eat their food), and two that attacked after living peacefully for two weeks.