10-gallon Aquarium Suggestions

[parallax]

Hi all,

I am trying to re-stock a 10-gallon aquarium. Right now, I have three cory catfish, an upside-down catfish, and 3 harlequin rasboras. I'm thinking of adding another 3 rasboras since I read that they prefer to be in larger schools.

In addition, I would like to add another more colorful species without overloading such a small aquarium. I was told that the catfish really don't count so much to the total equation since they are scavengers. If that is true, using the rule of 1-inch of fish per gallon, I should have another 3-4 inches of "fish space" available.

From what I read, that doesn't give me too many options. It appears that I should get less active, "peaceful" fish to be compatible with the rasboras. However, many compatible varieties need to be in schools of 3 or more which would put me in danger of overloading the tank.

Would a guppy or betta work for this tank? I'm afraid the betta would be too aggressive, and not sure if a single guppy would work in a community tank. Any other suggestions?

Thanks,
Scott

 

[dwarfgourami]

I was told that the catfish really don't count so much to the total equation since they are scavengers. If that is true, using the rule of 1-inch of fish per gallon, I should have another 3-4 inches of "fish space" available.

That depends on which sum you are doing. Even scavengers have to scavenge something, and whatever they scavenge will have to come out the other end, so they will add just as much as any other fish to the bio-load. Some catfish are incredibly heavy waste producers and have to be counted as many times their inches as far as bio-load is concerned; not sure this is the case with upside-downs, but they would count at least as much as an ordinary fish. Not sure how big they grow tbh, or if they will be ok longterm in a 10 gallons, you'd need to check that with the index. Corys certainly poo; I'd count them as their full inches.

If you add anything, it certainly should be those 3 rasboras. Can't see you finding room for much else tbh.