What Should I Stock My 10 Gallon With?

[TheSaltySardine]

I'm an experienced fishkeeper who left the hobby for a little bit, but I want to start up my 10 gallon tank again.
 
I have a 55 and 29 gallon, but they're a lot of work and take too much space in my opinion. I have a 5 gallon too, but that's a bit too small. My 10 gallon is a good size for me. I plan to get a 10 gallon internal filter and a 50 watt heater along with some fish, but I'm not sure what to get..
 
The PetCo nearby closed a couple years ago, and the nearest PetCo is about 30 minutes away. The only fish store I have nearby is Petsmart, so I don't have that many options. So please, only suggest what is available at Petsmart. I'll give you some of the fish I like. I like oddballs, weird fish like shrimp, lobsters, crayfish, crabs, snails, and algae eaters like otocinclus, corydoras, etc.. I also like neon tetras and guppies.. what would you recommend? I was thinking one otocinclus, five neon tetras, a mystery snail and three ghost shrimp. But Aqadvisor says that's still only 70% stocking level.. so any suggestions on what else I could add?
 
Also, the tank will be lightly planted with a piece of driftwood and a cool fossilized rock I have with sand as a substrate. 

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Welcome Salty,
 
 
We don't recommend using the website you referenced, as there is often issues with the recommendations they make.  A 10 gallon is fairly small, so you end up with limited choices.  The 29 gallon would really open things up.
 
 
The idea of the ghost shrimp and mystery snail is a good one.  Overall your stocking looks pretty good, and all are usually available at my local Petsmart stores.  Otos can be very sensitive and struggle to get enough food at times.  Mine would enjoy zucchini and romaine lettuce as supplements for the algae in the tank and the algae tablets.  

 

[TheSaltySardine]

Welcome Salty,
 
 
We don't recommend using the website you referenced, as there is often issues with the recommendations they make.  A 10 gallon is fairly small, so you end up with limited choices.  The 29 gallon would really open things up.
 
 
The idea of the ghost shrimp and mystery snail is a good one.  Overall your stocking looks pretty good, and all are usually available at my local Petsmart stores.  Otos can be very sensitive and struggle to get enough food at times.  Mine would enjoy zucchini and romaine lettuce as supplements for the algae in the tank and the algae tablets.  

I used to have my 55 gallon set up maybe two years ago, I don't remember all the fish exactly. But I know I had 7 silver hatchetfish, 5 albino corydoras and a plecostomus. I always used to drop my pleco in food. I tried algae wafers, zucchini, lettuce, cucumber and things like that. He used to always seem to swim right around it and never eat anything. He died like 10 days later, I think he starved to death but I'm not sure why he didn't eat.. so I could understand a otocinclus  being in the same situation..

 

[SeanTrollope]

what about two dp

 

[Lillefishy]

Otos's are a shoaling fish & should be kept in groups, & imo 10 gallons is too small to sustain them even with supplementary feeding.
Corys also should be kept in groups & only the smaller species like pygmy, habrosus or hastatus would be suitable for a 10 gallon.
If you could go a bit bigger, 15-20 gallons you'd have more stocking options.

 

[Pintomare11]

I have 3 oto's in a 10 gal for a little over a year with 4 neon tetras and betta and do not feed them at all (the algae wafers I was using clouded up the water and they wouldn't touch any veggies) and they are all thriving. I also have a planted tank, so that probably helps. But oto's need to kept in groups of at least 3 and you should really establish your tank before adding them, because they eat organisms and algae only found in established tanks. I also highly recommend plants for them, mine are almost always on my plants.