10 Gallon Tank - What Would You Stock?

Hi everyone

I have been reading posts on this forum for a while but this is my first time posting. I am new to fishkeeping but have been avidly reading.

I have a 10 gallon tank which is currently cycling fishlessly and will be planted.

The details of the tank are:

Dimensions: 47 x 29 x 40cm
Aquarium Volume: 38L (UK)
Filter Flow Rate: 430l/hr (UK)
Light Wattage: 7W LED

I am planning to do twice weekly water changes probably of around 20% each time. I can do more or less depending on your suggestions obviously! My water is soft with a PH of around 6.8.

I would welcome any suggestions on the stocking of this tank. I just want fish that can live in the tank happily for the whole of their lives, behave normally and preferably with some colour and plenty of activity!

I was thinking about a centrepiece fish like a honey gourami along with a small school of something, but I am open to any suggestions.

I have been using the community creator which is brilliant - but I would like suggestions of stocking that people know works in such a small tank.

I was thinking about a centrepiece fish like a honey gourami along with a small school of something, but I am open to any suggestions - what would you guys stock in a 10 gallon tank? The only thing I am not keen on really are shrimp.

Any suggestions are more than welcome please!

Hi Kirstos,

Welcome to the madhouse

Colin is ABSOLUTELY right.....Panda Cories are lovely...well.. I think so. Have a look at them, they're funny little creatures, with little comic faces and are so busy bumbling around the tank, you'd never get bored of watching them.

Don't forget though, whatever you decide, we love pics!

Well done on the fishless cycle! With soft water and a low pH, keep a close eye on your pH. I did a fishless cycle earlier this year and my pH crashed to off the bottom of the chart, ie below 6.0. This is low enough to stall a cycle. Once your nitrite appears, test the pH every day. If it does drop, use bicarbonate of soda (in the home baking section of the supermarket, in a small tub). Dissolve a 10ml spoonful in a bit of tank water, add that and see if it pushes your pH to over 7. If it does, good. If not, add a bit more. You will need to do an enormous water change when the cycle has finished to remove this bicarb, but that shouldn't be too hard with 38 litres.


You could also go for one of the smaller cories instead of pandas - Corydoras pymaeus (pygmies) C habrosus (salt & pepper, not to be confused with the larger peppered) and C hastatus (no common name)

Here is a list of fish stolen from a couple of other sites:
Boraras, several species - the most common is the chili rasbora (Boraras brigittae) but there are others especially if you have a Maidenhead Aquatics near you
Ember tetra (Hyphessobrycon amandae)
Green neon rasbora (Microdevario kubotai) though I'm looking for some and can't find any
Celestial pearl danios, aka galaxy or firework rasboras
Norman's lampeye
Sparkling gourami

Avoid the gouramis if you get honey gouramis. I have also left out some hard water fish.



20% water changes might be a bit low, I would start with 25% once you are fully stocked, then monitor your nitrate level. The max it should be is 20ppm above your tapwater level just before a water change. If you find yours is less than that for a few weeks, you can drop the % you change. Or increase the % if you find your nitrate is higher.

Sparking gouramis are the only ones I would avoid if you get honey gouramis. It is usually a bad idea to mix gouramis. Although sparklers are not surface dwellers like most gouramis so you might get away with it. I have read of people having problems with sparklers, specifically with males fighting. And they are quite tricky to sex at the size they are in the shop - with all fish, the ones on sale are usually juveniles rather than adults.

For corydoras, tetras, rasboras etc they need to group of at least six. Sparkling gouramis can be kept in smaller groups.

I have had small fish with honey gouramis and they have ignored them. I currently have 11 ember tetras in the same tank as a pair of honeys. These are the same length as the rasboras, though they are not as slim. Honey gouramis do not have very big mouths. They will hunt fry but tend to leave fish even as small as my embers alone.

If you did want something else for a bit of interest that won't add much to the bioload, have a look at nerite snails (make sure they are fresh water ones not marine ones). I have some in all my tanks - brown and beige striped zebras, red ones with black markings and a plain brown one with horns - this last one is a smaller species and there are some black and yellow striped ones. Though I would wait till you get a bit of algae growing if you decide on them.

Do Honey Gourami suffer from the same illness issues as the Dwarf Gourami?

That's spot on Sue thanks a lot 

I thought I would make a bit of a list of some possibilities so that when I go to the shop to purchase I wouldn't be flummoxed if they didn't have whatever it was I was fancying and so I end up making a poor choice. I do like a list. So what do you guys think of some of these options:

Option 1 - 1 Honey Gourami, 8 Chili Rasboras and 1 Netrite Snail

Option 2 - 12-15 Chili Rasboras or Celestial Pearl Danios depending on what was available

Option 3 - 7 Chili Rasboras and 7 Celestial Pearl Danios

Option 4 - 6 White Cloud Mountain Minnow

Option 5 - 1 Betta if I found one that was truly fabulous and 1 Netrite Snail

Option 6 - 6 Cherry Barbs and 1 Netrite Snail

Option 7 - 1 Honey Gourami,  6 Green Neon Tetras or Ember Tetras (although I have never seen either in my local stores) and 1 Netrite Snail

Option 8 - 6 Checkered Barbs and 1 Netrite Snail

I had thought about some Cory's or Ottos but I would not be able to find anything small enough in the case of Cory's and I know Ottos can be really fragile so I have decided to avoid both of those.

I would appreciate comments on my ideas. I have been doing lots of research into species that will be a suitable size for such a small tank but it is the combinations that I have struggled with.

Sue - you are a total star as always 

Thanks for the great reply. Its great to know most of my ideas are do-able or if not why not. I did base my choices on the fish profiles. Those neon rasboras are stunning.

 I have just discovered there is a MA near me in Carlisle (about 30 miles away) so I can try there too. There is a Dobbies which has some run of the mill fish but that seem to be well cared for too as well as my very small local store who might be able to order the green neons for me and sometimes has microfish but it is quite sporadic depending on what they receive.