Are these tankmates compatibile in a 10 gallon long?

Question

6 Neon Tetras , 3 Harlequin Rasboras, and 1 Dwarf Gourami. If not what can I put in with my 6 neon tetras. I prefer small fish, and maybe some algae eaters. and maybe easy - medium maintance.

Additional:
I was also thinking of getting maybe 6 neon tetras, and 6 pygmy cory cats. I don't believe in the 1 inch of fish per gallon rule!

OK... so what about this? 6 neon tetras, 3 Rasboras, 1 dwarf gourami.. or maybe 2, and 2 Otocinclus affinus... how bout that?? pretty good algae cleaning team... i think..

Answer 1

Here is a good compatability chart so you can decide for yourself what fish to get.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/fwcompatibility_chart.cfm

Answer 2

The 1 inch per gallon rule is just a general guidline to tell newbies to the hobby but you can overstock aslong as you are strict on tank maitenance and dont get fish that get too big for the tank.
I think the mix you are planning is fine, however i would not get a common pleco for that size tank, instead you should go with 3 or 4 ottocinclus or 1 bushy nose pleco. However if you were good on tank maitenance then you will not have alot of algae. Algae eaters need supplementation with zuccini, cucumber, algae wafers, and driftwood.

If i were you i would keep the neons and the rasboras and the gourami and i would add 3 panda cory cats to have action in the bottom level.

Answer 3

With 6 neon tetras I think that a dwarf gourami and a few ghost shrimp would be about the max you could keep and still have it be easy maintanance. More fish means more bioload and a greater need for maintanance like partial water changes.

If you found some pygmy cory you could have those instead of the ghost shrimp, but I wouldn't keep regular sized corys since you want less maintanance.


One person answered with the false assumption of being ok as long as you have less than 10" of fish. This guideline is false. The true measure of stocking levels is the volume of the fish which is aproximated by body length, width and height multiplied together and devided by 3 for the individual fish volume. My experience is that a 10 gallon's near max adult size capacity is about 1/2 cubic inches of fish. If the inch per gallon rule worked then a 10" oscar would live his whole life in that tank... Obviously to big a fish for the 10 gallon tank.

Answer 4

Hey if your tank is well aerated, you could add more, but there is a limit in a 10 gallon tank. Stick with the smaller fish, and you can increase the numbers, but not by much, not in a 10 gallon tank anyway. The Neons will look good, the Rasboras are ok, the Otocinclus, there should be only one. The Dwarf Gourami is ok.

I would add a Cory Cat of your choice, or a Coolie Loach. To this I would add Black Neons for some contrast.

Answer 5

Neon Tetras Should Be Placed With Tankmates That Are The Same Size Of Them Or U Will See Them Get A Sickness Called The Neon Tetra Sickness.

Answer 6

It doesn't matter if you believe the rule. It matters if the rule believes in you. Honestly it's a rule of thumb. It's what exoerinced fish keepers tell people rather give them a long winded explanation about the nitrogen cycle.

Neons are small slim bodied fish you can keep more in a tank than other heavier fish. If you add no more than one a week, and don't over feed you can have quite a few. If you also watch your ammonia, and nitrates as well as clean your tank weekly.

I'd avoid dwarf gourami as they like having other dwarfs foe company, and do poorly in small tanks. (They don't take ammonia spikes common to small tanks well.) I also avoid algea eaters as most will reach a foot in length, and eat your neons. A single mystery snail might be a better choice as well as a otto algae eater.

Answer 7

I prefer to put neon tetras ans zebra danios in the same tank. The neon's will school at the bottom of the tank and the zebras will school at the top of the tank. Put plenty of plants in the back of the tank to give the neon a feeling of protection. This helps their color come out. The one inch per gallon does not take into account the body type. 5 1 inch neon's (slender body) will not require as much oxygen as a 5 inch Oscar (Heavy Body).

Answer 8

all the fish you have is fine. But i must say you got a bunch of idiots telling you how much fish you can or cannot have.

There is no inch rule per fish. That is just what the pet stores tell their employee's to say to make it easy for them to tell customers. If you look at anypetstore that tells you that rule look at their own tanks and se if they follow their own advice. You will see they way overstock their tanks as well.

Different fish types have different metabolism, how much food you put in, and how often you change water plays a huge role in how many fishes you can have.

The bottom line is if you have sufficient filtration and have a nitrate test kit and keep the levels below 40ppm(tolerance level of your weakest fish the neons) then you can have 100 neons in that tank and they would be perfectly fine.

Small cory cats, rasboras, tetras, and dwarf cichlids like german rams would make great addition to your tank.

Answer 9

I think so... actually gouramis would do well with tetras. My gourami is in a tank with mollies. He's bigger than any other fish in the tank. But he's the laziest and gets picked on...

Answer 10

the most different kinds of fish i had together were black tetras, neon tetras, sucker fish, guppies, loach-eel type thing, and for a while i had a beta they all got along together. neon tetras tolerate all kinds of fish unless they are big enough to eat them lol its the other fish that cant tolerate other fish

Answer 11

That could work.

You need some algae eaters too and a cute catfish.
Why not 2 gourami?