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Ten gallon tanks don’t give much room for error, especially since you have such a small tank to work with. Small tanks mean difficulty maintaining good water conditions, from the toxicity of the water to the temperature. But if you do have a 10 gallon aquarium, here are some suggestions of fish to select to stock your aquarium with. Keep in mind I’m only suggesting for species tanks and not community tanks since most of the fish that will do okay in ten gallon tanks need to be in small groups or do best by themselves. So I recommend picking ONE of the following, and not mixing and matching.

Species Tank Suggestions:

A) 1 Betta Splendens, either male or female. A few snails or some docile shrimp would be okay, but depending on your Betta, you may see some flaring from the males. They don’t always get that anything that moves is NOT a Betta.

B) White Cloud Minnows, a personal favorite, were once said to be the poor man’s tetra. They fair well in cooler temperatures, which means that they are possible tank mates for Goldfish. They are best kept in schools of about 6, and are hardy fish which makes them a good fish to begin with in a 10 gallon tank.

C) 3 Dwarf Gourami. Small, peaceful, and hardy, you shouldn’t have too many problems with them in a newly cycled tropical fish tank. But always make sure to test the water before you add your fish, and that you are familiar with your fish’s water needs. You could also try 6 Sparkling Gouramis (thought they do need more care than dwarfs do, so might fall under intermediate) or 1 single Pearl Gourami.

D) 3 Bandit Corydoras. As many corys, these are peaceful bottom feeders, they do well with anything that is as peaceful as they are. They do well in groups. Another type of Corydoras to consider for a 10 gallon tank would be 3 or 4 Corydoras Catfish, but these would do fine by themselves or just as two in one tank.

E) 6 Cherry Barbs should be fine in a ten gallon tropical fish tank, or one Odessa Barb kept by itself.

F) If you have a tight fitting lid, you might look into a single Red Tail Shark. This beautiful little “shark” is actually a species of carp which unfortunately is extinct in the wild. In aquarium life, they are best kept by themselves unless kept with larger fish that will keep them in line…you know, but not EAT them. They need a tight fitting as they are known jumpers, and you don’t want to come home to find a desiccated carp on the floor.

G) 5 Zebra Danios. These fish are very hardy, and when people had cycled their tanks using fish, this was often the fish they used. Again, I don’t recommend at all using a live fish to cycle your tank, that is just an example as to how resilient these little guys are. They are probably the best for a newly cycled tank, though.

H) Invertebrates. The following will do well in a 10 gallon tank – 1 Crayfish or 2 Ghost Shrimp or 2 Inca Snails. Red Cherry Shrimp are said to have such a low bioload (they don’t eat much so don’t produce much waste, so don’t mess up their water so easily) that they can be kept up to 10 per gallon of water. It depends how many you want to keep in your tropical fish tank, however. Keep in mind that many fish eat shrimp, though.