What fish can I have in this tank?

Question
I would like to have as large of a variety as possible that will be able to function without death of my fish. The fish I would like would be clown pleco, redwag platy, fancy guppy, dalmation molly, asia breadsword, sunburst platy, dwarf or honey gourami, cherry/rosy barbs. Which ones could I have in the tank together, it's 10 gal, has six plants, and one cave. Do I have to have more than one of any of these fish and how many fish can go in this tank?

Thanks

Answer
Hi Holly;

Before I can tell you which of those fish you could add to your tank you should know about the break-in period. With a new tank you have to start very slow and have only one fish in your ten gallon tank to get it through the break-in period. Before you add any fish, read my article on new tanks to help you get through the first 6 weeks;

http://www.xanga.com/Expert_Fish_Help

Maybe put in one platy or one guppy for the first 6 weeks to get it through the break-in. Add one new fish a week once it's ready for more.

Most of the fish you are considering are okay except there would be too many if you add all of those to a ten gallon tank, even after it's through the break-in. A tank with small types of fish can have about one inch of fish per gallon once it's ready to support a full population. You have to calculate the fish population based on the future adult size of each fish. This means if the fish grows to be two inches as an adult, that fish takes up two gallons of space even if it's much smaller when you first get it.

About the fish;

Mollies actually should be in a 30 gallon or larger because of their potential size of over 5 inches. They are also livebearing fish and can overpopulate a tank very quickly once the female gives birth to a litter of 20 to 50 babies every 4 to 6 weeks.  

Clown plecos really need a 20 gallon or larger even though they don't grow to be over 3.5 inches or so. They also eat wood so they require bogwood or soft driftwood to chew on. They don't eat much algae really. They have to have cellulose from the wood. A better algae eater choice would be Otocinclus. They stay under 2 inches and are very peaceful. Just don't get them until the tank is through the break-in and there is actually some algae to eat.

I don't know what "breadswords" are but if you could get more info or a different name for them maybe I can tell you if they would be suitable.

Platies and Guppies are fine in a ten gallon. They are both schooling fish so you should have at least three of each kind of those you choose to keep. They are livebearers though so only get females if you  plan to have more tanks. Keep males and no females if you don't have room for babies. If you decide to have females, there needs to be two female per male. Platies and guppies are constantly trying to breed and the female can get very stressed and possibly die if there are not enough females to distribute the males' attention.

Dwarf Gouramis are okay in a ten gallon too. You can get a male and a female or just a single pretty male. Don't get more than one male because they will fight with each other and one will likely die. Some males get a bit nippy with the other fish too but if he has a female to chase around it might help. The female dwarf gourami is much less colorful. They are egglaying fish so there probably won't be babies in your community tank but they may try to spawn.  

Fish in the Barb family are schooling fish but most are pretty nippy and aggressive and many grow very large. Cherry Barbs and Rosy Barbs are two of the mildest barbs. Cherry Barbs would be okay for your ten gallon but Rosies just get too big. Rosies grow to be over 5 inches long. (Yikes!) Cherry Barbs grow to be about 2 inches each.


Here are links to profile pages about each of the fish you mentioned;

Dalmatian Mollies;

http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?cls=16&cat=1958&articleid=2618

Platies (all are the same, just varying colors);

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/558.htm

Fancy Guppy;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/562.htm

Dwarf Gourami;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/553.htm

Clown Pleco;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/329.htm

Rosy Barbs

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/461.htm

Cherry Barbs

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/505.htm

Otocinclus Algae Eaters;

http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/profiles/615.htm


Some possible combos of fish for you tank once it's fully stocked would be;

Three Cherry Barbs
A male Platy
A Male Guppy
Two Otocinclus Algae Eaters

Or;

Two male Platies
Two Male Guppies
Two Otocinclus
Male Dwarf Gourami

Or;

Pair of Dwarf Gouramis
Two Male Platies
Two Otocinclus

You could vary these combos a bit, but it gives you an idea of what to do. Here are some more web page for you to see and help you know more about keeping your fish;

http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/aquariumstartup/a/newtankmistakes.htm

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/beginnerinfo/a/fishcalc.htm

http://www.acicorp.us/cleaning_aquarium.php

http://www.firsttankguide.net/size.php

http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin.html

http://www.bestfish.com/overfeed.html

Have fun and I hope everything goes well!

At Your Service;
Chris Robbins