10 gallons--too small?

Question
Hi Barbara,

I have a ten gallon tank that I was using a few months ago for a goldfish. I had the goldfish for three years, but he became ill when I was away, and died the day I returned.

I have finally decided to start the tank over, and am researching fish for it. I have decided to get cherry barbs, and I know they do best in groups of 6 or more. My father insists that they have other tankmates, even though I think the tank is too small.

Still, if I am going to get tankmates for my cherry barbs, I would likely get Threadfin Rainbow fish--because they require the same pH, temperature, water hardness, and food types. They are also very peaceful fish, like the cherry barbs, and like the cherry barbs, require a school of 6 or more.

The tank has a lot of open space in the middle. I have a variety of fake plants along the back, and in one corner, and a large castle decoration on the other side, which takes up about 1/3 of the tank, but has a lot of space inside. (I can upload a picture if you like).

My question to you is this: Is my 10-gallon tank going to be big enough to allow twelve 1.5-2 inch fish to live healthily with enough space to play and swim, or should I stick to getting only the cherry barbs?

Thank you in advance, and I hope this question is clear enough to you!

Answer
Hi Lo. I am Alejandra and found your question in the question pools. I would say you could put both types of fish inside the tank just not too many. Since your tank is a 10 gallon tank you can't put a lot of fish inside. Putting too many can kill all your fish, and trust me it happened to me. I had a 10 gallon tank and put about 15 guppies inside. Well each week one or two would die, and that is because there wasnt enough space for each fish.
I hope this helps.

Alejandra