New tank mates for my Corys, please give advice!

[sammy2875]

I have a 10 gal tank, it is always kept very clean and is home to three little Cory's who seem to like it very much. All three of my Cory's are of different Cory species (if you've seen my past posts you'd know that I was not able to find Cory's of all the same species, but my three little guys seem to get along just fine) Since in total all three of my fish only come up to about 5 inches, following the whole one inch per gallon rule I thought it would be fine if I decided to squeeze one more little guy in there to spice things up. I have done much research and narrowed down my choice to two neon tetras (I'm not 100% sure on this one because I read they need to be in schools of up to six and I can't fit six more fish in my little tank! ) I also thought an apple or mystery snail would be cool to keep, they suggest you only get one so that it doesn't mate and make a million other little babies which is perfect for my situation but I'm not sure if my Cory's would find the snail frightening, I don't want to make them feel uncomfortable . I was also thinking of shrimps too, such as a bumblebee or amana shrimp. My last option was a julius Cory, the only problem with this is I couldn't get him in a school and he would have to live with my other random-species Corys and I'm not sure if that is the best idea either . Any ideas??

[Coursair]

IMHO IF you keep up on water changes and don't overfeed I would think you can fit Neons or Celestial Pearl Danios in there. But watch out for Ammonia spikes after adding new fish. I have a lot of livestock in my tank, but it's heavily planted and I do weekly partial water changes.

Pics are my 10g (US gallons) tank. If you check my thread about my tank you can see my stock list. But it took a year to gradually add fish a few at a time.

Most of my fish max out at an inch. My TF Rainbows have tiny mouths and thin bodies so very clean fish for their size.

GL

If you can add in some live plants. Easy stuff like Java Fern perhaps tied to wood or rocks that may also keep your water better.

In the future I'd either get a bigger tank so you can try to build up schools of the ones you already own or perhaps rehome yours and buy a group of Dwarf Corydoras. C habrosus or C pygmaeus or C hastatus. They won't outgrow the tank and you have room for 6-10 in there.

[nj2tou]

I have a 15 gallon and a ton of fish in it! LOL! It's heavily planted and well established. I have about 6 different species of cories and 8 each of neon tetras and rummy nose tetras. Both are very small fish, yet very colorful and lively. Oh! I also have a betta in there! Keeping it clean keeps everyone healthy and happy. I certainly think a small school of neons would be fine in your tank.

[corielover]

I agree and think that amano shrimp are awesome. In my experience, corys aren't scared of snails either.