Seeking Advice for a New 10-Gallon Setup

Hi guys!
I am currently in the process of thinking through how I am going to stock my new, 10-gallon aquarium. I already have a 40-gallon and a 5-gallon. I've been keeping fish for a few years, and overall I'm pretty reliable in terms of providing good water quality and adequate care. THAT BEING SAID, I definitely don't know everything and I'd love some input.
I've always wanted to set up an aquarium with the following fish: 3 panda cories, a small school of neon or ember tetras, and a pair of German blue rams. Now I knowwww what you're thinking, "that sounds like a lot of fish for a 10-gallon tank". HOWEVER: would it be possible to successfully keep that combination of fish in a 10-gallon tank if I was super vigilant about water parameters? I am confident in my ability to maintain the proper levels and temperature. OR will there simply not be enough space for the fish to be happy? I definitely never want to bring a fish into a tank where they will not be able to thrive.
Just to give you a bit more info: the tank is wide, not tall. It will have a sandy substrate, driftwood, and a generous amount of live planting with some open swimming spaces.
Looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!! Thanks guys!!!

You have been successful at keeping fish for many years so I tend to think you could do this. It is possible to keep that many fish in a 10 g if you change the water and the rams don't become enemies. So yes, in your case it is possible based upon your proven success in the past, monitoring water, changing water and knowing that certain fish need the room.

The school of fish will go a little stir crazy so you may want to keep it to 4 or 5. Cories will be fine, but the rams need to like each other and stay liking each other. Wide 10g with lots of barriers may help. Ultra filtration to keep the water microbes breaking down in high gear, and live plants are all good. The key would be the ultra frequent water changes.

Thanks so much for the reply!! I was planning on a pretty small school of tetras; I just wanted a nice splash of colour and activity!! I definitely agree about the importance of filtration and regular water changes in this tank: do you think that a weekly 20-25% change would suffice?

janie96 wrote:I definitely agree about the importance of filtration and regular water changes in this tank: do you think that a weekly 20-25% change would suffice?

Absolutely. Unless you are keeping the fish in regular tap water and reconditioning the water (e.g. reverse osmosis and then adding to achieve TDS level) you are in good shape. Since you are working at a large commercial aquarium, you probably have a great resource to know what your water source readings are. The only downside to high water changes is the fluctuation caused by adding too much of a gradient. Many experienced aquarists have reservoirs that they draw their water from. These reservoirs are huge vats, or in your case can be a plastic tub used to keep water conditioned, such that when they continually replenish the water, the remaining water is large enough to compensate for the new water. Reservoirs are also great for off gassing the chlorine (unless it is chloramine).

One caveat is the amount of food being fed. You starve one day, so you have a great handle on how much to feed and know how not to over feed. As well you probably vacuum any remaining leftovers. Plants and a high filtration rate will consume the water waste given off by the fish so you should be peachy fine. Unless of course, you have fish which are flush feeders like goldfish or koi...

Awesome, thank you so much for your input!!! I feel much more confident going ahead with this tank now, I really appreciate it. I’ll update and let you know how it’s going once I’ve stocked the tank!! Now for a few weeks of fishless cycling...the fun part hehehe.