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I currently have 2 Platies in my 10 gallon, and will be going to my LFS in a little bit. I was wondering besides another platy, which I will add later, is there any fish I could add to the tank? I was thinking something like a dwarf gourami, but I was not sure if I would have enough room. If not, what are some good inverts I can add to the tank? Thanks for the help!

Tanks:
10 Gallon-2 Platies

I personally would be very careful at adding any more especially if they are a pair.

Give us more info about the tank plants live/plastic, substrate, and filtration, your water changes what percentages and how often please. The water parameters would also be a help and finally a photo if possible.

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Keith

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Ten gallons is not a lot of space. If your platies are one male and one female, expect a population explosion soon.... You could add one more platy, so long as it is another male and you have no females in the tank. The baby platies can be cute, but it can be a problem trying to find homes/LFS that will take them once they begin to take over the tank. There is a dwarf variety of platy that stays pretty small, but I don't have any information on it right off - still, there is the problem with all those babies.

I bought a Flame Dwarf Gourami. The tank has plastic plants, gravel, An Aquaclear 30 filter, and I do 25% water changes once a week. The water parameters are 0 ammonia and nitrites and 20 nitrates, but they are already in the tap water.

Tanks:
10 Gallon-2 Platies

I think you will be OK. I once did a ten, with three cherry barbs and a dwarf gourami, with no problems. The gourami will help with fry control for the platies, but you might still have a few survivors that hide better than others.

Strictly speaking, two platies and one gourami should not be a problem in a 10 gallon. You don't have too much room for much else. Maybe a lower or bottom dwelling species, but then that'd be it. Personally I like kuhli loaches since they're cool. They're tiny and will fit in your tank and add very little biomass. Just make sure they can't get into your filter...

The trouble is with fry, assuming either of your platies are female, you'll suddenly have a whole lot more little fish that are sources of ammonia, sinks of oxygen, and all those fun things. Personally I made it a non-issue by allowing them to be food for other fish, but what will you do? I'm sure if you leave the fry in there long enough they'll probably all get eaten; at least, that's been my experience. Of course, I did have more fish, in a bigger tank, mind you, but it means more hungry, more piscivorous mouths to feed.

And by tap water I assume you mean dechlorinated tap water?

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The aquarist is one who must learn the ways of the biologist, the chemist, and the veterinarian.

(by tapwater I think he meant the nitrates are already in the tapwater )

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