Bear in mind, its a 10gal tank, so lemme know what yall think:

the rubber-lipped pleco and the algae-eater are going back to the store to be exchanged for 3 cory's, the 1.79 variety The cory's will get another buddy cory in a few weeks when the tank is cycled, but will live in either the 30gal divided goldie tank on the betta side, or they will go in a bag in the cycling tank so they don't have to weather the cycle or be in a cold tank. I'll prolly get an otto for algae duty for the 10gal as well...

So, the tally will be this in the 10gal:
1 Betta
4 cory's
? otto's

How many otto's should go in the ten gal?

As well, can I put in any more tropicals to give the betta some swimming company, or is that gonna be it for the tank as far as fish?

almost forgot to mention! I'm gonna plant the 10gal w/ something, but I'm not sure what yet... Feel free to gimme suggestions for the plants too! Right now I got a thoroughly weathered java-fern/bulb growing back from its shredding by the goldies!

2? lol short post...

i don't follow...

[FONT=Arial] Okay I have a few things to add...

-only expect about 1/2 the ottos you buy to live. They are just sensitive. What do you have for them to eat??

-STOP adding salt!!! Cories are salt intolerant and you will only hurt them. Do some large water changes, don't touch the gravel to remove the salt from the water!

-Why are you adding the buffer? What's your pH at without it, and what is it after adding it? Is it a chemical buffer?

-I would just leave the betta by himself. You're pretty much at stocking limit and he may not take kindly to other mid level swimmers. Better safe than sorry

-What sort of lighting do you have?

very interesting about teh salt... I've always just added the dosing recommendation of the box of salt for each water change. And for the buffer, yeah, its a chemical buffer. Just the white stuff in a clear plastic container w/ a green label. My pH always crashes within one or two days if I dont use it.

i don't have ottos or cory's yet. I'll get em when the tank is cycled, assuming that they will all go together nicely. I'll prolly feed the otto's otto food I research what my potential fish will need before I get em so I don't get caught w/ my pants down.

Alrighty I still need a few answers from you, sorry to pester..

what is your pH out of the tap? What is it after you add the buffer? Do you know if you have hard water?

What sort of lighting do you have? flourescent? incandescent bulbs? What is the wattage?

If you really love ottos, you could get a couple, but they'd need to be fed lots of veggies and sinking tablets if you don't have that lovely soft green algae they love. My suggestion would be to have 5-6 cories and the betta! That would be a really cute tank.

I'd just stop adding salt altogether. It would gradually be removed through water changes. Cories are a scaleless fish, so salt and medications really irritate them.