I am planning on getting a ten gallon tank for tropicals..

I already have two black neon tetras that I rescued from the science department, so I want to get 2-4 more friends for them. Does anyone know if black neons and cardinal tetras will school together? I still want to be able to tell all my fish apart and have some diversity.

I also want to get a pair of sparkling pygmy gourami. They only get to be 1.5 inches, just like the tetras, and they get along very well as what I've researched. I want to know if this would be overcrowding my tank. I hear its almost impossible to to tell the sexes apart and I don't know if two males together would be a problem or if just one would be miserable. They are very shy fish and I want it to feel as comfy as possible. I'll have tons of plants by the way

to sex the female you shine a light through her and you can see the ovaries.

10 gallons is the minimum so if you can get a pair it should be ok, but if they start to fight you will need to take one back as they can get territorial if they are males.

keep the two black neons and get two cardinals and they should be ok like that. any more and you would be way overstocked as the blacks and cardinals grow to a couple of inches each. they may swim together at first but after a while they will go seperate and come together now and again.

another way is just to get the other two black neons and have a school of those.

any more than that is really pushing the filter.

Yay it will work I usually do water changes 1-2 times a week with ten gallon right now, so if I do the same with tropicals then I think they'll be okay if i've got four tetras and two gouramis. Now the hard part....I've got to find a store that has them!!! The only places I can find are online. I don't like the idea of not seeing what I am recieving because I love to pick fish out on my own. lol..I'll be at the pet store and I'll go "I want that tetra! *points* Oh now he's over there now! Hurry before he gets back to the crowd!!!! Emplyee: *glare+what the heck you freak! They are all the same!!!* lol. I don't like the idea of shipping anything live and az is way too hot to take risks. If it comes down to it, maybe I'll wait til late fall for it to cool down

Thats what my blacks do actually.. Most of the time they are withing a couple inches of eachother and they both chase eachother around palyfully, but they've both got their own private little spots