oppinions on planned buddies please

[Fin2you]

So I did a remeasure of my tank and it's actually a 10gal not 12gal like I was told by my friend who I bought it from.
Anyways so my plans for Fin's buddies are;
2 spixi (zebra) apple snails, 1 black mystery snail, then 2 or 3 pygmy cory catfish.
But I'm wondering if that's too much for my tank? Yes it's heated & filtered, no live plants but lots different sizes & styles of fake, a cave & plenty of room for another cave if recommended.
here is a link to my online photos, when I tried to add a picture to another thread it was really tiny!
http://pets.webshots.com/photo/23082...FRa?vhost=pets

[Myates]

I would go with 1 apple, 1 mystery and 3-4 cories, as they do better/prefer larger groups.

Keep in mind snails tend to produce a lot of ammonia (apples are large snails) and can reproduce quickly and overrun the tank if not careful.
Make sure to supplement their food quite a bit since your tank isn't naturally planted.

[Fin2you]

thanx Myates!!
I read that the zebra snails only get about 1.5" same as the mystery, but I don't want to overpopulate, or crowd!

[Myates]

Okay.. for some reason was thinking there were zebra printed apple snails lol

You can get one of each, just make sure to keep up on the water changes each week- about 50% with siphoning if there are no live plants. BUT if the zebras are nerites, those tend not to breed in freshwater, but again, looking at the bio load they produce.
And 3-4 pygmies of course :)

[Fin2you]

there are zebra Nerites as well as zebra apple, These are the ones that have been offered to me by someone who has them locally I think they breed them as they aren't very common here in Alberta. http://www.theshrimptank.com/aquatic...ixi-snail.html.
50% water changes are my normal weekly routine already, with just the betta!
Oh ya I was already planning on supplimenting algea tabs & catfish wafers!
I have no clue how long b4 our local store gets more mystery snails in, as they're a special thing, so maybe I'll just go with the 2 zebra apple snails as they've offered me a good deal ($3/1 or $5/2)

[Bombalurina]

I would strongly suggest just getting one nerite, so you can have 6 pygmy cories. That way, no baby snails and much happier cories. :) I don't like apple snails as they get huge and make so much mess.

If you do want pygmy cories, I strongly suggest changing your substrate to sand, as they will struggle with that gravel you have.

[Fin2you]

ok so...
there were only 2 Salt & Pepper Paleatus Cory left in the store. I brought them home. I will see how they do, and if they maybe need a couple other friends I can go back when they get another shipment.
Also got the coolest colored Zebra snail, it's really dark with slightly darker stripes.
for their tummy's I bought NutraFin Max Sinking pellets & Algae Wafers.
right now they're aclimatizing to the tank temp.

[Bombalurina]

Those are pretty big cories - I wouldn't house them in a ten gallon. They need more room to swim than a tank that size offers. I would return them.

If you do choose to keep them, which I don't advise unless you can upsize the tank footprint, you will need four total. Neither more nor less.

[Fin2you]

really? the info the store had is that they'll only get 1-1.25" long :( and this is the most reliable aquarium shop we have. Hmm guess I'll just have to get a bigger tank b/c I'm not giving up Salt & Pepper (I know I know what can I say original names are my families specialty!)
For now I'm sure what I have is ok these guys are only 3/4" long and everyone is settling in just fine, I almost want to say Fin (betta) & Salt & Pepper are playing. No chasing just swimming around and even touching each other though Fin usually backs off if both cory's approach him at the same time. & the snail (yet to be named) is crawling around the bottom & the front of the tank.

[fishy friend2]

Yes they are one of the larger species of corydoras compared to the relatively common ones like C. Aeneus. (Bronze Cory) as bronze cories only get to 1.5 inches - 2.5 inches while C. Paleatus cories can attain 3 inches in length and are very active, as Bombalurina already said, these fish actually should be placed in a tank with a larger footprint than you could provide. When you stated you were going to get Pygmy corydoras my initial though was that you could easily fit 6 inc there, but when you stated that you got C. Paleatus I was quite alarmed that you re keeping them in a 10 gallon, as they ideally should be in groups of 5+ as they are schooling fish And there fore become quite inactive when in schools less than that, you can't have a proper school of 5+ without reaching your maximum stock level I'm afraid. Another alternative would be 3-4 Otocinclus instead reaching 1.5-2 inches maximum

Here are a few alternatives to C. Paleatus

Corydoras Hastatus
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/profiles/dwarf-cory/
http://theaquariumwiki.com/Corydoras_Hastatus
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile...astatus&id=272

Corydoras pygmaeus
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/profiles/pygmy-cory/
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Corydoras_pygmaeus
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile...ygmaeus&id=333

Corydoras Habrosus
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/p...pper-cory/#top
http://www.theaquariumwiki.com/Corydoras_habrosus
http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile...abrosus&id=904