Schooling fish?

The answers will differ depending on who you ask :)

The general agreement is that 20+ gallons is the best size tank for beginners. It's easier to care for and you have more options when choosing your fish. Long tanks are preferred over tall tanks, those nasty fish like to swim horizontally.

Most will agree that most tetras do best in 20+ gallon tanks. They won't kick the bucket in a 10-15 gallon tank, but it's not ideal for them. They are not very active fish but when they swim they like to swim long distances. For smaller tanks smaller species like ember tetras are recommended.

I'd kindly disagree about cherry barbs and harlequin rasboras too. I'd only recommend them for a 15 gallon tank.

As for schooling, many similar fish moving together is a defense mechanism against predators. They may or may not stick close together in home aquaria but they become stressed if there isn't a minimum number of them. That minimum is usually 5 or 6 (it depends on who you ask), but in some cases it might be more. Shy fish, tiny fish feel safer in a larger group. Some schooling species are nippy and a larger group is needed to disperse the aggression (tiger barbs are infamous for this).

Since being similar is a defense strategy, you won't see distinct "fishsonalities" in this group. However they do display some interesting behavior: in some species males often spar or court the females.

You could have a look at male guppies (10 gallon) or platies (15 gallon) too. They are not schooling fish, but they like the company of each other. Usually trio of them is recommended. And all males because they breed like cockroaches and noone wants the fry. You said in your previous question that you want to inspect the personalities of your fish, so 3-5 guppies in a 10 gallon tank might be a good choice for you.

And for love's sake, forget about the kissing gourami: http://www.oscarfish.com/article-home/fish/166-kis...

Other things a newbie should know about:

- Nitrogen cycle and fishless cycling: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm

- More on stocking levels: http://injaf.org/articles-guides/understanding-fis...

- Double and triple check everything a store employee tells you. Unfortunately the vast majority of them is not knowledgeable about fish keeping.

There are a few small and less active species of schooling fish that can live in a 10 gallon. but it is a very limited size tank.

It is better to have at lest 6 per school

6 cherry barbs or 6 harlequin rasbora o6 5-6 kihli loaches could live in the 10.

so could 6 same sex guppies but they are not really schooling fish

for more fish you need a bigger tank and filter., tetras need at least a 20 long, they are very sensitive to water quality and need more room to swim.

yes it is okay but if u add more in 10 gal they may be stressed up.