Hello,

I'm new at this. I'm trying my best to memorize the names of plants, substrate, rocks, treatments, etc.

I've read a lot, spoken to a bunch of "experts", but I honestly believe that the internet community would have more to offer. That's why I signed up here.

I have a 10 gallon aquarium, heater and filter. This is your standard beginners bundle. I have the option of using regular lights or halogen lights.

I have black lava rocks at the bottom, a variety of rocks, and I just purchased driftwood and attached plants (one is called crypt parva but I forget the name of the other) to it with fish wire. I've added the recommended amount of plant fertilizer and I plan on leaving the tank for a week before adding any more plants or fish.

I have a general idea of what I would like to accomplish in this tank, but I want to know what you have to say, be it advice, warnings or "please stop before you murder the fish".

I like the idea of color and variety in the tank. For that reason, I would like to see if I could do the following organisms in this tank:

- Snails of some sort.
- red cherry shrimp
- Neon tetras
- Ottos
- My docile beta (it has a 1.5 gallon and seems happy, so I'm ok if this just wouldn't work)

How many of each could I do? One pro I spoke to told me I could do 3-5 rcs, 5 neon tetras, 2 ottos and 2 snails.

My other question is the order in which I should introduce the fish to their new habitat.

Are there any that I can use to cycle the tank and still survive?

I appreciate any advice you can give me.