Hello; I read thru your thread and somehow missed the part about what filtration you currently have in use so do not know how to judge if more is needed.
I used to keep 10 gallon tanks with only under gravel filters and bubble stones. That was what we had and the tanks did fine. I later used hang on back filters with replaceable filter floss that were also powered by air bubbles. Again the tanks did well. I began to use the various magnet operated power filters as they came available. These early power filters were ok as long as they functioned. They were prone to problems and I always had some sort of air powered filtration in place as a supplement. These early power filters did not flow near the water as the current models. Even the small modern power filters seem, to me, to flow much more water than the earlier stuff.
I have used a modern power filter designated for a 10 gallon tank on larger tanks of 20 and 29 gallons with good success. I do also always run at least air stones and sometimes some sort of air bubble powered filter such as a sponge filter or one of my HOB air powered survivors.
I now have some current model power filters on tanks that are matched to the size of the tank as suggested by the maker. They do flow much more water and if you can afford them that will not be a bad move.
You want a honey gourami, three corys and five bloodfins in a ten gallon tank. That does not seem to be a big stocking load to me. I have run ten gallons with similar stocking with the old filter systems many times with good success.
I am going to repost some of my comments form one of my previous posts on this forum. Good luck..
Hello; By reading two threads that appeared on this forum titled “Water change size” in the freshwater beginner information/questions section and “stocking density opinion” in the freshwater general discussion section, you may gain some insight.
As you will see, the range of opinions about how many fish can be stocked in a tank and how often and how much to change water is vast. With regard to the opinions favoring the ultra low stocking of fish. The working theory, as explained to me by at least one member, is that people new to the hobby do not know how to properly take care of a tank and therefore should be encouraged to stock very lightly. That makes sense and I do endorse the notion that there should be fewer problems if you start with low stocking. Also if you start with low numbers, there will be fewer fish to lose when a rookie mistake is made. I guess the biggest issue, for me, is that these recommendations do not seem to read as advice only for those new to the hobby. They read, to me, like an ongoing standard.
I have set up 10 gallon tanks with stocking densities equal to and higher than you have now many times in the past. These tanks did well over quite a long time.
