How very, sadly, true! And almost as important is your observation that we want to pace ourselves in adding fish. (Of course that is AFTER a 2-3 week quarantine period, maybe where an anti-parasite treatment is applied.) Adding fish which are progressively a little larger is more of a trick associated with establishing a marine aquarium (because reef fish are quite territorial). And adding a larger or slightly smaller Cory is not going to be a big deal in a FW tank. However that does force us to plan ahead (and learn about the potential residents then rather than later asking "will this snakehead get along with my guppies?) Ok, maybe an exact calculation of what we would want in a community tank is not realistic. But we should have a pretty good idea of what they are like, even taking into consideration how big they will get, their social and dietary habits and how long those fish could live.

No one should try and set up tanks like some of the shops do. Aquarists have a much greater commitment to keeping all of the fish alive and letting them live long and comfortable existences.  Leave the "stupid pet shop tricks" to David Letterman. ;)

And miskairal, would you please, when time permits, post a link to this log in Immediate Help - New Tank/Cycling/Setting Up/Water Changing pretty high up in the list. :)