A 10 gallon is too small for a breeding pair of cichlids. A 10 gallon would work for a breeding tank of rams or apistos like Dougall said, but you risk the chance of breaking the pair every time you move them back and forth between the main tank and the 10 gallon tank you're using as the breeding tank. Really the smallest you want to use for rams or apistos is a 20 gallon long so you can leave the pair together indefinitely.
Your best bet is to stick with something easy to whet your teeth on, such as white clouds or danios. Once you have more experience you can advance to harder fish that need more exacting needs to breed.
WYite