Well Jay, taking Bob's advice there, all ya need to do is take a look at his tank specs to decide if you want to take that advice or not, I wouldn't.
the 36gal:
Oscars get 12-13" in a year- year and a half given proper care
Texas get 10-12"
Your "african cichlids" well that tells us next to nothing, though I assume they are malawi species, which are completely incompatible with the Oscars and Texas as well as the Clown Loaches, and potentially the plecos.
Clown Loaches get 12" and need warm super clean water to stay healthy
The "plecos" which I assume are just your common ones, will easily get 16"+
Basically that tank is sick and shows absolutely no respect for the fish, IF all of them were compatible with each other you would easily need a MINIMUM of a 150gal to properly house them all.
the 10gal:
Chances are you either have a ghost or clown knife, the clowns get 30-36" easily in captivity, while Ghosts get to 19-20". Both compltely unsuited for a 10gal, in fact all knives shouldn't be kept in anything that small.
Again the "African cichlids" issue, most likely Malawis, nothing that is suitable or compatible with the knives or pelcos.
The plecos get 16"+ as I listed previously, and not suited for a 10gal.
Yet another grossly overstocked tank, no respect for the fish, and no notion of knowing anything about compatibility between species, let alone identifying them correctly. IF these species were compatible you would need a very large aquaria for a clownknife alone, 200gal+ and at least a 125gal with the ghost knife.
Jay, The logic behind starting them in a tank that will be suitable for their adult size is quite clear, you won't have to change tanks once they start to get larger for one, and as they mature (mind you they will get territorial and such long before reaching adult hood) they will have adaquate space to establish territories and lessen the chance of having issues around that in the future. IF all you can do is a 10gal, I would suggest looking at other species of fish to stock in it.
