Yea not going to be salt. To much of a pain for salt at work. I like the idea of shrimp and different tetras.
Id also add a pleco to that there a nice bottom feeder that keep the glass or maybe a few snailsMale and a couple of female, bettas!
that's definitely true. I have a 5 G heavily planted RCS tank and basically I never have to do PWCs for the sake of nitrates as the plants use up what little bioload the RCS produce. I still do every few weeks or so to freshen up the water and electrolytes. One thing with small tanks and infrequent water changes apart from nitrates, is to use some kind of buffer eg., crushed coral, so that over time it doesn't suddenly ph crash. especially my soft water.id go the red cherry shrimp route, they'd feed on algae etc over the weekend; and are surprisingly enjoyable and active in small desktop tanks such as the one you mention.
Another variable is the bioload, with cherries you'll be changing water not as often as you would with a betta say. Means less hassle in work etc
10G's a bit too small. I'd say 20G would be more suitable for a pair of rams say.Dwarf cichlids.