# Sticky  Best Schooling Fish for Planted Tanks



## Raul-7

What do you think is the best schooling fish, that is an absolute must in any planted aquarium?!


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## HeyPK

A bunch of glass cats are nice. You can see the plants through them!


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## tsunami

I don't know about an absolute must for a planted aquarium, but there are plenty of schooling species I am particularly fond of:

Cardinal Tetras (P. axelrodi): the classic and most used schooling fish for planted aquaria. Not exactly tight schoolers, but they are very social fish that group together very tightly when they perceive a threat. They look spectacular in schools of twelve or more. Relatively hardy. They live about 2-3 years on average when well kept.

Rummynose Tetras (H. rhodostomus): probably the second most used schooling fish for planted aquaria (the fish I like most other people seem to like, too...). Excellent, tight schoolers with more subdued colors than the cardinal tetras. The brightness of their red noses is indicative of the water quality of the aquarium. There is also another species (P. georgiae) which grows slightly larger, but the nose is never as bright. A sensitive species --acclimate to your aquarium slowly.

Green Neon (P. simulans): lively, tiny little fish with a cool, green-blue neon stripe and less intense red on the belly than the cardinal tetra. Does not grow nearly as large as the cardinal (about half the size). Very social. Great for small planted tanks.

Red Phantom Tetra (M. sweglesi): not really a schooling fish, but still a very social tetra which tends to form loose groups. Their more ovate body shape and deep red color contrasts excellently with the more slender shape of the cardinal tetra. Not nearly as nippy as the serpae tetra.

Tube-mouthed Pencilfish (N. eques): another fish that forms loose groups. Very dainty, small species of delicate appearance. Not exactly very colorful but the unusual way in which they swim (at a 45 degree angle with the head pointing up) is very cool.

Silver Hatchetfish, Marbled Hatchetfish (G. sternicla and C. strigata): I have always loved hatchetfish! Unfortunately, since both of my current aquariums have openings in the back, I have been unable to keep any for a very long time. They will jump out of the tank given the slightest chance. The silver hatchetfish schools particularly well, in my experience.

Those are my favorites. I love most of the fish I've kept, really. Each seems to have its proper place.

Carlos


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## Steve Pituch

*Mollies*

I know they don't school in the traditional sense, but Sailfin mollies generally group themselves together rather informally at various locations in the tank. Fifty mature male Sailfin mollies in a 75 gal, or 75 in a 125 gal aquarium sure look nice together. Plus they are free for the taking down here.

I guess there's a lot of fish that can be locally caught that school nicely. I once had some pretty red shiners that schooled nicely.

I guess the classic schooling fishes for an aquascaped tank are tetras, like the Neons, Cardinals, Rummy Nose, or Scissor tails.

Steve Pituch


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## Raul-7

What do you think of Ember Tetras, or how about Von Rio Tetra?


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## Sir_BlackhOle

Dont forget the harlequin rasbora ;-)


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## cactusdoug

My favs would be...

Rummy nose Tetras, they constantly stay in a group swimming back and forth.

Black Neon Tetras, school almost as much as the Rummy Nose

Harlequin Rasboras, they're just so pretty.

White Cloud Mountain Minnows, also very pretty.

And for a species tank because they are a bit nippy, Serpae Tetras. Once they settle in they get a beautiful smokey pink in color.

And if you put at least 6 cory cats in a tank they will almost never leave the side of their buddies.

Cheers, CD


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## ryuken168

*Best schooling fish*

The best schooling fish I ever worked with are the following.
1. Rummynose Tetras - Barnone the best.
2. True SAE - amazing long lines.
3. Cardinal Tetras - I use this a lot.
4. Glowlight Tetras - Nice orange w/ white tips
5. Rasbora Hengeli
6. Veiltail Angels


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## shannon

*schooling fish*

I know they are not your traditional schooling fish, but a group of Dwarf neon rainbows are beautiful in a planted aquarium  Neon tetras are another of my favorites...

What do you think of Diamond tetras or Congo tetras? Under the right light these guys are beautiful!!!

Shannon


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## sjogren1

Blood Fin, Congo and Lemon Tetra have worked well for me in the past, but the 'must have' has got to be Harlequins. IMHO, the best schooler (and they look so good with Crypts!).


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## Phil Edwards

I'm partial to darker colored small less active schooling fish for my tanks. Harlequin Rasboras are #1 with Cherry Barbs a close 2nd. I'm getting a school of H. maculatus soon so I may have a new #1. 

Best,
Phil


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## molahs4

Does anyone have any experience with Broken Line Tetras (Hemigrammus ulreyi)?

http://www.characin.com/species/characin/tetras/hemigrammus-ulreyi.htm


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## Pigheaddd

1. rummynose tetra are the BEST group fishes. they stay as group all the time. for my observation, they are not as strong as harlequin rasboras.

2. harlequin rasboras are another nice group fishes. they are very easy to keep. when i put a group of 16 in my tank, they couldnt stop eating flakes after 15 mins. 

3. pencil fish are group fishes. my favorite is banded pencil fish (Nannostomus espei). they are the only pencil fishes with spots.

4. pygme cory are group fishes. they are very cute!!!

i just saw some ember tetra in LFS. they used to be little bit expensive. the price is ok now. their transparent bodies look cool.


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## nonamethefish

Not to sure what the contest is here...

But for keeping the tightest or most densely packed schools, who wins?

Spituch, I envy you! lol


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## sergioveterano

the Cardinal Tetras are quite nice in contrast with the green of the plants.
I like very much the rasbora arlequim

now i have a school of carnegiella strigata, don't give much effect but is a nice fish. pruming the plants is dificult with im.


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## anonapersona

molahs4 said:


> Does anyone have any experience with Broken Line Tetras (Hemigrammus ulreyi)?
> 
> http://www.characin.com/species/characin/tetras/hemigrammus-ulreyi.htm


I got some in the local auction last fall. Funny, they were really brave in the bare Q tank, I though they had a lot of spunk. But when I moved them to the planted 10 g tank they got spooked. Now they hide a lot. No other fish in that tank, maybe that is their problem.


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## anonapersona

Pigheaddd said:


> i just saw some ember tetra in LFS. they used to be little bit expensive. the price is ok now. their transparent bodies look cool.


I have these! They are so pretty, in a planted tank they color up just like a new penny. Newly minted copper. That plain transparent shrimp-grey color changes when you start feeding them dried bloodworms and brine shrimp.

When they were with the zebra danios, they never schooled. Now the danios are gone and there are rams and A. borelli in the tank and 4 cories and they school very tightly.

That may change in a few days, all that changed recently.


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## Sir_BlackhOle

In my 75 all of my rummynose, ottos, and SAE's school together a lot of the time. Its pretty cool


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## Falstaf

Cherry barbs!

If you have a half filled tank Half beaks are awesome fish, they are surface dwellers and they are pretty fun to watch, they are not common but if you can get some you will surely enjoy them.

Killies, they have he most awesome colors, it is said they are the most beautiful tropical fish.
http://www.killies.com/images/IndexRACBP.jpg

Cories, I think hey are the most close schooling fish i've ever seen if you get a group of 6 they stick together all the time, and they are so easy to keep and also there are many kinds
http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/profile.asp?id=Corydoras+agassizii

YoYo Loach, This is a personal favorite, it just glows in highly light tanks and i just think they are awesome then they are near any plant!
http://www.fishprofiles.com/profiles/fw/profile.asp?id=Botia+lohachata Get many of these!!!


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## aquoi

Depending on the design of the aqualayout, select the best color...
My favourites are...

Paracheirodon axelrodi
Paracheirodon simulans
Harlequin Rasboras
Rummy nose tetras
white cloud mountain minnows

Most tetras make excellent schoolers...


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## Falstaf

I just discovered Sunrise Guramies, they are awesome and look great in the planted tank!


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## Error

What's with all the tetras...? 

There's a lot of cyprinids that school well and will put even the great cardinal tetra to shame.

Barbus rhomboocellatus is a superb schooling fish that hasn't bothered any plants since I got them. They definitely possess a subtle color, but the edges of their scales are outlined in neon green. And they school very, very well. Their pattern too is very unique--at first it reminded me of the pattern on a ball python.

Microrasbora kubotai (M. sp. 'Somchai') is another awesome species with an excellent eye-catching yellow color. Here's a pic:









Sundadanio axelrodi comes in a few colors, all of which display the same iridescence as the cardinal tetra. Here is a picture of the green form:









Danio choprai is another one that schools very well and has very pleasing yet somewhat subdued colors.

Others that work really well:
Rasbora dorsiocellata
Danio shanensis
Barbus jae
Microrasbora erythromicron

They're all great, but I think the best school for a planted tank is by far Corydoras pygmaeus.


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## Sir_BlackhOle

Very interesting! Only problem is I have never seen any of those fish before :-(


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## Corigan

I have 5 debawi cats that line up like they are in the blue angels. One on top of another in a current flowing away maybe a 1/4 of an inch apart. They are mostly nocturnal, so they just flow in the current together during the day, but at night they like to skim the surface as quick as they can be (and they are quick). Probably the tighest school I have.

Matt


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## Gomer

My newest fish are AMAZING shoolers. they swim around the tank like a ball of fish 

Rasbora dorsiocellata ...aka emerald eye rasboras.


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## Geo

I've found lately that my group of about 9 Mosquito Rasboras (Boraras brigittae) seem to school pretty well when my Croaking Gourami is on the prowl and "hunts" them.

He finally learned he can't eat them, though, but they still bunch up nicely whenever he's around. So far no problems w/them at all, but he's still getting moved and replaced with a pair/trio of smaller gouramis 

Cute fish, very small, I like 'em


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## bharada

My LFS ordered me 10 of what the wholesaler listed as Harlequin Rasbora "narrow wedge". What they turned out to be were Trigonostigma (Rasbora) hengeli. They look like a cross between a Harlequin Rasbora and a Glowlight Tetra.

I was hoping that they'd be T. espei, which look more like a smaller, narrow-body Harlequin, but the price sheet only lists fish by common name so there's no way of verifying identity short of ordering a few. My LFS said he'd keep an eye out for any new Rasbora listings in future sheets.

On a positive note, they seem to school pretty tight in my 125...but I'm sure the Bosemanis nipping at them when they were introduced into the tank helps. I'm going to ask my LFS to order me another 20 or 30. That should be a pretty sight to see! 

Word of advice, never introduce small fish into a Rainbow tank unless said Rainbows have just been well fed. :shock: :lol:


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## Laith

I once saw a large planted tank (can't remember if it was 400 or 600 liter) with a school of 75 to 100 cardinal tetras. No other fish except for the usual cleaning crew.

It looked very impressive to see so many cardinals together like that!


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## C_perugiae

My 50 gallon tank has a few of the ones that Error mentioned.

I have a couple _Microrasbora erythromicron _(now in the _Danio _genus, I think...) http://www.aquajapan.com/encyc/carp/cyprinidae/danio/erythromicron.html

6 _Danio choprae_. They're nicer in real life.
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/show_article.php?article_id=129

8 _Rasbora espei_. A couple of mine are red like that; the others are copper-colored... I'm guessing it's a difference in sex. 
http://photogallery.pets2u.com.my/showphoto.php?photo=5986&password=&sort=1&cat=539&page=1

I'm a big fan of the dwarf rainbows, as well, especially _P. signifer_.


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## Allthingsaquatic

Congo's, Cardinals, neons, rummy nose, phantom tetra's, lemon tetra's, and my new personal fav the golden barb.....just something about that yellow/gold coloration against the red, brown and green colors of the plants. They are fairly tight schoolers for the most part, active, front of the tank show offs and not timid. Best of all, they seem to graze algae's or some types, they are hardy and don't eat the plants or bother anyone else in the tank...im in love!


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## tanVincent

Error said:


> What's with all the tetras...?
> 
> There's a lot of cyprinids that school well and will put even the great cardinal tetra to shame.
> 
> Barbus rhomboocellatus is a superb schooling fish that hasn't bothered any plants since I got them. They definitely possess a subtle color, but the edges of their scales are outlined in neon green. And they school very, very well. Their pattern too is very unique--at first it reminded me of the pattern on a ball python.
> 
> Microrasbora kubotai (M. sp. 'Somchai') is another awesome species with an excellent eye-catching yellow color. Here's a pic:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sundadanio axelrodi comes in a few colors, all of which display the same iridescence as the cardinal tetra. Here is a picture of the green form:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Danio choprai is another one that schools very well and has very pleasing yet somewhat subdued colors.
> 
> Others that work really well:
> Rasbora dorsiocellata
> Danio shanensis
> Barbus jae
> Microrasbora erythromicron
> 
> They're all great, but I think the best school for a planted tank is by far Corydoras pygmaeus.


From my experience, sundadanio axelrodi (blue, red, turqouise, green) does not school particularly well, Microrasbora erythromicron schools well but extremely shy. Microrasbora kubotai is not a good schooler as well, same applies to Microrasbora Gatesi. For schooling microrasbora, you can try Microrasbora Nana which gives a light purplish hue on the body. Boraras (brigittae, merah, maculata and uropthalemoides) does not school.

The best schooling rasboras are the Heteramorpha, Hengeli and Espei.

Cheers
Vincent


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## ShaneSmith

The Best schooling fish i have seen are the rummy nose tetra. They school on the bottom half of the tank and look great. Congo tetras will school just as tight but are too bland and large for my taste.

Everyone doesn;t want the same fish though, so i think people pick other fish to give a unique look to the tank. Blue Tetras are high on my list right now. If it is a darker colored tank i will almost always go with the Harlequin Rasbora.

I have a Local source of Discus Blue Angelfish, really an irridescent white look. They do school when they are younge i find. I like them a lot.


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## Overfloater

Best I've ever seen hands down are brilliant rasboras. I've had a group of 8 for 6 months and they still stick together. They are skittish and rarely break goup and will never break if there is anyone near the tank. They are also the largest fish in the tank. They crush the neons in the tank in terms of schooling behavior.


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## samosette

Id go with a big school of green neons, I just love their color and the way they school. Only thing is they so dam expensive. I've only seen them sold in one store, and they were (45 dollars for 3 of them, I kid you not)(I live in the bay area of california where everything cost so dam much)


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## neonfish3

I agree about the green neon's, I do like their color alot. I can't believe the price HOLY MACKEREL. Here they are just a little more expensive ($1.29)than reg. neon's.($0.79) My local fish store owner told me green neon's were seasonal and he only gets them this time of year. Anyone ever hear of that before. I don't see them in stores very often, but two that I visited this past week had them.
Steve


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## figgy

I have a tiny school [4] of the emerald-eyed rasbora that Gomer mentioned in my 12 gallon Nanocube. They are subtly gorgeous [those eyes!] and stay close together. Got 'em on-line for .99 ea. Seem to be hardy enough, too.

Figgy


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## josh

I have 6 Black Skirt Tetras that will not leave each other's sight...


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## Anafranil

Definetly cardinal tetras although I had a lot of problems and found them very sensitive during the past


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## Gomer

I recently picked up 40 lemon tetras....OMG!!!!! They school like they are tied with invisible string!!!


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## david lim

Yea lemon tetras have been commonly overlooked. I normally recommend these as hardy schoolers. And the red eye with the yellow body is killer. nice buy gomer.


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## bharada

Here are my Triginostigma (Rasbora) hengliis schooling in my 125g tank.


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## csfish

Looking at Amano's tanks and seeing what he stocks in his tanks is quite informative about schooling fish, which also prompted me to try different combinations of fish. Each of the fish I mention below are great schoolers on their own, but I also have found them to look (and interact) great together.

Combo #1
Rummies and Bloodfin tetras- Complementary coloring and body shape, look nice as a large group.

Combo #2
Pristella tetras, Bloodfin tetras and Harlequin Rasboras- Each have their own distinct body shapes and coloring, stay in their own groups, but look quite nice when they swim with and around each other.

Combo #3
Fancy goldfish (hard on plants!) and large Siamese algae eaters- Unusual combination that seems to work for me. Nice contrast in body shapes, coloring and behavior.

A combination that doesn't seem to work too well is a group of Penguin tetras, Neons and Red Phantom tetras. The Penguins and Red Phantoms are scattered in the upper and mid levels of this tank, while the Neons are huddled in a group in the lower level. Perhaps its the way this tank is planted, fairly thick with not much open swimming space, or just this combination of fish.


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## Fosty

Personally my favorite that I have owned is Lemon Tetras. I definatly think they schoold better than both Harlequin Rasboras and Cardinal Tetras. My favorite that I have ever seen are Kerri Tetras (sometimes called Purple Emperor tetras) (Impaichthys kerri). These fish can have some amazing colors, but usually don't show their colors in LFS tanks.

I also just got some Penguin Tetras. They look slightly plain, but they are very beautiful with a light silver body and a black stripe all the way down their body.


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## cmax916

I like the Redline Shark for schooling fish. They swim very closely to each others and I love watching them eat because they really eat like sharks. As they get older, the red line will go from their eyes to almost to their tail. I have 5 Redline Sharks, 6 Electric Blue Jack Dempseys, 1 Redtail Shark, 3 SAE and 5 Congo Tertas. I enjoy watching swim across the tank. They all get along fine.


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## Lydia

long-finned zebra danios are my personal favorite...in my tank they school very well but some people seem to have trouble with them schooling


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## rti1000

neonfish3 said:


> I agree about the green neon's, I do like their color alot. I can't believe the price HOLY MACKEREL. Here they are just a little more expensive ($1.29)than reg. neon's.($0.79) My local fish store owner told me green neon's were seasonal and he only gets them this time of year. Anyone ever hear of that before. I don't see them in stores very often, but two that I visited this past week had them.
> Steve


Where is that store at steve? My LFS gave me a break at 4/11.99 so i bought a school of 32 green neons and they stay really tight during the day but seperate at night loking for food. Really neat fish, I love the way their color is more subtle than the cardinal tetra. Mine stay really close like a 6x6 inch box all day

Andy


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## Andrew-amano-wannabe

well i am a big fan of the cardinal the only problem is its price, so i went on a search for alternative fish, so have experieced a number of shoaling fish.
It all depends on your set up if you have shrimp some fish are out of the questions, such as tiger barb which is a striking fish in large numbers especially the way it reacts to human interaction. 
I have also kept glowlight tetras not a striking fish but pleasant enough, however once they had reached maturity they polished off all of my amano shrimp before spawning.
Tetras are popular becasue they are peaceful calm fish, however the larger the speciec of genus then the more powerful it jaws so shrimp lovers beware. the emperor tetra is a beautiful sight in large numbers, as is the white cloud minnow, tho this fish is aggressive towards other tankmates when reaches maturity, if you have bright lights in your tank however the colours do appear more impressive.
Finally the lemon tetra if you feed it good quality food live or frozen then the colours become stronger, they are a pleasant fish that is not easily intimidated by people approaching the tank, and whats more they are cheap enough 79pence each to have a large starting shoal, they are also quite tolerant of poor water conditions.
I my self have lemons in one tank and cardinals in the other, i think the king and queen on any planted tank is the discus and the cardinal tetra, the rich colours look so striking against the green background of a planted tank. But as they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, if you have an excellent planted tank, with crytal clear water, any fish would look good in it.


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## apisto

MMM,
My Personal top 3 (actually 4):

1) Hyphessobrycon amandea
2) nannostomus (beckfordi/marginatus)
3) Boraras brigitta


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## Jane in Upton

I've actually been a little disappointed by my Congo Tetras lack of schooling. After a lot of reading, I was expecting schooling behavior and got 12 small juveniles from my LFS. They really only schooled until they settled into my planted tank. Now, they're scattered throughout the open areas, and only "get together" as a school when one gets a notion to dash the length of the tank, and the others fall into formation and follow. This only lasts a few seconds, and then they disband. There has also been a lot of spawning behavior, with males purposely segragating a heavy female away from the others. 

My pygmy cory cats are WAY better schoolers, LOL!

I also have red-line rasboras that stay in a group, and I would rate them as moderate in schooling behavior. They don't stray far from the group, but they don't do a lot of swimming in unison which seems to be the desire of this thread.

And in yet another tank, a group of Gold Ring Danios (have not been able to identify them, I've tried) is so constantly in a busy cluster that I can't tell if there is much schooling behavior or not. I swear they know if I even look towards their tank, and group at the customary feeding area in a mad rush. I would have to say they don't have any real schooling tendency, except on occasion if they're startled. 

-Jane


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## spreerider

my favorite are serpae tetra, i have 6 in my 5g and they keep a tight school and look great, goes very well with lots of green and a couple red plants, like sunset hygro or red tiger lotus, i love the red colours.
only problem is that only 5 of them school and one sits at the back and only comes out to eat, after he has had his fill he disappears,
they are also the easiest tetra to breed mine are always laying eggs but the rest of them always eat them before they hatch, the shrimp dont help with that either.


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## awrieger

Gomer said:


> I recently picked up 40 lemon tetras....OMG!!!!! They school like they are tied with invisible string!!!


Hi Gomer. What part of the tank do your Lemons swin in? The top half or third?

I'm about to set up a 4x2x2 'hairgrss lawn' tank and I'm not sure whether to get Rummy Noses to swim down around grass level, or Lemons to swim in the open water.

I'm leaning towards getting Lemons right now as I really do like the subtle red spot on the eye of Lemons. In my current planted tank I have Zebra Danios and Silver Tip tetras which I like because in large numbers the tank is alive with activity, yet they're not bright and colourful enough that they dominate the view.


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## ringram

I've never kept cardinals, rummy nose or hatchetfish, but I have kept neons and felt that they schooled "OK", but it was a very loose school. 
My favorate schoolers of the fish I've kept are:
1)Harlequin Rasboras -- beautiful fish, IMHO. I had 10 or so in a 20g a while back, but unfortunately they all died when I had a Co2 mishap. They always schooled pretty tightly, especially around feeding time!
2)zebra danios -- tight schoolers if danger presents itself, but they tend to stay in the top 50% of the tank. They are quite "spastic" and will stress calmer fish out, so only get them if appropriate...they're ALWAYS darting around.


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## ranchwest

I've got 8 Pristella Tetras in a 100 gallon tank and they school very nicely and they're somewhat active. I've had cherry barbs reproduce in this tank in the past, so I'm hoping I'll have more Pristalla Tetras in a few months. Pristellas sometimes go by the name X-Ray Tetra.


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## Xanthid

I have 12 Bleeding heart tetras in my 135gal. They dont school much or really move around that much at all. Beautiful fish though. The siamese algae eaters make very nice shcools. I have a group of 9 large ones that school tightly alot. Those long dark stripes look very nice swimming back and forth in a big tank.


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## Emc2

Botia Sidthimunki. An absolute joy to watch in large numbers and great at controlling the snail population. Although ocassionally hard to come by and expensive.


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## RTR

Current fave schooler: Glass cats, which share a 55 with a school of debaui cats. The former are always out, the latter only when the lights are lower and under moonlight.

Alternate favorite: Green (or emerald) eyed Rasboras, smaller but very tight schooler, really striking fish.


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## dmartin72

Lemon tetras keep it tight!


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## Justikanz

Quite disappointed with Serpae tetras as schoolers... Out also are the _Boraras spp._...

In my experience, cardinals are good schoolers... But you must provide an open space in the tank, else, they tend to 'relax' and not school... Glass cats school well too... Black skirts school too, but they get aggressive...:axe:

Hmm... Wonder why nobody tried tiger barbs?...


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## standoyo

hi,
IME most tetras only school nicely when there's bigger fish around to move them around. dwarf neon rainbows are very nice in six and then the rest can be like a hundred simulans depending on size tank of course.


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## ranmasatome

Personal Favourites..

Smaller tanks
1) corydoras hastatus
2) rasbora vaterifloris
3) Axelrodi reseii
4) megalamphodus roseus

Larger Tanks
1) Rasbora vulcanus
2) Inlecypris auropurpureus
3) Luciosoma spp. (nice long fins....mmmmmm)


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## standoyo

hmmm,

very nice selection there ranmasatome.

i don't know if you can consider altums schoolers...they def look nippy like arrows...


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## dmartin72

Just got some ember tetras and they look nice in a school. Plus, they keep tight nit group.


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## |squee|

ranmasatome, I couldn't find Axelrodi reseii on the net! Could you provide more details please?


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## Aaron

Axelrodia riesei is the correct spelling. Where did you find these?


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## ranmasatome

Oops... Thanks Aaron.. its late night typing + fat fingers that get me into these messes..

I find them at my LFS.. there are about 50-75 pcs in my tank... they are so cute.. albeit a little sensitive when they first arrive.. but the stable ones last quite a whiles..

Terence, Simply put they are called ruby tetras here...not too common but you do see them at the better fish shops.. obviously they get cheaper with quantity as it always is here..


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## |squee|

Thanks for the info! 

For the confused ones, the "here" ranmasatome is referring to is Singapore


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## Aaron

ranmasatome said:


> Oops... Thanks Aaron.. its late night typing + fat fingers that get me into these messes..
> 
> I find them at my LFS.. there are about 50-75 pcs in my tank... they are so cute.. albeit a little sensitive when they first arrive.. but the stable ones last quite a whiles..
> 
> Terence, Simply put they are called ruby tetras here...not too common but you do see them at the better fish shops.. obviously they get cheaper with quantity as it always is here..


no biggie ranasatome. Do you have a picture of them? This is a fish I have never seen in real life but can imagine them looking quite spectacular in a large school.


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## ranmasatome

Hi Aaron,

Sure..

these are mine taken with a crap camera.. sorry its so dark.. i put these and more pictures up in my journal if you have nothing to do and wanna read..









These are taken from the RVA website...http://www.rva.jp/characin/axel_ries.htm
About 50-60% of mine are about this colouration..when taken in good light.

But they'll soon be replaced in the favourites category by this fish..
http://www.rva.jp/characin/moenm_inter.htm


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## standoyo

aha, a name to it! bought these before for friend in jkt. a couple months back.

really nice schoolers and small ard 1.5 cm...nice to see them avoiding bigger fish[stunted altum!] moving about.


----------



## Aaron

Thanks for the pics! now to find them on a list over here and convince some people to bring it in for me...

RVA just makes me depressed... too many cool stuff, and the picture quality is just superb. big school of Tucanicthys tucano would be nice, but at $50 a fish, i don't seeing that happening any time soon.


----------



## banderbe

I am a big fan of the Diamond Tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri).

These tetras' scales shimmer like gold as they school, thus their name.

Their behavior is pretty regular too. During the "day" they tend to do their own thing, and then for the last few hours of the "night" they school in tight formation, back and forth, back and forth across the front of the glass in a big figure eight, going from bottom to middle to top, down around to the bottom and back up and over again.

Really cool fish that not many people are familiar with.


----------



## dstephens

I have a 90 gallon planted tank with a variety of fish including emperor tetras and threadfin rainbows. The Rainbows are neat little fish. I also have 4 dwarf flame gouramis, one male Beat, one oto and a school of juvenile SAEs. I have enough room to add one more schooling fish and would like to add rummy nose tetras. Any feedback................. Just joined this forum.


----------



## misterchengmoua

blue tetras.


----------



## thumperinflorida

a school of Boehlkea fredcochui, the lovely blue tetra....is very impressive


----------



## thumperinflorida

holy cow...I didn't even see the post above me


----------



## infrared

*Schooling fish*

I have to agree with DStephens - Threadfin Rainbows are one of my favorites. My group of threadfins sometimes have little tempers and flare their finnage at each other. It's funny to see this - seems like it happens most when I drop food in the tank.

I also really like cardinal tetra. I don't know if it qualifies, but I sure like seeing my 17 Amano Shrimp hang out together in my 60 gallon cube tank. I realize they're inverts, but they do tend to hangout in groups. Schooling of a different sort. Does 17 shrimp hangning out constitute schooling?

I think it does. 

..Peter


----------



## HydroBot

Card Tet in large planted tank with black background and substrate......awesome!

Purple Tet, if you can keep a school of them alive.

Black neons
Gold Tets
Ember Tets, if you can find them, In a smaller planted tank with black background and substrate.
Emperor tets
Penguin tets
Green Fire tets
rummy nose tets
Glow light tets


I like tetras


----------



## jhj

Rainbowfish, choices are many. 6 Bosemani's (lake version) look amazing. If you have a smaller tank, try the dwarf rainbow or the celebes. Threadfins are very delicate.


----------



## mrbelvedere138

Easily Hengel's Rasbora. Well, any rasbora for that matter. But I am a tad biased, I love SE Asian fish.


----------



## standoyo

Caught some Rasbora kalochroma's. Fantastic schoolers...


----------



## BertE

Were Rasbora trilineata already mentioned? They should have been!


----------



## trustbran

P.simulans hands down......


----------



## brynnhilde

*Pencilfish!*

Beckfordis!!! I love this fish. Schools most of the time, even in hiding. I like the ember tetras, because of the red coloring and compact schools. They just do not like my rock water.


----------



## eklikewhoa

threadfin rainbowfish

http://www.fishtanksandponds.net/general/movies/threadfin-rainbows-movie.htm


----------



## jcbyrne

I have a heavily planted 60 gallon long tank. I just added a 10 fish school of rummy nose. They are schooling fine at the bottom. What tetras would occuy the middle to upper level? Thanks.....Janice


----------



## standoyo

Gold tetras, green neons, cardinals... pick a colour!

R

Stan


----------



## Jchillin

I too have a fondness for the serpaes, they just look good against the leaves of green plants. I just recently added 9 Buenos Aires tetras on a whim to add an additional "school" and a different color and after three days, I'm quite impressed with them. 

The other fish I like are Bleeding hearts. They seem to be loose schoolers, but red with black tint in the fins is sweet.


----------



## LindaC

I have 5 Serpae Tetras in my 29 gallon and I think they look great, although they don't school as closely together as I'd like and they seem to like annoying my Blue Rams, especially when they are spawning.

I use to have Lemon Tetras and loved them, they were always together and swam in the upper part of my tank, which I liked.


----------



## standoyo

LindaC said:


> I use to have Lemon Tetras and loved them, they were always together and swam in the upper part of my tank, which I liked.


They school very well! I have about 30+ and the form chain links from one end to the other. Pretty cool.


----------



## cs_gardener

My favorite schoolers are my black neon tetras and giant danios, especially with the light shining off them. Neither my lemon tetras or black skirt tetras will stay together. They both seperate out around the aquarium. And while my cory's are always together in tight schools, they are almost impossible to see with all the plants in the way.


----------



## [email protected]

Tetras


----------



## tjc

These are the closest things to sardines and tuna your going to get in the aquarium... ...marine, African cichlids or native North Americans or community tropicals, rainbows, what ever... ...rummy nose tetras. They consistantly school more than any other fish I have kept. They are truely a schooling fish in the aquarium environment. They also seem to inspire other tetras to school along with them. There is a constant swaying back and forth from one side of the tank to the other like waves in the ocean. It's very peaceful and comforting. I'm more than happy that I got them.


----------



## cs_gardener

I'll have to retract my statement about lemon tetras not schooling. I recently moved mine to an aquarium that has more open area and they stay very close together. However, I suppose this could just be a reaction to having been caught and moved.  Anyway, right now they are very attractive and I will do my best to enjoy them.


----------



## Greenstar

My nominations goes to rasbora borapetensis, the red tailed rasbora, nice tight schooler doesn't get to big and the colors are decent. Also has anyone tried flame tetras? if so how tight do they school?


----------



## [email protected]

[email protected] said:


> Tetras


url=http://thegab.org/Eggs/]







[/url]


----------



## standoyo

cs_gardener said:


> I'll have to retract my statement about lemon tetras not schooling.


They are very speedy as well. Feeding time is really fun as they attack it and swim down quickly one after another and line themselvess up for the next pass.


----------



## rhinoman

I just added 50 Rummynose Tetras in my 180 with my seven Angels. I added them because the general consensus seems to be that they are the tightest schooling fish The Rummies are not schooling. They're happily investigating the tank. Maybe after they've settled in?


----------



## BryceM

I have rummies in my 180g - they stick together like glue. I'd think with angels around that your would school very tightly. The biggest fish in my tank at the moment are juvenile congo tetras - only slightly larger than the rummies. I guess nobody told yours about the school rules.


----------



## Sudi

I like them all but I have to say that...
- Neons (tetras) are very popular and that's why I won't have them in my tank in the next layout.
- Rasbora Espei - this fish is amazing! when the light is good the fish glows and reflects the light, really impressive! I have a photo:



















Matt


----------



## ringram

I have a small group of rummynose tetras in my 20g....4 and I'm going to add a couple more today. They stay together ALL the time, unless they're sleeping. I hear a lot of good things about lemon tetras, blue tetras and harlequin rasboras (LFS calls "t-bone rasbora") as well.


----------



## elaphe

I have 7 rummy nose tetras and just added 5 gold tetras the other day.

For the most part, they all stick together pretty tight. Sometimes the golds will wander off together, but then they see the rummy nose and dart back over to join the crowd.

They also show no aggression toward each other.

My dwarf corys also school, but mainly at feeding time (before, during and right after).

Heck, my Otos hang out together as well?

Brian


----------



## ame

Dear All

Can we have the final rankings please!


Thanks 

ame


----------



## IUnknown

I just got these, and they stick together real nice in a small tank. 
Boraras urophthalmoides　
ƒ{ƒ‰ƒ‰ƒX�@ƒEƒ‹ƒtƒ^ƒ‹ƒ‚ƒCƒfƒX


----------



## Beasts

ame said:


> Dear All
> 
> Can we have the final rankings please!
> 
> Thanks
> 
> ame


I enjoy Mozart, you love The Talking Heads. Who can account for taste? I know very few people who would suggest that I have any.
Behavior, body shape, color, ultimate size, price, availability, etc. all have to be considered. The best solution is to simply set up at least 14 different aquariums and try them all! Of course even then the answer would still only be applicable to your tastes and conditions. And thank goodness for that! Life would be real boring if it weren't for the differences between us. Even as egotistical as I am I can't get excited about talking to myself ALL the time.  
Beasts


----------



## geeks_15

*What about these?*

Has anyone tried trichopsis pumila (dwarf croaking gourami)? 









The galaxy rasbora looks cool. There's a picture here.
Nano-Fish

The zebra rasbora looks cool too.









Does anyone have experience with either of these?

And no one has answered about the flame/von rio tetra. They are supposed to be hardy, and they are cheap here. Has anyone tried these?


----------



## david lim

I've had the zebra rasboras and von rio tetras. Rasboras are shy in high light. Both of these fish aren't really schoolers. Both will really chase each other around. I have heard that the von rio's are easy to breed too, but I've never tried. In my opinion, both fish are great additions to a tank.


----------



## Cassie

the dwarf croaking gouarmi, also called sparkling gouarmi, are definitely not schooling fish. They are fascinating fish, yes, but they don't school. IME, they can squabble among each other, with the alpha male growing larger in size as well as bolder with other tank mates as well as members of it's own species


----------



## LeviathanGirl

pseudomugil gertrudae (Gertrudes Blue Eye Rainbows) Have become my favorite schooling fish. They tend to wander now and then, but their fun to watch. Especially when their spawning in a mop tucked in the corner of a tank. Heehe 

Pseudomugil Gotta click on the species itself on the left side of the page to see them.

White Clouds too.

Though not a schooling fish I love to see a pair of an apistogramma or pelvicachromis species herding their fry around the bottome of the tank too.


----------



## fishfan

I discovered the Bloodfin Tetra recently while looking at the fish store for something different. I had seen descriptions of it before in books under a fish called the Argentinian tetra but didn't know this was also called bloodfin. I have to say it is one of the neatest tetras there is in my opinion. The look of them in a planted tank is just awesome with the small bit of red on the fins/ white body in contrast to the green plants. Plus I have found them very active and hardy as heck.
However, I actually think a plain old zebra danio school looks neat in a planted tank as well with something reddish or more colored added in. Such as a couple of reddish colored plants or maybe another school of white clouds to provide some color differences.


----------



## rhinoman

Once the Rummies settled in they started schooling...and haven't stoped. When I build my 2500g concrete tank I plan on putting a school of 500 Rummies in it.


----------



## geeks_15

*Ember tetras*

I had been looking for ember tetras for a while and I finally found some. I bought all 11 at the LFS for my 29 gal. They are schooling really well and have a nice orange color. I also like that they stay small. I've read that they stay at about 3cm.

Then another LFS got some and I bought 6 more. They are clear without any color, but seem otherwise fine. Hopefully by the time they get out of the quarantine tank they will color up.

These are great!


----------



## ed seeley

I'm going to put the case for pencilfish (I'm sure others have too).

I have a group of 12 Nannostomus eques that are absolutely superb. They look great at the top of the tank, always looking like they're poised to pounce, but with their tiny mouths it could only be on some unlucky midge! Not the fastest moving or most colourful, but interesting, relaxing and definitely different! I wouldn't be without them now.


----------



## Kelley

Oooohh, those pencilfish are cool! A good friend of mine just got a school of them for his 29gal. Very nice fish


----------



## Steven_Chong

I really like emerald eye rasbora


----------



## Cavan Allen

Me too. They school well and have an understated beauty that really grows on you after a while.


----------



## Steven_Chong

I was thinking of a mixed school of emeralds and white cloud minnows (I love using common fish . . .), but thought in a 60cm a smaller fish might work out better. Something like sparrow rasbora, who have a similar look to WCM but smaller . . . and more expensive. :heh:

Unless I could find some very young WCM


----------



## brennewoman

I love having a school each of neon or cardinal tetras, black neon tetras, and gold tetras. They all tend to intermingle and constantly swim through each other, which is delightful. I also love glass cats and cory catfish. I like the pygmies, the pandas, and the albinos especially. Would love to try the new neon colors of cory, but they are pricey yet.

My single favorite fish in a planted tank is a betta, though. Something so langorious about the long tail waving through the foliage.


----------



## tha_beeg

blue colombian tetras, they stay together nicely and have beautiful colors


----------



## houseofcards

I wonder what people feel about flow and schooling. I had a group of 10 Gold Tetras in my 12g for about a year. The 12g had a strong flow and more surface agitation due to an aquaclear HOB. This group of gold tetra were always together, always. I recently took down the 12g and was excited to see the same behavior in my 72g, but now they are scattered around the tank most of the time just like my cardinals. Their isn't a larger fish in either tank. I've also notice during water changes the fish school better and that would coincede with more water agitation and flow as well.


----------



## algaegrower

Your tetras were probably only schooling to help swim against the flow. Like how geese fly in the V formation when they migrate to help against the wind and lessen the drag. Either that or they just feel safer now that they are in a larger aquarium.
Anyway back to the topic 
i like the way corys school i know they don’t school mid water but its fun to watch 6 corys swimming all across the bottom together.
For mid water swimmers it has to be cardinals and black neons.


----------



## DanD5303

jcbyrne said:


> I have a heavily planted 60 gallon long tank. I just added a 10 fish school of rummy nose. They are schooling fine at the bottom. What tetras would occuy the middle to upper level? Thanks.....Janice


Emerald Eyed Rasboras


----------



## standoyo

Not a tetra but Trigonostigma espei-lambchop rasbora!


----------



## 247Plants

I just got 7 brilliant rasboras for my 60 gallon and they school VERY tightly.....

Got them for 42 cents apiece too at petsmart!


----------



## Overfloater

247Plants said:


> I just got 7 brilliant rasboras for my 60 gallon and they school VERY tightly.....
> 
> Got them for 42 cents apiece too at petsmart!


I had a similar experience. I had these fish for over a year and they would not break school.


----------



## eisg

houseofcards said:


> I wonder what people feel about flow and schooling. I had a group of 10 Gold Tetras in my 12g for about a year. The 12g had a strong flow and more surface agitation due to an aquaclear HOB. This group of gold tetra were always together, always. I recently took down the 12g and was excited to see the same behavior in my 72g, but now they are scattered around the tank most of the time just like my cardinals. Their isn't a larger fish in either tank. I've also notice during water changes the fish school better and that would coincede with more water agitation and flow as well.


not sure about flow, but my 6 skirt tetras tend to only school when they are afraid. Otherwise it's no school. Same with blue tetras. No school. Instead 8 neons schooling nicely. I don't know wether adding fish would do the trick now all has been established and I don't want to go OS either.


----------



## ruger45

The Cardinals are the best IMO.


----------



## edlut67

My tiger barbs are 'schooling like a train' using the whole tank, no. 1 is chasing no.2, no.2 is chasing no.3 etc.. and no. 15 is chasing no. 1 again. The whole day they're at 'school', busy with and among eachother.
When it is about time to go to sleep, approx. 1 hour before the lights go out they all seem tired 'training' and are schooling closely together until the next morning when their 'school-training' starts all over again.


----------



## JERP

For larger fish, I once saw a school of 4" two spot Ticto barbs schooling like Rasboras. Angels school very nicely, if you have a big tank.


----------



## Genin

The serpae tetras I have in my planted tank shoal together very nicely.


----------



## YzMxer99

Hemigrammus rhodostomus! Rummy-Nose! I've got some in with cardnals in the 29g. Those guys school all day long. They hold tighter than the cardnals and tigers that I have or had. Part of it may be the 4" SAE that is a s.o.b. that tries to "school" with the rummy's. I would love to get a longer tank, i.e. 2 29's end to end, to see the school get some running room.
*
ADMIN:* Why don't we put a poll on this thing?:attention


----------



## gill

I'll add fish I have Had

Rasbora dorsiocellata - Very Cool and Exceptionally Hardy. Realy like how they go Bronze color after eating. 
Glass Cats - Always swim in a nive V Formation
I don't think i have noticed these mentioned so far but - Gold White Clouds 
And Also Threadfin Rainbows. 
Pygmy Cories always swim along together.
Glolight tetras are very nice. 

I have recently seen ember tetras and might try them as they are under a pound each ATM


----------



## Adragontattoo

not exactly schooling but my (approx) 2" keyholes all make sure that they can at least see each other during the day and if they get spooked they WILL group together. 

Between the 2 flagfish and the monster Ram (biggest ram I have ever seen) I have, these are confused little cichlids that think they are scavengers and a schooling fish.

I know that it really doesnt count but I still laugh every time I look at that tank.

On topic,

My rainbows all school together (1 boesemani, 2 Turq, 3 Salmon Red)


----------



## Dracolique

I keep Royal Cobalt, Turquoise, Red Snakeskin, Scribble and Pigeon Blood Discus along with common Neon Tetras and German Blue Rams. I dont think anything beats that for a planted tank.


----------



## trebalack

I have royal black emperor tetra, they have the yellowish lining on the fins and tail with black stripe on the body. There eyes has an outer lining of glowing light blue. Awesome school fish for planted tanks.

- T


----------



## pasd

Emerald eye rasboras (Rasbora dorsiocellata) has got to be some of the best schooling fish I've kept. They really stay in a tight formation at the top of the tank.


----------



## DanD5303

I'd second the emerald eyed rasboras. They school even when not under stress. Gold tetras do pretty well, and rummy nose. Dan


----------



## Jessie

I'm going to reinforce someone's previous mention of Diamond Tetras. Perfect for larger tanks, they're always tightly shoaling back and forth -- really dazzling.


----------



## MorningShade

My best schoolers are my redline rasboras, they're always together no matter what. Not the showiest fish or the most active though, even when they're not stressed they usually just hang out together all pointing in the same direction not doing much.


----------



## iek

MorningShade said:


> My best schoolers are my redline rasboras, they're always together no matter what. Not the showiest fish or the most active though, even when they're not stressed they usually just hang out together all pointing in the same direction not doing much.


Exactly the same i can say for mine:

Hyphessobrycon amapaensis

(http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_Hyphessobrycon_amapaensis.php)


----------



## davemonkey

SAE's are my favorite so far; they not only look good in a group, but they 'earn their keep'. 

Also Bleeding Hearts.


----------



## Goat

I'm new to the planted world but I chose to go with red-eyed/lamp-eyed tetras.
I have 20 in my tank and they school and shoal forever, they cover the top of the tank really well. I think my favorite thing is that they are just silver and black so don't distract you much from the plants. They shimmer and shine when they turn around. Very similar to lemon tetras also.










I really like congo tetras also, but they do get quite large in comparison.


----------



## fastang80

In my opinion Rummy nose tetras are the best schooling fish for the fact they hardly get away from each other. Cardinals, and Rasboras look great in a planted tank too.


----------



## jackh

i have 9 harlequin rasboras in a 20g. they school pretty nicely imo

i just set up a new tank (sig). its a 13x13 in cube thats 21 in tall. not all that much horizontal swimming space but plenty of vertical lol. i need a small group of schoolers for it. likin the idea of the lemon tetras, i think their color will be a nice contrast with all the bright green that will be in there. 

im also lookin into some glass catfish, theyre just so unusual that i think theyd be kinda cool to have.

do both of these fish need more room to swim than what i have? if so, any better ideas?


----------



## cs_gardener

Lemon tetra are rather big for a 13x13 footprint and I think they'd look cramped even though they tend to like hanging out and don't swim around a whole lot. 

I think you'd be happier with a dwarf fish, like a micro rasbora, because they wouldn't look cramped as they were swimming around.


----------



## jackh

ya i hadnt realized lemon tetras got that big.

did some more research,think im gonna go with boraras brigittae


----------



## cs_gardener

The boraras are going to look great against all the green you have planned and should suit the tank size well. I think they school better than the tetras too.


----------



## will5

fastang80 said:


> In my opinion Rummy nose tetras are the best schooling fish for the fact they hardly get away from each other. Cardinals, and Rasboras look great in a planted tank too.


I have heard that rummy nose tetras are great schoolers btu I have never had them so until I do I will always recommend Brilliant Rasbora aka Blackline rasbora.

Here are a couple of links on them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rasbora_borapetensis

This link has a bad pic of one but does offer some info on them. http://www.fishbase.org/Summary/SpeciesSummary.php?id=10834

When I first bought them I got five but one died. The four I had left hid all day and did not eat a thing for two weeks until I tried live bbs. They still hid all day but at least they started eating. They began comming out from hidding more often but still ran for cover at the slightest movement. I bought two more and now the wait for me at the side of the tank to feed them. I manged to get them eatting flake and pellet about a week after I started feeding the live bbs.

These guys are almost always schooling together and when they are not the forum small groups which will all make a run for each other if you walk up to the tank too fast. I forgot to metion that I have one female that is always fat with eggs and the males follow her vibrating against her. All though I have never seen any fry and or eggs.

I bought these fish on a whim and now the are my favorite fish. They are well worth the trouble they put up any the beginning.


----------



## 4f1hmi

I like cardinals and rummynose tetras but have you seen the lamp eye yetras school in low light. Looks like small floating flashlights.


----------



## overboard

Anyone have black rasboras? I just saw them at a LFS and they were beautiful- like harlequin resboras, but the black triangle covered most of their body, and their head was red. No yellow at all. They were expensive for a schooling fish, $3.99 each. This store usually Id's things properly, but uses the words "tetra" and "rasbora" interchangeably sometimes. What were these?


----------



## subundaortus

I prefer the Pristella Tetras, Lemon tetra's, White Cloud Mountain Minnows, and even Serpae Tetras. I either have or have had each of these at one time or another over the years. The Pristella's are my current favorite.


----------



## Idiopathogen

*Re: Best schooling fish*



ryuken168 said:


> The best schooling fish I ever worked with are the following.
> 1. Rummynose Tetras - Barnone the best.
> 2. True SAE - amazing long lines.
> 3. Cardinal Tetras - I use this a lot.
> 4. Glowlight Tetras - Nice orange w/ white tips
> 5. Rasbora Hengeli
> 6. Veiltail Angels


I went to purchase Rummy Nose Tetras for the first time yesterday based on this thread, and there was only 4 left. The LFS was closing and the clerk was in a hurry, and so I quickly pointed out some nicely schooling glowing orange fish, and so they sold me 10 "Rasbora engeli" so called.

Pretty sure they are Rasbora Hengeli _(Trigonostigma hengeli.)_, and they school VERY nicely:






A lot of the threads and web sites say these are rare. How rare are they? Should I breed them?


----------



## pmoy

I have 3 harlequins with 3 black rasboras in a 20 Gal. They school together nicely. They don't seem to notice that they are not the same type of fish at all. I am thinking about adding a couple more of each.


----------



## Valthenya

my all time fave is an amandae tetra.. other wise known as Ember tetras


----------



## hedson_25

hey what about goldfish?


----------



## yves2013

the most beautiful schooling fish in my opinion is the lampeye killi (normani).


----------



## Knotty Bitz

Celectial pearl danios are really nice small fish, as well as glowlight danios.


----------



## Knotty Bitz

Dennison Barbs are really pretty too except they are pretty expensive.


----------



## OneDaySale

fishfan said:


> I discovered the Bloodfin Tetra recently while looking at the fish store for something different. I had seen descriptions of it before in books under a fish called the Argentinian tetra but didn't know this was also called bloodfin. I have to say it is one of the neatest tetras there is in my opinion. The look of them in a planted tank is just awesome with the small bit of red on the fins/ white body in contrast to the green plants. Plus I have found them very active and hardy as heck.
> However, I actually think a plain old zebra danio school looks neat in a planted tank as well with something reddish or more colored added in. Such as a couple of reddish colored plants or maybe another school of white clouds to provide some color differences.


I put 10 bloodfin tetras in my dad's tank several months ago and they are awesome - they will separate, then recongregate into a tight grouping when people approach the tank. Their color (mainly white, with the red tipped finnage, and a slight metallic-green tint to the body) is a great contrast to the greens in the tank.


----------



## mkeevil

ops this was in the wrong post... how do I delete?


----------



## peacock

I like my serpae tetras


----------



## jonnythefishkeeper

i would say hatchet fish for the top
rummy nose or cardinals for the middle
corydoras for the bottom or giant whiptail catfish 
if any room left i would get some golden panchax!


----------



## DVS Moss

1. Neon Tetra
2. Fancy Guppies
3. Sword Tails
4. Mollies
5. Corydoras


----------



## GrandePippo

My experience tells me there is NOTHING like the rummynose tetra. I think they are by far the best schooling fish out there. I had around 60 of them in a 500 liter planted tank and their behaviour was amazing. Great fish. Number one definitely for me. 

Rasboras are also very good option. They also school nicely together and they also have very agitated behaviour. Seem to like current. 

The pristella tatra is also a good schooling fish, but a little shy. I kept a shcool of around 12 of these in a 100 liter tank with lots of small leaved plants. The fish tends to be intimidated by the lights, but when the light is subdued they display their best self. Like the rasboras they enjoy current. 

Only the above mentioned three species have displayed a close schooling behavior in my tanks. 
My other experience is with blue neons, black neons, lemon tetras, glowlight tetras, penguin tetras, Paraguay tetras, and some others.

Good luck!


----------



## Tausendblatt

Odessa barb is a great schooling barb. It has the best color of any freshwater fish I have ever seen: black, blood red, green, yellow fins with black spots (like a kiwi with seeds in it almost) There is a blue sparkling spot behind their head.

They stick together really well and are fairly small, don't bother plants or anything. They swim faster than most fish, and seem to notice the owner, plus "beg" for food in a dance. I guess do that too, but they are so fast it's ridiculous.

The females are bronze with red fins, and the same blue spot behind their head.


----------



## marrow

ember tetras
Columbian tetras


----------



## brewce

I added a school of 12 Columbian Tetras to my 65g South American tank and Wow! Great color and nice group movement. The unexpected bonus is that Hatchet fish have joined in with them, Now I don't have to bend over all the time to find out were they are on the top. Great addition in my aquarium.


----------



## dunderman

*Re: Mollies*



Steve Pituch said:


> I know they don't school in the traditional sense, but Sailfin mollies generally group themselves together rather informally at various locations in the tank. Fifty mature male Sailfin mollies in a 75 gal, or 75 in a 125 gal aquarium sure look nice together. Plus they are free for the taking down here.
> 
> I guess there's a lot of fish that can be locally caught that school nicely. I once had some pretty red shiners that schooled nicely.
> 
> I guess the classic schooling fishes for an aquascaped tank are tetras, like the Neons, Cardinals, Rummy Nose, or Scissor tails.
> 
> Steve Pituch


I agree with you on the mollies. I recently started keeping livebearers for the first time. My LFS sells feeder livebearers 5 for $1. I bought 20 and wound up with a mix of platies, mollies, swordtails. They've been breeding very well in my 125, and I now have hundreds of fry. Now I just need to get some tetras to keep the population down.


----------



## Dryn

I was curious as to the answer for this post, so I read all the pages. I seem incapable of simply reading, so I wrote down all the fish that were mentioned - which ended up being a lot! I started to organize them by type, find out the scientific names, and put them in order, but it takes a very long time. However, I did finish the tetras. If anyone else has a spare couple of hours to finish... 
At any rate, enjoy! 

Bloodfin Tetra (Aphyocharax anisitsi)
Ruby tetra (Axelrodia riesei)
Blue Tetra (Boehlkea fredcochui)
Black Skirt Tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)
Glowlight Tetra (Hemigrammus erythrozonus)
Broken line tetra (hemigrammus ocellifer)
Rummynose Tetra (Hemigrammus rhodostomus)
Gold Tetra (Hemigrammus rodwayi)
Ember Tetra (Hyphessobrycon amandae)
Buenos Aires Tetra (Hyphessobrycon anisitsi)
Blue Colombian Tetra (Hyphessobrycon columbianus)
Bleeding heart Tetra (Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma)
Flame Tetra (Hyphessobrycon flammeus)
Black Neon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)
Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis)
Serpae Tetra (Hyphessobrycon serape)
Red Phantom Tetra (Hyphessobrycon sweglesi)
Purple Emperor Tetra (Inpaichthys kerri) 
Diamond Tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri)
Black Phantom Tetra (Megalamphodus megalopterus)
Diamond Tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri)
Red-eyed Tetra (Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae)
Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi)
Green Neon (Paracheirodon simulans)
Congo Tetra (Phenacogrammus interruptus)
Pristella Tetra (Pristella maxillaries)
Penguin Tetra (Thayeria boehlkei)


----------



## Dryn

I have to say that I think there is a difference between schooling fish - like rummy's and tetras and fish that merely shoal together - like angelfish. I also think that there are other factors that can influence schooling behavior; like the availability of shelter, health, fish size, group size, tank size (compared to the fish), the presence of larger fish, etc. For example, fifty microrosboras would school comfortably in a ten or twenty gallon aquarium but would be lost in a 90. The same number of congo tetras would never school in a 55 but would be impressive in a 200+. It's all up to what you want. I have to vote for the rummys and neon complex fish for good schooling though.


----------



## James He

Dryn said:


> I have to say that I think there is a difference between schooling fish - like rummy's and tetras and fish that merely shoal together - like angelfish. I also think that there are other factors that can influence schooling behavior; like the availability of shelter, health, fish size, group size, tank size (compared to the fish), the presence of larger fish, etc. For example, fifty microrosboras would school comfortably in a ten or twenty gallon aquarium but would be lost in a 90. The same number of congo tetras would never school in a 55 but would be impressive in a 200+. It's all up to what you want. I have to vote for the rummys and neon complex fish for good schooling though.


I heard there are two type of rummy nose tetra. isn't it?

Here is what I got from internet



> Actually, there are 3 very similar species, the "True Rummy-Nose" from Belém (Hemigrammus rhodostomus) and two "False Rummy-Nose" from Manaus (Hemigrammus bleheri e Petitella georgiae).


James


----------



## Dryn

Yep. There is even an asian rummynose which is blue with a red nose (and tail).


----------



## James He

True Rummy Nose Tetra: Hemigrammus rhodostomus
Common Rummy Nose Tetra: Hemigrammus bleheri (Brilliant rummy nose)
False Rummy Nose Tetra: Petitella georgiae (Black-finned rummy nose)
The second one Hemigrammus bleheri is commonly availible in trade.


----------



## houseofcards

Dryn said:


> I have to say that I think there is a difference between schooling fish - like rummy's and tetras and fish that merely shoal together - like angelfish. I also think that there are other factors that can influence schooling behavior; like the availability of shelter, health, fish size, group size, tank size (compared to the fish), the presence of larger fish, etc. For example, fifty microrosboras would school comfortably in a ten or twenty gallon aquarium but would be lost in a 90. The same number of congo tetras would never school in a 55 but would be impressive in a 200+. It's all up to what you want. I have to vote for the rummys and neon complex fish for good schooling though.


I would definitely agree. I have found very few real 'schooling' fish long-term. Most will school when they are new to an environment or if they sense a threat of some sort or if there is a disturbance in the water like during a water change. As most I have found rummys and some rasboras to be the best at schooling most of the time. Even the other tetras like cardinals eventually just scatter around the tank even when I've had a bigger fish in there.


----------



## nfrank

rasbora have done the best for me in my 120g. They really hang together nicely. I was quite dissapointed with cardinals and didnt miss them after they all died last year. I also like the newest addition to the tank Dwarf Neon Rainbows (Melanotaenia praecox) . You can get an idea from the pictures in my journal how each of these "school." The pictures dont convey how the praecox behave differently in the morning when they explore a different part of the tank.....maybe breeding.


----------



## Dryn

Here is the complete list of all the fish mentioned so far. The ones with the (*) are ones I've added because they were mentioned as good schooling fish in the books I used to get the scientific names. Enjoy.

Tetras
Bloodfin Tetra (Aphyocharax anisitsi)
Green Fire Tetra (Aphyocharax rathbuni)
Dawn Tetra (Aphyocharax paraguayensis)
Ruby Tetra (Axelrodia riesei)
Blue Tetra (Boehlkea fredcochui)
Black Skirt Tetra (Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)
*Silvertip Tetra (Hasemania nana)
* Dash-dot Tetra (Hemigrammus bellottii)
Glowlight Tetra (Hemigrammus erythrozonus)
Broken Line Tetra (Hemigrammus ocellifer)
Rummynose Tetra (Hemigrammus rhodostomus)
Gold Tetra (Hemigrammus rodwayi)
Ember Tetra (Hyphessobrycon amandae)
Red LineTetra (Hyphessobrycon amapaensis)
Buenos Aires Tetra (Hyphessobrycon anisitsi)
Blue Colombian Tetra (Hyphessobrycon columbianus)
Bleeding Heart Tetra (Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma)
Flame Tetra (Hyphessobrycon flammeus)
Black Neon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon herbertaxelrodi)
Lemon Tetra (Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis)
* Red-Tailed Phantom Tetra (Hyphessobrycon roseus)
Serpae Tetra (Hyphessobrycon serape)
Red Phantom Tetra (Hyphessobrycon sweglesi)
*Jelly Bean Tetra (Ladigesis roloffi)
*Jelly Bean Tetra (Lepidarchus Adonis)
Purple Emperor Tetra (Inpaichthys kerri) 
Diamond Tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri)
Black Phantom Tetra (Megalamphodus megalopterus)
Yellow Phantom Tetra (Megalamphodus roseus)
Diamond Tetra (Moenkhausia pittieri)
Red-eyed Tetra (Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae)
* Tolomba Tetra (Nanocheirodon insignis)
* Landgraf's Tetra (Neolebias ansorgii)
* Niger River Tetra (Neolebias axelrodi)
*Niger River Tetra (Neolebias powelli)
*Three-Lined Tetra (Neolebias trilineatus)
*Sakisi Tetra (Neolebias unifasciatus)
*Dwarf Green Tetra (Odontocharacidium aphanes)
Cardinal Tetra (Paracheirodon axelrodi)
Neon Tetra (Paracheirodon innesi)
Green Neon (Paracheirodon simulans)
Congo Tetra (Phenacogrammus interruptus)
X-Ray Tetra (Pristella maxillaries)
Penguin Tetra (Thayeria boehlkei)

Rasboras
Glowlight Rasbora (Rasbora agilis)
* Rabora laoská (Rasbora amplistriga)
Harlequin Rasbora (Rasbora arlequim)
Bali Rasbora (Rasbora baliensis) 
*Spotlight Rasbora (Rasbora beauforti)
Blackline Rasbora (Rasbora borapetensis)
*Brittan’s Rasbora (Rasbora brittani)
*Gold Stripe Rasbora (Rasbora chrysotaenia)
Emerald Eye Rasboras (Rasbora dorsiocellata)
Brilliant Rasbora (Rasbora borapetensis)
*Eyespot Rasbora (Rasbora dorsinotata)
*Johanna’s Rasbora (Rasbora johannae)
*Kalbar Rasbora (Rasbora kalbarensis)
Clown Rasbora (Rasbora Kalochroma )
*(Rasbora meinkeni)
*Large Scaled Rasbora (Rasbora paucisqualis)
Redline rasboras (Rasbora pauciperforata)
*Domba Rasbora (Rasbora rubrodorsalis)
*Blue-Lined rasbora (Rasbora sarawakensis)
*Dwarf Scissortail Rasbora (Rasbora spilocerca)
*Slender Rasbora (Rasbora subtilis)
*(Rasbora tuberculata)
Scissor Tail Rasbora (Rasbora trilineata)
Fire Barb (Rasbora vaterifloris)
(Rasbora vulcanus)
Lambchop Rasbora (Trigonostigma espei)
Rasbora Hengeli (Trigonostigma hengeli)
(Triginostigma somphongsi)
Harlequin Rasboras (Trigonostigma Heteramorpha)

Microrasboras
Emerald Dwarf Rasbora (Microrasbora erythromicron)
Burmese Golden Rasbora (Microrasbora gatesi)
Neon Yellow Rasbora (Microrasbora kubotai)
Micro bororas (Bororas micros)
(Microrasbora Nana)
Asian Cardinal Rasbora (Microrosbora rubescens)
Boraras
Red Fin Dwarf Razor(Boraras brigittae)
Dwarf Rasbora (Boraras maculates) 
Pheonix Rasbora (Boraras merah)
Micro Rasbora (Boraras micros)
Exclamation Point Rasbora (Boraras uropthalemoides)

Barbs
*Dwarf Ember Barb(Barboides gracilis)
Dwarf Red Barb (Barbus jae)
(Barbus rhomboocellatus) 
Tiger Barb (Barbus tetrazona)
Two Spot Barb (Barbus ticto)
Golden Barb (Puntius gelius)
Cherry Barbs (Puntius titteya)
*Golden Barb (Puntius sachsii)
Red-lined Torpedo Barb (Puntius denisonii) 

Danios
Zebra Danio (Brachydanio rerio) 
Giant Danio (Danio awquipinnatus)
Glowlight Danio (Danio chopri)
Celestial Pearl Danio (Celestichthys margaritatus) 
Hora Danio (Danio shanensis)
Tiger Rasbora (Inlecypris auropurpureus)
Sunddadanio (Sundadanio axelrodi)
Gold Ring Danio (Danio sp. TW02)

Rainbows
*Spotted Rainbow (Glossolepis maculosus)
Threadfin Rainbow (Iriatherina werneri)
Bosemani Rainbow (Melanotaenia boesemani)
Gertrudes Blue-eye (Pseudomugle gertrudae)
*Australian Blue-eye (Pseudomugil signifier)
Celebes Rainbow (Telmatherina ladigesi) 

Pencilfish
Pencilfish (Nannostomus beckfordi)
Tube-mouthed Pencilfish (Nannostomus eques)
Banded Pencilfish (Nannostomus espei)
Pencilfish (Nannostomus marginatus)
*Coral Red Pencilfish (Nannostomus mortenthaleri)

Dwarf Cichlids 
Banded Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma bitaeniata)
Borelli’s Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma borelli)
Cochatoo Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma cacatuiodes)
Macmasters Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma macmasteri)
Nijssen’s Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma nijsseni)
Steindachner’s Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma steindachneri)
Three-Striped Dwarf Cichlid (Apistogramma Trifasciata)

Misc.
Asian rummynose (Sawbwa resplendens) 
Lampeye killi (Normani sp.)
Redline Shark (Puntius denisonii)
Angelfish (Pterophyllum scalare)
*Altum angel (Pterophyllum altum)
Silver Hatchetfish (Gasteropelecus sternicla)
Marbled Hatchetfish (Carnegiella strigata)
*Otto cat (Ottocinclus vestitus)
Otto cat (Ottocinclus vittatus)
Dwarf loach (Yasuhikotaki sidthimunki)
*Dwarf Cory (Corydoras habrosus)
*Mosquito fish (Heterandria Formosa)
Fancy guppy (Poecilia reticulate)
Dwarf Corydora (Corydoras hastatus)
Pygmy Cory (Corydoras pygmaeus)
Red Shiner (cyprinid sp)
White Cloud (Tanichthys albonubes) 
*White Cloud (Tanichthys micagemmae)
*(Trichopsis schalleri)
Sparkling Gourami (Trichopsis pumila)
*(Trichopsis vittata)
Glass Catfish (Kryptopterus bicirrhis)
Sid the Monkey (Botia Sidthimunki)
Krib (Pelvicachromis Pulcher)
SAE (Crossocheilus siamensis)
YoYo Loach (Botia lohachata)
Sunrise Gurami (Colisa Lalia)
Debauwi Cat (Pareutropius buffei)
Pencilfish sp (Nannostomus eques)


----------



## brackish bro

a school of ceylon puffers!!! and a school of brackish water snowflak eels!!! hahaha.... to me it depends on how big your tank is.....i like african leaf fish or fandancer goby's but i have a 180 gallon tank


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## shark1505

I would have to say these are my top
1. Rummynose tetra, can't go wrong, a little hard to acclimate but once in, amazing!
2. Harlequin Rasbora, great schooler
3. Cardinal tetra: adds color to any tank, don't school well though...
4 Finally, Black neon, I believe they are just stunning


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## rich815

shark1505 said:


> I would have to say these are my top
> .....
> 3. Cardinal tetra: adds color to any tank, don't school well though...
> .....


I gotta disagree with that. I have 20 in my 72 gal planted discus tank and they school beautifully.


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## oosul

thank dryn.


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## nfrank

Regarding cardinals, and perhaps other fishes, their tendancy to school may depend on many factors. 

For me in my 120g tank, they were a dissapointment. This could be because of the size of the tank and other fishes which were present at the time. You can check my journal and catch some representaive pictures of them and other fishes which i kept over the past 14 months.

In other tanks, i thought they were great. Then they were in smaller or different shape tanks and in combination with other fishes and i was very pleased with their schooling behaviour. So, YMMV.


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## cdirus

Dryn said:


> Here is the complete list of all the fish mentioned so far. The ones with the (*) are ones I've added because they were mentioned as good schooling fish in the books I used to get the scientific names. Enjoy.
> 
> ...
> Microrasboras
> Emerald Dwarf Rasbora (Microrasbora erythromicron)
> Burmese Golden Rasbora (Microrasbora gatesi)
> Neon Yellow Rasbora (Microrasbora kubotai)
> Micro bororas (Bororas micros)
> (Microrasbora Nana)
> ...


Hi Dryn,
Just FYI: A recent DNA study has shown that the Emerald Dwarf Rasbora is not a Rasbora, but is actually in the genus Danio (_Danio erythromicro_n). It is the sister species to the Celestial Pearl Danios. If anyone is interested I do have a pdf of the paper.

Cdirus


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## houseofcards

nfrank said:


> Regarding cardinals, and perhaps other fishes, their tendancy to school may depend on many factors.
> 
> For me in my 120g tank, they were a dissapointment. This could be because of the size of the tank and other fishes which were present at the time. You can check my journal and catch some representaive pictures of them and other fishes which i kept over the past 14 months.
> 
> In other tanks, i thought they were great. Then they were in smaller or different shape tanks and in combination with other fishes and i was very pleased with their schooling behaviour. So, YMMV.


They never schooled great *long-term *for me in either small or big tanks, but I'm sure there are other factors as well. They did school very well in this tank at the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but I think there were Snakes and Turtles in there as well. LOL.


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## fishstein

*Small fish that'll do best in 29g open layout (little plant cover)*

Thanks again for posting this thread - it was very helpful and informative.

I could really use your input on matching small fish to an open zen-style layout with Seiryu stones planted with some Anubias Nana Petite, surrounded by a carpet of Dwarf Hair Grass. Every planted tank I've had up to now has been heavily planted, with lots of plant cover for fish, and usually open swimming corridors in between plants. I've never done a very open layout like this before.

The only cover in the tank besides the Frogbit is just a few Sieryu stones standing at a little less than half height of tank, and short Dwarf Hair Grass and C. Parva.

I put together a list of small fish that would do well with Red Cherry Shrimp and a Dwarf Orange Crayfish in our 29g Biocube, which I have fitted with an XP2 filter beneath the tank, CO2 reactor and two 6700K daylight bulbs.

Of the fish on my list below, and any you can suggest, which will do best in an open-style Seiryu stone and Dwarf Hair Grass layout? I didn't consider fish choice beyond color, size, RCS-safe at first - and realize some small fish may not do as well in a tank with less cover. There will be a few floating plants like Amazon Frogbit for some shade cover.

(I should note that if we give up plans for the RCS in this tank we could keep dwarf cichlids like Ramirezi and also Khuli Loaches).

FISH:

-Pygmy Cory (Habrosus cory) - I think will be fine in a group of 5 or 6) 
-Otocinclus 
-Sabwa Resplendens (read they can be shy but males can be aggressive with each other - perhaps certain school size will work well in open layout) - do you think they'll do well in open layout? 
-Pseudomugil gertrudae (Gertrude's Rainbow) - read they sometimes can be aggressive toward other small peaceful fish, sometimes not. 
-Celestial Pearl Danios - lower level - read can be shy - will they be less shy in group? Will they be ok in this open layout? 
-Threadfin Rainbows aka Iriatherina werneri - they seem pretty outgoing, always displaying to each other - think they will be ok?

INVERTS:

-Super Red Cherry Shrimp 
-Orange Dwarf Crayfish


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## Newt

Brilliant Rasboras. They never break from the pack and not a bad looking fish either.


----------



## Pookie Bear

I have a small group of cardinal tetras and i love them. The only thing is they don't like to swim by the plants they usually will just stay towards the front of the tank where it is more open. (That could also be because i have German and Electric blue rams who get very territorial!)


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## Cvurb

Well I just ordered 25 Dwarf Spotted Rasboras for my 55G low light Crypt/Anubias tank with manzanita Branches. Its pretty newly set up, so the plants are very big yet, but there is a lot of height from the driftwood. It will be really interesting to see a school this big of fish that small in a tank that is Huge for them. 
The last schooling fish I had was 6 Rummy Nose Tetras, I loved them, but sold them thinking I was going to do a Riparium, but long story short, I didn't and just made a low light only tank, should be here Wednesday because they are being shipped tomorrow  Soooo exited!


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## totziens

I have been looking for small schooling fish for my 15 gallon tank. Look like green neon tetra is the winner now as I don't want something I already have or have tried in the past.

I have all of the following species:

1. Harlequin rasbora.
2. Cherry barb - they don't really school.
3. Pristella tetra - very hardy not not schooling very tightly.
4. Lemon tetra - my all time favourite hardy species.
5. Black phantom tetra - I got bored of them. They don't school and tend to be loners.
6. Black neon tetra - they don't really school that well.
7. Ember tetra - another of my all time favourite. Cheap, hardy and beautiful.
8. Livebearer in general (i.e. endler, platy, swordtail, etc) - they don't really school.

I have tried these in the past:

1. Espei rasbora - no idea why I can't keep them very long.
2. Boraras brigittae & maculatus - they went missing one after another when I was away from home.
3. Yellow phantom tetra - I can't find them as nobody imports them anymore.
4. Neon tetra - very boring because I see them everywhere I go.
5. Rummynose tetra - I could hardly keep them alive long enough.
6. Zebra danio - 15 gallon tank is to small for them.

Additional ones I have considered but decided to skip:

1. Cardinal tetra - very boring too because they're everywhere now.
2. Silver tipped tetra - too active for 15 gallon tank and will definitely harass the loners (Black phantom tetras). 
3. Threadfin rainbow - a bit concern that black phantom tetra will be a threat to their long fins.
4. A few varieties of lampeye - shorter life span and the ones I saw at the farm I visited were full of dead ones in the tanks. Not a good sign.
5. Dario dario - too slow moving for my liking.
6. Celestial pearl danio - I prefer to stay away from contributing to their extinction (if the issue is still on-going).


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## gBOYsc2

My favorite schooling fish would have to be the featherfin rainbowfish. They don't just swim around in the same area, they actually school. All the time.


----------



## giovanni_carlo

the best are neon tetras and guppies


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## coco_moo

We've had excellent luck with a small school (about 10) of lemon tetras in a 40 gallon breeder we use for plecos. 

Every once and a while there will be a straggler but it'll rejoin the group within a few minutes. 

...The only problem with them is that they stay on one side of the tank, mind you the only fish in there who will move them around is a red tail black shark!


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## 21windowsamba

i have to say even the neons and cardinals are boring and everywhere still they really look good as a schooling freshwater fish as for me I cannot resist having them.


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## TarantulaGuy

Cardinals can be boring, but when you get a school of a couple hundred, the effect is definitely worth seeing.










edit: Oh jeez, I didn't even go back a page on this thread, but I should have. Someone else has the same picture as me, lol. OOps!


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## 21windowsamba

TarantulaGuy said:


> Cardinals can be boring, but when you get a school of a couple hundred, the effect is definitely worth seeing.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> edit: Oh jeez, I didn't even go back a page on this thread, but I should have. Someone else has the same picture as me, lol. OOps!


Would I love to have something like this in my living room


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## matt12

My al time favorite is the Asian Rummynose. Schols very very well and are really nice looking. Tho sold as a Asian Rummynose tetra, they are in fact Rasboras. the only trouble with them is that there a pain in the [email protected] to find!!!!!!!!!


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## Cavan Allen

matt1212 said:


> My al time favorite is the Asian Rummynose. Schols very very well and are really nice looking. Tho sold as a Asian Rummynose tetra, they are in fact Rasboras. the only trouble with them is that there a pain in the [email protected] to find!!!!!!!!!


_Sawbwa resplendens_? Yeah, they are hard to find, and some times they only have males for sale. IME, they don't compete for food well at all.


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## matt12

Cavan Allen said:


> _Sawbwa resplendens_? Yeah, they are hard to find, and some times they only have males for sale. IME, they don't compete for food well at all.


yup thats the one!


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## WRabbit

Has anyone mentioned Roseline Sharks (Puntius denisonii)? IMO, they are one of the best schooling fish for large (55& up) planted tanks.


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## urbnbtta

does anyone know of really small fish akin to guppy fry sized that school, and stay super small? i don't need color or anything fancy, just tiny fish that would school in my densely planted "el natural" tank.

thanks!


----------



## spypet

the smallest are either be Endler guppy males or ruby tetras;
http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/102401-tetra-size-list/
there is also a freshwater 2cm goby as small as the tetra;
Brachygobius xanthomelas
on these species, males are even smaller than females.
the tetras would school, the gobies would move in gangs,
while the Endlers would chase each other around a lot.
that list is a bit outdated, and does not include Danios,
but it's unlikely there are adults under 2cm in this hobby.


----------



## jkan0228

WRabbit said:


> Has anyone mentioned Roseline Sharks (Puntius denisonii)? IMO, they are one of the best schooling fish for large (55& up) planted tanks.


Roseline Sharks are quite expensive these days and need a much bigger tank than a 55 in schools of 5 or larger....


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## urbnbtta

thanks for the lead on the Brachygobius xanthomelas, anybody know a good source in nyc?

i also found this other thread that is greatly helpful, but no description on whether they school: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fish-planted-aquarium/39181-smallest-fish-aquarium.html

does anyone know whether Danionella spp. or Indostomus paradoxus school?


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## Newt

I still say Brilliant rasboras are the best schoolers.
You never see a straggler.


----------



## SuperWen

vote for rummy nose tetra and rasbora harlequin


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## Fishflake

A lot of people like the Rummy nose tetra. Are you talking about Hemigrammus rhodostomus or Hemigrammus bleheri, or both? They are both sold as Rummy nose. I've never kept either, but I'd like to know if there is a significant difference. I'm setting up a new tank and the Rummy nose is on my short list.


Thanks


----------



## f1ea

The Harlequin Rasbora. Definitely. Its pretty hardy, peaceful and constantly schools. The are not annoyingly active, yet they're always "there"......

The Tetras are good enough, but they seem to need some sort of stimuli to school neatly. But since there's so many colors and shapes to choose from, they're usually a great sp to choose.

Danios school pretty well, but they are so active, its kinda annoying... i prefer the longfinned zebras since they swim slightly slower.


----------



## stevenlau

What about green neon tetra (paracheirodon simulans)? Anybody has an exp with them? Thanks.


----------



## vancat

yes, I have a school of 20 and they are AWESOME! my new favorite fish!


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## stevenlau

vancat said:


> yes, I have a school of 20 and they are AWESOME! my new favorite fish!


Are they schooling or shoaling? How are they awesome? And what is their max length size when reach adult? Thank you.


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## vancat

well this is the first time I have had them. They are now about an inch. I don't expect them to get much bigger. They hang out together, whether that's a school or a shoal, I don't know.
I like them better than neons or cards because they have more blue than either. And when the light hits them a certain way they are greenish neon! Really cool. When I got them they were tiny however I didn't lose a single one!


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## stevenlau

Wow, congratz that you didn't lose a single one when first purchased. 

I bought 40 about 3 weeks ago and at the second day, they got pretty heavy ich. I raised the temp to 30-31C for 5days and they got no better, every day I lose about 1-2 fishes, later I decided to treated them with JBL Punktol (malachite green)with half the dose and yet with no better result, the ich was developing more and more, meanwhile the fishes kept dying every day, increase the dose to 3/4, the result was the same and when I dose fully, all of the fishes die at the day after.

Green neon is very hard to obtain at least here in my country and the price for it is also very expensive. They are available maybe just once in a year in a stock of no more than 500 fishes.


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## vancat




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## 21windowsamba

f1ea said:


> The Harlequin Rasbora. Definitely. Its pretty hardy, peaceful and constantly schools. The are not annoyingly active, yet they're always "there"......
> 
> The Tetras are good enough, but they seem to need some sort of stimuli to school neatly. But since there's so many colors and shapes to choose from, they're usually a great sp to choose.
> 
> Danios school pretty well, but they are so active, its kinda annoying... i prefer the longfinned zebras since they swim slightly slower.


x2 I find in todays market the harlequins that are captive bred have simulated itself to our waters and I feel that they are a little easier to care for


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## lovely helen1

Very good topic！


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## joaly

i have a 30 gall heavily planted tank with java moss, christmas moss, anubias nana,hc, etcc, alot of plants

i already have 3 nerite snails , 6 cherry shrimp and 6 ghost shrimp 

i was thinking to add 10-15 schooling fish that would stay together and not eat my shrimp

please advice thanks


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## Unicorrs

Colorful schooling fish:
Glowlight Danios

Tight schooling fish:
Rummynose tetras
Harlequin rasboras


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## Aussie_hippie_2

Harlequin Rasboras with a mildly aggressive fish like a female betta to keep 'em in schools.


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## jerilovesfrogs

agree with harlequin rasboras. i really like those, and they schooled pretty well too. i think bloodfin tets are the tightest schooling fish i've had. besides zebra danios....but i am not a huge fan of those, except in my crayfish tank haha. 

i'm curious though to check out rummies and lemon tetras.....


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## niko

I got to chime in on this topic although I must have done that in the past since I imported super rare small aquarium fish as part of Invertz Factory.

Dealing with 2-5 thousand fish every month most of which were and are so rare that often there was zero information about them gave me quite a bit of insight and appreciation for fish. Before I didn't really like fish, I liked plants.

So, long story short, here are a few considerations that slip away from the attention of the average aquarium enthusiast:

1. Wild fish have the special appeal of being wild. That may seem simple and clear but if you keep wild fish for some time every so often you will find yourself really appreciating the fact that this here animal used to swim in some real creek or a lake. It was hatched among algae and predators. It has been caught and shipped and so on and now you look at it and it looks at you. Nothing compares to that feeling, not even a very bright and interesting coloration.

2. Fish indeed have a perfect range of conditions in which they show their beauty in full glory. Among about 300 species of rare fish I got to say that it is pretty hard to find a more beautiful fish that the plain old Harlequin rasbora. WHEN it is displaying its best colors. 99.9% of the time it does not show anything even close to what it hides.

3. Freshwater fish have very special and subtle beauty that one can only see if the conditions are right, ok. But that does not mean only colors or behavior. It means how the fish fits in your aquascape. How it moves around and interacts with the decorations/plants. Best example is Rasbora pauciperforata. This fish did not sell very well. Actually it did not sell at all. Because it is not brightly colored and it is shy. But in the right environment the table turns. First off it matures slowly. Takes about 2 years for the fish to aqcuire the shape that makes it beautiful looking. The scales become more outlined too. Allright, we've heard that before. But what is special about this fish is its habit to hide among vegetation and dart out in a big and active school when food is present. Many other fish do that but for some reason R. pauciperforata makes this look elegant, wild, and an absolutely stunning display of behavior.

4. A fish's behaviour can be successfully used to create an aquascape that conveys a special mood. We setup a tank which had a bunch of tall rocks in the middle and a wide open area all around. Basically rocks in the middle of the tank. Then we added gobies and a few other species of fish that we knew will stick to the rocks only. The overall impression of that tank is of a microcosmos. The fish constantly move around the rocks, under them, sit on them etc. But they seldom leave this "island" of bustling life. It's like you are watching an entire civilization's life restricted, bound to only a few rocks. Amazing.

5. Fish behave differently when in large schools. Let me not post a link to my big tank that everybody must have seen already. Basically in your living room you can have the same sight as those huge schools of perfectly coordinated small fish that they often show on the Discovery channel. Exact distance between the fish, one big sweeping motion, exact angles of the body. One big organism... That impression is not the same if the fish are in a school of say 20-30. And you can make that big organism comprised of many tiny bodies watch you and move according to your movements. Flow to and fro, divide itself only to come together again, and find new ways to siphon itself among the plants. A dance of sorts... with a large creature that is and is not there and at any moment can fall apart into its individual pieces.

6. Some variations of well known fish are truly stunning. Example: Sunset Rummynose. A rummynose with orange glowing head and fins that have extremely contrasting black and white stripes. It does not lose these colors when stressed. 

7. Green neon rasbora. Under the right light spectrum this fish is truly stunning green. Like no other freshwater fish. Green neon tetra (it's blue or green actually) - never loses its bright colors. It literally glows in the dark. All you see is the fluoresent back - like a strike of glowing color.

8. Indostomus spp. A tiny barely noticeable elongated fish looking like half a toothpick. The beauty comes from the long snout and the big eyes. Looks somewhat like a miniature crocodile. If you happen to have a nice macro lens on your camera you will, sooner or later, point it at that fish. And then you will be stunned. The eyes are baby blue actually. AND the lids open and close like yours. Or like the eyelids of a crocodile. This is a seasonal fish and not very popular. When available it is available super cheap and in super large quantities. Buy it if you can. Get as many as you can.

9. All things half-beak. These almost ugly looking fish have a special beauty. Eventually only a few or a single one will end up lasting in your tank. They have a lot of personality, are clumsy, and some of them will remind you of a parrot with their shape and super intense colors.

10. Mini glass goby. Think 3/8" (about 3-4 mm) when fully grown. Think a sliver of glass. Barely visible, even the eyes. Imagine a rimless tank, 1 species of a thin leafed grassy plant and these half-imaginary creatures. They are detectable only if they move. You will repeatedly find and lose them 10 inches from your eyes. An impression between real and unreal, visible and unvisible. You get the idea. Seasonal, cheaper than dirt, rarely imported.


--Nikolay


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## Akulakat

Very interesting Niko. Thanks for the info. I like my fish as much as I like my plants. They are the hustle and bustle of my created city.


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## Michael

This makes me want to see the _Rasbora pauciperforata_!


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## houseofcards

Niko, that's really interesting it's too bad that most can't experience the fish in their natural or near natural habitat. 

BTW, what is your experience with flow and schooling behavior if any?


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## niko

Funny you asked about flow and behavior.

First off all loaches will not only get more active when the flow is strong. They will also display colors that you have never seen, even on photoshopped internet pictures.

Also, just last night I had to clean an Eheim filter because I do not follow my own advice and I used a sponge in it. The sponge had gotten clogged and the flow in that tank was minimal. Well, lo and behold, the few Nigerian Red Kribs, all males, that I had all of a sudden colored up like in the old days. Not only that but the big male that dug a hole under the rocks was now swimming with the others. And one of them even stayed with the big male in his hole for a while.

I'm talking about this particular example because just last night I saw what profound effect has the flow on the fish behavior AND coloration. I bet not everybody knew that.

--Nikolay


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## niko

Michael said:


> This makes me want to see the _Rasbora pauciperforata_!


I got about 20, at least 2 years old now. If you setup another amazing low maintenance tank, El Natural, and full of what not beautiful lush plants all the R. pauciperforata I got are yours for the asking. Seriously.

--Nikolay


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## fishyjoe24

makes me think about what fish would go with shrimp, or what i could put in the 10g and they would school and not get to big.


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## fishyjoe24

yes i will also comment on flow... having a small filter 2234 on my 45g, (plan to get a bigger filter)... i dropped in a maxi-jet 1200 and now the corys are coming out hanging 10, my flame tetras are starting to show there red, they also seem to be healther, this was also after switching from the 2 bulb t5 ho set up, to the 4 bulb t5 ho setup.


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## niko

Joey mentioned about combinations of shrimp and fish.

I can't say I have to say much (other than feeding Angelfish with cherry shrimp back in 2007 and witnessing $20 disappear in a very ugly and sad way...). But I do have a very interesting observation.

It involves Sulawesi shrimp. The shrimp we have all but forgotten about by now. They were the bomb few years ago when first introduced. The Ryan whatever guy even managed to scam quite a few people out of quite a bit of money with promises to import these amazing little creatures via Germany. At that time Invertz Factory was born - exactly with the intent to import and sell these ultra beautiful shrimp.

Well, the shrimp trick didn't work out. The wildcaught shrimp did not handle shipping well. They arived very large and very intensely colored. And also very limp and very dead. Only 2 years later the exporters learned that only captive bred Sulawesi shrimp ship very well. And the prices fell (well to about $10 retail for a single shrimp, barely 1/4" long). At that time we imported 2 kinds again - the Cardinal reds and the Candy Cane.

Both arrived just fine. Both did their shrimpy thing all over the bottom of the tank. There were no issues with shipping them all over the US.

BUT! The interesting part was when we dumped a bunch of Chocolate Rabbit snails in the same tank. They come from the Sulawesi lakes too, just like the shrimp. Most of the shrimp perched themselves on the shells of the snails and would literally never leave. When I stuck the net in the tank to catch them they "hid" on the shelves. Holding for dear life in plain sight. 

I hope you caught the most interesting detail in all this: The shrimp we had were captive bred. I bet they had never seen or touched a snail from the motherland of their parents/granparents. But they had a special affinity to those snails. They were "home" somehow. Somewhere the fluids and the living cells of these tiny creatures there was a memory of home...

That made me thing about the perfect and imperfect environment that we can offer to the animals and plants in our tanks. Combinations of species from the same regions may yield interesting and unexpected results. The more common example is combining fish from the same region. In some cases the behavior changes in ways that are only positive - improved colors, perkier movements, and better apetite. I think that I heard someone telling me that keeping neon tetras with discus makes the discus calmer or not as shy. Hope to hear more about that from someone.

--Nikolay


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## niko

Another cool story from Niko the Fishy Storyteller.

This time it is spooky. A tale from the fish crypt.

Quite often with the shipments of fish we'd get a few species that accidentally got in the bags with the other fish. From Asia quite often these hitch hikers were wild bettas. Small size. Undistinct coloration. Usually shy and unnoticeable.

Well.. one day I walked into the fish room and I saw about 20 of the newly arrived Chilli rasboras dead. Ok, I collect them with an angry/sad face and go about my daily chores. The next day - same thing. The next day - same thing. 5 days in a row I found about 20 dead mini rasboras. That is not unusual when fish are shipped. Quite a few of them arrive fine only to gradually die off in the next few weeks. That is why Invertz Factory advertised and actually did something very weird. It is called "quarantine". Most freshwater fish importers do not know that word...

But in this case I felt something was funky. The fish were in great shape. All 200+ of them came to see me when I walked into the room. Why would some of them die like that. This kind of mini rasbora is not sensitive at all. They are hardy little lads.

And as I stood there in front of the tank looking at the new batch of about 20 dead little fish he came out.

It was a tiny wild betta that came accidentally with the fish. Shy and small.. I dumped him in the tank full of moss and forgot about him. He did not care about my feeding efforts either. Typical wild betta.

And here the creepy music starts.

The tiny betta poked his face out of the moss. Then with a lightning fast movement he drew a straight line to the first dead rasbora. Looked at it and viciously bit it a single time thrusting his whole tiny body into the violent act!

Then, without any pause, he zipped to the next one and bit it. And the next, and the next, and the next.

By that time I was shouting my Bulgarian praises at him while frantically looking for the net. Except that as soon as I dipped it in the tank the betta disappeared in the moss. Tiny is good. So say cockroaches I guess.

I moved the rasboras out of the tank instead. Put larger fish in the tank later.

All that maybe creepy. But you cannot help and be amazed by the precision and the instincts that this little killer had. He apparently knew exactly how to get the faster moving fish. He had a mental map of where they were laying (he did not just see them laying there - he knew the next one was over that rock or behind that there plant). He did not eat them, he just killed them with a very powerful and meticulous move. All these things in a body barely 1/4" long.

--Nikolay


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## crw.npt

So niko, now I'm curious about this little betta. what ever became of him??


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## bmedeiros678

Black neon tetras. They school more than any Tetra I've had before.


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## Justaquatic

Raul-7 said:


> What do you think is the best schooling fish, that is an absolute must in any planted aquarium?!


harlequins and Glolight tetras are better and school very well. I think it is because they share a tank with a couple of angelfish.


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## reybie

In my experience, most smaller fish will school if there's a big fish in the tank with them


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## rowdaddy

Rummy nosed tetras, and SAEs

I am Rowdaddy. 
SC Aquaria

75 Community
20H Community
20L Convict "Bedroom" 
20L Growout
10gal RCS
1.5gal in progress
55 gal Paludarium/Vivarium coming soon


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## rowdaddy

Best thing about the SAEs...Interaction...

I am Rowdaddy. 
SC Aquaria

75 Community
20H Community
20L Convict "Bedroom" 
20L Growout
10gal RCS
1.5gal in progress
55 gal Paludarium/Vivarium coming soon


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## tipsy mcstager

if a fish never sees itself in a mirror, and is not centint to know what kind of fish it is.
how does it know, who to school with?

ROTFL....................which begs the question, why did kamikaze pilots wear helmets??ainkille


\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/\\/:violin:


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## Luminescent

niko said:


> Joey mentioned about combinations of shrimp and fish.
> 
> I can't say I have to say much (other than feeding Angelfish with cherry shrimp back in 2007 and witnessing $20 disappear in a very ugly and sad way...). But I do have a very interesting observation.
> 
> It involves Sulawesi shrimp. The shrimp we have all but forgotten about by now. They were the bomb few years ago when first introduced. The Ryan whatever guy even managed to scam quite a few people out of quite a bit of money with promises to import these amazing little creatures via Germany. At that time Invertz Factory was born - exactly with the intent to import and sell these ultra beautiful shrimp.
> 
> Well, the shrimp trick didn't work out. The wildcaught shrimp did not handle shipping well. They arived very large and very intensely colored. And also very limp and very dead. Only 2 years later the exporters learned that only captive bred Sulawesi shrimp ship very well. And the prices fell (well to about $10 retail for a single shrimp, barely 1/4" long). At that time we imported 2 kinds again - the Cardinal reds and the Candy Cane.
> 
> Both arrived just fine. Both did their shrimpy thing all over the bottom of the tank. There were no issues with shipping them all over the US.
> 
> BUT! The interesting part was when we dumped a bunch of Chocolate Rabbit snails in the same tank. They come from the Sulawesi lakes too, just like the shrimp. Most of the shrimp perched themselves on the shells of the snails and would literally never leave. When I stuck the net in the tank to catch them they "hid" on the shelves. Holding for dear life in plain sight.
> 
> I hope you caught the most interesting detail in all this: The shrimp we had were captive bred. I bet they had never seen or touched a snail from the motherland of their parents/granparents. But they had a special affinity to those snails. They were "home" somehow. Somewhere the fluids and the living cells of these tiny creatures there was a memory of home...
> 
> That made me thing about the perfect and imperfect environment that we can offer to the animals and plants in our tanks. Combinations of species from the same regions may yield interesting and unexpected results. The more common example is combining fish from the same region. In some cases the behavior changes in ways that are only positive - improved colors, perkier movements, and better apetite. I think that I heard someone telling me that keeping neon tetras with discus makes the discus calmer or not as shy. Hope to hear more about that from someone.
> 
> --Nikolay


This 'shrimp / snail' story is probably one of the most fascinating things I have read on a fish forum. It pairs with a long-held, currently rather 'unscientific' belief of mine.


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## vancat

Niko rocks.


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## AquaBarren

Bosmani rainbows
Blue neon rainbow
Rummy nose tetra (#1)
Chain loach. (#2)

I've had great luck with the above schooling. The rainbows I thought were schoalers, but mine were always together, swimming in groups. 

The chain loaches are great. School together on the bottom with occasional bursts mid tank. Very active fish with personality.


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## Skizhx

Luminescent said:


> This 'shrimp / snail' story is probably one of the most fascinating things I have read on a fish forum. It pairs with a long-held, currently rather 'unscientific' belief of mine.


The book "Aquarium Designs Inspired by Nature" by Peter Hiscock touches on this concept. In his book he mentions how certain fish that have coexisted with certain plants, and have developed features (patterns, body shape, fin size, etc) that may better help the fish use these plants as cover, breeding grounds, etc. He also goes on to extend this idea to types of driftwood, types of rocks, types of substrate, etc... Long story short, he advocates biotopes to encourage the most natural behaviour, health, etc, etc.

It's not a groundbreaking insight, in fact it's a pretty basic principal of ecology, but one that's ignored in the hobby... Personally I don't completely agree with him on every point, but I would be more surprised if there weren't some degree of 'desirable' behavioural influences brought by the presence or absence of certain species. I've personally felt that timid fish get a sense of security by having more visible, small fish around. Sort of a "they're easier targets, and they seem calm" effect. Animal behaviour is an interesting and sometimes confusing subject though.

As to the snail/shrimp relationship, it would be interesting if someone were to try and determine what the trigger is that attracts the shrimp to these specific snails. Colour? Shape? Size? Chemical? Food?


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## Bruce_S

The chocolate rabbit snails always seem to have a concretion of the native sediments from the lake adhering to their shells. Perhaps it's something in that which reminds the shrimp of "home"?

~Bruce


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## niko

Thing is - somehow the hobby that originally tried to bring the beauty of Nature indoors has gone toward creating and maintaining an altered copy of Nature. We don't even understand what is beautiful very well any more. ADA employed exactly that over the years - presenting us with aquascapes that appeal to the eye and mind but completely unnatural. In addition from an artist's point of view most of the tanks are tasteless, breaking basic rules of composition and made to please the uneducated eye. They LOOK great to us.

Here's an example closer to home: What is the most beautiful freshwater aquarium fish you have ever seen? Everybody has an answer but we all forget that the fish will show the best colors ONLY in a specific environment. My example is super simple - Harlequin Rasbora. I cannot even explain how this fish which you can always find in nasty chain pet stores is indeed the most beautiful freshwater fish. Keep in mind that when I imported rare fish we had about 250 rare species over the years and I still think the Harlequin Rasbora beats them all. In certain conditions this fish turns into a glowing tender pink creature.

Another story along these lines: In the beginning of the 80's I was first introduced to the aquascaping hobby by a person that I wish could introduce everybody to the hobby. Tanks without CO2, extremely low light (some only ambient) and plants that grew lush and intensely colored like we never see them nowadays. I guess slow growth and a close to Nature environment is indeed a beast that has long run away from us. In those tanks the fish spawned on a regular basis. But the colors of the fish were something I have never seen again in this hobby. Not even with strong lights, special spectrums, amazing foods, and what not. Even some of the simplest fish (rosy danio) dispayed colors that I've never seen again.

So since this is a thread about schooling fish I can say that the schooling does depend on many factors. The simplest things to do are indeed simple - do not force the fish in an environment that is unnatural to them. They will be just fine and look good but never give you everything they got. Put a bunch of cardinals in a brightly lit tank with a huge water flow and amazing fast growing plants. The pH will be low because of the gushing CO2. The food you give them will enhance the red coloration. But don't forget where cardinals come from:


















Look at the entire gallery here. Use the ">" on the right to go to the next image.

__
https://flic.kr/p/5323081290

Note the pH. It is 3.93. Not because of super high CO2. Care to fake the low pH using CO2?


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## somkindawonderful

LOVE this thread. My question is, can I have two of these schools in one 15g column tank (14x14 footprint)? I fell in love with black neons last night, so I am pretty certain I need to have a school of those. But after Niko's love notes about Harlequin Rasboras, I'd love to have a school of them as well. Will this work? I don't want to overcrowd my tank.


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## BR1AN

1) Galaxy Rasbora
2) Roseline Shark


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## fishfan

21windowsamba said:


> i have to say even the neons and cardinals are boring and everywhere still they really look good as a schooling freshwater fish as for me I cannot resist having them.


Quite agree. I don't keep neons anymore (because I got 'bored' with them and like to try other fish) but you just can't beat that electric blue/red coloration of them or cardinals for any planted tank.


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## sluglife

celestial pearl danio and chili rasbora ar enice


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## s2man

I recently added zebra danios and rosey barbs, both for their schooling habits. 3/4 of the danios are schooling at any given time; Not bad. But the barbs move in groups of 3 or 4 at the best. The rest are scattered throughout the tank. Dissapointing. 

I am still looking for some cories and otos for more schooling action.


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## lennaquino

Rummy Nose! 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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