# beyond the neon



## KungPaoChicky (Oct 11, 2005)

Is it just me or is any one else out there seein beautiful scapes out there with nothing but cardinals or neons in a large school. There are soo many diffrent neat types of tetra, some with just as brillant color as the neon. Please share what type of schooling fish you own in your planted tanks. I've always been a sucker for schools of green fire, gold tetra, pristilla, and my favorite the Rio Nanny tetra.


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## brad (Jul 10, 2005)

I like bright colours but I also have a great respect for camoflage. For that reason I like pencilfish that you need to look for in the tank. 

I also really like lampeyes in other people`s tanks. Not in my own though.

I like my white cloud mountain minnows as well. They`re always flaring at each other, chasing each other, playing in the current.....They`re alot of fun to watch.


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## Merman (Apr 26, 2005)

I'm a big fan of Serpae and Ember Tetras


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## jrIL (Apr 23, 2005)

Good question. I have been making the rounds of LFS looking for something different than neons. I like neons but everybody does that. Looking forward to seeing what others have.

JR


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## raven_wilde (Nov 16, 2005)

I totally love my tiger barbs... they're by no means tetras, but if you have a tank with semi aggressive fish, or ones with big mouths, they're a great way to have a nice school of pretty fish. I love watching their antics and they have cool social patterns.

I also really love rummy nose tetras. I don't have any (although they're on my list of fish for the future) but my favorite LFS has a gigantic Discus tank (200+ gallons) with an enormous school of rummies and they look FANTABULOUS! They school together so beautifully, and their colouring is great when they're full grown and healthy.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

My favorite Tetra by far is the Rummynose. I also like Glowlights and Gold Tetras.


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## Pseud (Oct 19, 2005)

I have a thing for Orange Flame Tetra at the moment.


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## KungPaoChicky (Oct 11, 2005)

Emperor tetra, Blood fin tetra, and Red Phantom tetra are a few more to add. There are also some danios that make nice schooling fish. Some of my favorite danios are fire ring danios and glow lite danios.


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## meglet (Oct 12, 2005)

I'm not much of a fan of Neons, they're too common. I have False (Green) Neons in my 5 gallon tank, which are pretty, but I recently discovered Purple Neons at my LFS. They have turned a bluish-purple, I'd call it Periwinkle, now that they have been in my tank for a week. I'm also a big fan of Silver Tip Tetras, although the males are a bit pushy, and my all-time favorite schooling fish is still the Cherry Barb. Their colors just look so beautiful, and I love the way a large group will spread out to fill a tank when they feel safe.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I've been seeing a lot of _Hyphessobrycon columbianus _in stores recently. They go by the name columbian tetras. They have a blue body and red fins. Apparently they were discovered in the late 1990s, named in 2001, and introduced to the hobby only recently. Of course, many of you out there have probably been keeping them since the 1920's, but they're new to me.

The best tetra though, hands down is the congo. No question.


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## zeek (Jan 5, 2005)

The Red-Blue Columbian Tetra is nice. I like those a bunch, especially when they are fully grown, as they are among the larger species and (to me) resemble Red Belly Piranhas!

Two more that have not been mentioned:
Diamond Tetras! These are beautiful! Large finnage, great schooling fish, excellent shimmering/sparkly colour that does not fade.
Black Emperor Tetra- Completely black, with a hint of a 'vanilla' coloring on their head. Males have blue eyes, Females have green.

Pencils are by far the best schooling fish I have, though. They are *always* together, and as a bonus they tend to occupy the top zone of the aquarium more than anything.

Isaac


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## AaronT (Apr 26, 2004)

My next tank is going to have a small school of furcata rainbows. I find that an all male school of endlers will do just that as well...school I mean.


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## DonaldmBoyer (Aug 18, 2005)

Very cool looking fish to have are Threadfin Rainbows. The females are yellow-gold with a sharp gold ring around their eyes. The males are beautiful with red, purple, blue tones in there bodies, with a red coloration on there dorsal fin that they use to display to both females and rival males. Absolutely gorgeous! They get to be about 1.5 inches in length, and they spawn fairly easily!


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Lets see... For my tanks that have "groups" of fish, even though they're not all schoolers:
55 gallon - Rummies (favorite)
30 gallon - Boraras (micro sized Rasboras, which are very cool)
29 gallon - Cherry barbs and male Endlers (sounds dumb, but looks colorful)
20 gallon - Cardinals (well, that's where this all started, wasn't it?) :bolt:


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## houseofcards (Feb 16, 2005)

I think it really depends on your scape. If you have alot of plant color it might look better with a toned down pencilfish or black neon, but if your scape is mostly greens or alot of hardscape with a few touchs of green it's touch to beat the cardinal.


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## iris600 (Feb 12, 2004)

I've seen two different fish labelled as threadfin rainbowfish.
I've seen one that has the classic thicker body associated with New Guinea rainbows (as seen on aquabid sold by rarefishlax) and those with thinner bodies (similar in shape to celebes in a way) with golden bodies and extensions on the males fins.
Anyone kept the ones seen on aquabid? What about the thinner bodied species?


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## toron27 (Aug 14, 2005)

I agree, neons neons and more neons. I have currently in my planted 29 gal 6 BLACK neons which are tetras and quite beautiful to watch when schooling.It was between them or rasboras. I wanted the black neons cause they were different.


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## standoyo (Aug 25, 2005)

i think it's all in the scale... given that for small tanks... my favourite is the false neon simulans, moving up in size i like rummy noses, next are bleeding heart tetras, next will be congos for their sheer brilliance, next are discus[they do shoal in large tanks], ultimately are adult altums! 14in ht!

fish i'd like to try are the sundadanio axelrodi gruen or blue.


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## kivit (Aug 29, 2005)

Hmmm. i wonder if the purple neons are the same thing as the blue tetras? i just discovered the blues, but I've not seen the purples.


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## zenfish (Jan 30, 2006)

I would have to agree with the congos,between hem and the cardinal and rummynose,they frequently jump between #1 and 3...another thing about congos is that the readily spawn even in community tanks..I wonder,has ayone who keps congos gotten any saved fry?? may try to when my start spawning..another tetra I have been readin up on is Axelrodi riesei,the ALL red cardinal..anyone ever see them around? From the pics have sen of them online,they just have a red stripe like a cardinal but no blue...would be very interesting to have some of those.
Kevin,
peace and plenty


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## MoonFish (Feb 12, 2006)

I like personality fish. The ones I remember best are flagtail porthole cats. It seems to me like the little school of neons is just an afterthought.


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