# best schooling fish



## ame (Nov 20, 2006)

*Best "small" Schooling Fish*

Dear All

Iam planning a 50 inX21 in X 21 in planted tank.I would like to have a tight school of 30 -50 small fish.Can I keep more fish in this size of tank with CO2 injection ?

Please suggest a fish which is SMALL in size ( smaller than rummynose tetra) but equally better schooler and beautiful of course.

Thanks in advance.

ame


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Hi Ame.

If you want smaller than Rummynoses, you'll probably need to look into something like the dwarf Rasbora's. While the sort of "shoal", they really don't make as tight groups as something like the Rummynose would.

If the fish are Rummynose size or smaller, you could probably easily have 50 of them in your tank, which would look great. 

I don't know if you checked it out, but there is a sticky in this forum called "The best schooling fish for the planted tank". You might pick up some good ideas there too.


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## ame (Nov 20, 2006)

Dear Jan S

Thanks for your post. 
The number of fishes that you have suggested,is it for a tank without additional aeration and inspite of high CO2 levels ?

Please let me know.

Any other small shooling fish recommendations?

ame


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## Squawkbert (Jan 3, 2007)

Pristella tetras & corys


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

ame said:


> Dear Jan S
> 
> Thanks for your post.
> The number of fishes that you have suggested,is it for a tank without additional aeration and inspite of high CO2 levels ?


That would depend on just how high your C02 levels are, what type of filtration you use and how often you do water changes, etc.

If you have plenty of filtration, and do your water changes regularly, it should be fine.

If you start seeing the fish at the surface looking for air, that would mean it's either time to lower your C02 levels a little, or add an airstone at night if that's the only time it happens.


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## ame (Nov 20, 2006)

Hi

Where can I find the safe number of fishes per gallon or per square inch of surface area , without additional areation ?

Any help in this topic is welcome

ame


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

I like the harlequin rasboro a lot. They school a good part of the time in tight groups.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

I'd second the harlequin rasbora suggestion. They're not exactly micro-sized though.... maybe a bit smaller than rummies.

As for "safe levels of fish per gallon/inch or whatever"... there is no "rule".

It depends on the type of fish, the particular setup, how much you feed, and a hundred other variables. Honestly, I look mostly at the mass of the fish. It would take about 100 small 1" tetras to weigh as much as a single 5" angelfish. Don't believe for a minute that 5 neon tetras would produce as much waste as a single large angel.

The dimensions that you give would be a 95g tank. I'd be comfortable keeping 100 or maybe even 150 very small fish in a tank that size. Start adding in more massive fish and that goes down very quickly. Still, 80 or 90 cardinals, neons, rummynose, would be perfectly fine. Don't add them all at once though.


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## Mad Dog (Mar 3, 2007)

In my experience with schooling/schoaling fish, I think many people tend to get the wrong idea of what to expect when picking up 10 fish which are known to exibit this behavior. I aree with guaic boy in that there are many variables which determine to what extent one fish would school versus another...and even if you have the same amount and type of fish in two seperate tanks which are nearly exactly the same, you may not get the same results.

Let me preface this by stating that I am very brand new to the planted tank side of this hobby, and so maybe I am not considering something that I have yet to learn...but thinking about this logically, I would think that a fish's behavior as far as schooling is concerned, would not be highly affected by the plants...other than to reduce the likelihood that the fish would really school/schoal since there is a lot of cover to hide within. The bottom line is that schooling and schoaling are very much a defensive measure and without the need for defense, which occurs in any properly stocked tank usually, the fish dont need to group together as much.

So, what I have learned is that you can almost always have a huge impact on a school/schoal of fish by simply adding one or two preditors...by that I mean agressive fish, not fish that are going to snack on the others...to increase the need for the school/schoal behavior. 

For example, in the tank which I am trying to turn over into a planted tank, I used to keep about 16 to 20 cichilds, most all from Lake Malawi (africans), and I used 8 very large tiger barbs as dither fish. I can honestly tell you, that without a doubt, those tiger barbs were always in a very tight schoal/school.

I hope this helps a little bit, even though I realize that it does not answer your question directly. Like I said, I am very new to the planted tank 'game' and so I have a lot to learn about the differences between planted and 'regular' aquariums. However, since I am brand new to the forum, and you dont know me from Adam, let me assure you that I have enough experience with those 'regular' tanks and fish in general, both fresh and saltwater, to make these sorts of comments.


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## furballi (Feb 2, 2007)

Most fish will not rely on the group for protection once they have acclimated to the local surrounding. Over time, they will develop a pecking order.


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## Mad Dog (Mar 3, 2007)

> Most fish will not rely on the group for protection once they have acclimated to the local surrounding. Over time, they will develop a pecking order.


I agree, but only with a few types of fish, mainly territorial types. Typically schooling fish are not territorial and utilize the entire tank or in nature, a very wide area. Schooling/schoaling fish don't normally use a hierarchal structure like is almost always evident with cichlids but rather use the group to express some sort of dominance or power in a tank.

IME with both freshwater and saltwater fish, there is a good ability for us to establish a school of fish and maintain that situation indefinitely. Like I said, I have had a schoal of tiger barbs for nearly a year in a cichlid tank and they never lost that grouping behavior. I also have a school of 9 green chromis in my saltwater tank which, thanks to the inclusion of a grumpy flame angel, swim just like a large school of anchovies or silverside minnows. So, for those reasons, I would say that at least with the schooling fish, a 'pecking order' is not the norm. However, with any other fish, I would agree with that happening and in that case, it is almost impossible to get a non-schooling/schoaling fish to act that way.


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## bijoon (Nov 20, 2006)

Plus harlequins like the lower ph and are darn hard to kill. When I was first figuring out my co2 system I spiked it many times and have had harlequins laying on the gravel and gasping for air at the top. Many times I had thought I had for sure killed at least half of them. But since I bought them I have only lost one. IMO they are the best because they can handle the low ph, are pretty hardy, and school better than my old cardinal tetras.


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## 247Plants (Mar 23, 2006)

I have some brilliant rasboras(Rasbora einthovenii) that always seem to be in a very tight active school. I have 11 of them in my 60 gallon and they often remind me of fighter pilots they school so well and have long slender bodies and tend to stay in unison a lot. So much in fact that very often the school doubles in size with the white clouds and otos joining in!


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## meglet (Oct 12, 2005)

Another vote for the Harlequin Rasboras, I used to have a school in my 55 and they were beautiful, and schooled very well. 

Something you might want to consider, though, is a mixed school of two or three types of fish that compliment each other, and school well. I have done this in a thickly planted 50 gallon tank, and it is my favorite tank to just sit down and watch. One of the reasons is that I have a couple types of purplish tetras, and a small group of glowlight danios. The danios school a little more tightly, and weave in and out of the plants and other fish, and their bright yellow color looks amazing against the backdrop of the others. While the tetras don't necessarily school as well as the harlequins, they are always moving around and through and under plants, so there is always something to watch.


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