# Fish recommendation wanted



## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

So I'm not a big fish guy, but as of now, I have only two very old glowlight tetras and an otto in my 40 breeder. Lots of malawa shrimp, a few amanos, ramshorn snails and a wood shrimp are all the other inhabitants. I would like a good schooling fish that meets the following criteria:


Tolerant of high light (won't always hide!)
Inexpensive
Won't harass/eat the inverts
Mid to upper water level inhabitant
Unlikely to jump out of open top
Small
Not a finicky eater
Tolerant of brisk water flow

Suggestions? Thank you.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

threadfins sound like the a great choice. the only thing that might be a issue is they eat very small things. like bbs( frozen works good) or ground up flakes.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

_Boraras maculatus_. I've kept them for 4 years, and they meet all your criteria especially since the price has come down. Other members of the genus might share these characteristics, but I don't have direct experience with them.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

TAB said:


> threadfins sound like the a great choice. the only thing that might be a issue is they eat very small things. like bbs( frozen works good) or ground up flakes.


Requiring small food is not a problem. Hunting down tiny shrimp would be. Do you mean the former or the latter?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Michael said:


> _Boraras maculatus_. I've kept them for 4 years, and they meet all your criteria especially since the price has come down. Other members of the genus might share these characteristics, but I don't have direct experience with them.


I forgot to mention that I have pretty good flow. Problem then? I have considered _Boraras_.


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## TAB (Feb 7, 2009)

Cavan Allen said:


> Requiring small food is not a problem. Hunting down tiny shrimp would be. Do you mean the former or the latter?


i had them with cherrys for years, while I am sure I lost some shirmplets, my populations were always large so I didn't notice.( say about 100 or so in a tank with about a dozen bows)

they have super small mouths/ throats so if you have hiding places its no big deal.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

I keep mine in a 15 gallon with a greatly over-sized Aquaclear filter. The fish could retire to the heavy planting of crypts, but instead stay in the open upper center of the tank where flow is high all the time.

Re shrimp predation, my experience is very similar to Tab's with the threadfins. In fact, I've thought of adding some threadfins to that tank, LOL.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I am not much of a fish person either but what about rummy nose?


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

BruceF said:


> I am not much of a fish person either but what about rummy nose?


I have thought about that, but I've had them before and would like to try something new. And they can put on some size with time.


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Do Vietnamese white clouds fit the bill?


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

They will jump! I had them in two open tanks, I moved them to my paludarium.

What about Trigonostigma espei, they meet all your criteria! Very playfull in the current, even with 350W of light above them. Beautiful red when older:









Small enough to no decimate your shrimp population. Upper levels of the tank:









Lost very few of them in a open top, only when the water level was really close to the edge. Cheap and eat everything!


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## mathman (Feb 12, 2014)

Yo-han said:


>


Awesome tank!


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## Yo-han (Oct 15, 2010)

Wrong topic!


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## Cavan Allen (Jul 22, 2004)

Doh! I have also kept the espei. And I did catch one eating a shrimp one time...


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## pweifan (Jun 23, 2007)

I know you've already voted against them, but in case anyone else is following this... My experience with rummy nose is that they will eat cherry shrimp like popcorn. Not a good fish to keep with breeding shrimp.

I recently picked up a school of Ember tetras from Pet Supplies Plus for pretty cheap. They seem to be handling the current fine and usually swim out in the open. I've been really happy with the so far.

Do you have a source for the Vietnamese white clouds? I looked for them a few years back with no luck.


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## ct60g (Jan 1, 2016)

I would second the Trigonostigma espei - I love them. I have a small school of 8 in my community tank, and they are completely uninterested in my RCS, even when the shrimp are breeding / molting. They are interesting and beautiful fish in my opinion. 

With regards to flow, they love it! In my tank they "surf" as a group in the outflow of my filter. They swim into the flow, ride it to the end, then swim back and do it all over again. Really funny to watch.


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