# What schooling fish would look best in low light tanks?



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

Hey everyone, I have started a full Anubias and Cryptocoryne planted tank that is 55G with a couple exceptions... But it is fairly low lighted, the plants are young but I will be wanting a small schooling tetra that would look great against a bunch of bigger leaved plantes. There are no stems in this tank, so I'm pretty proud of myself for that haha. So far everything is growing great, but I'm just having a bunch of conflicting ideas about Tetras that would look good here. I thought about Cardinals, and those would be cool, but they are overused, Blue Tetras would be nice, but I just want your guy's opinions. Thanks


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

What are your guy's experience with Three line Pencil fish?

I also have 2 actively breeding pairs of Bolivian Rams in there. I don't exactly care about the fry survival rates, but I don't like seeing babies being chomped down every second... That is why I got rid of my wild Discrossus Filamentosus. I like stupid schoolers for some reason, and in my mind I always want to go back to Neon Tetras which is weird... And I want them to be laid back haha


----------



## huaidan (Mar 6, 2010)

Blue neon tetras look good with low lighting and black gravel/substrate, common as they are.


----------



## mthom211 (Sep 3, 2010)

Ember tetras are cool. My tnk came with 2 nd they school with each other. I cn only get more by order though nd there expensive over here.


----------



## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Silvertip tetras have blue-white tips on their fins that are in constant motion an show well against dark plants.


----------



## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I agree that ember tetras are interesting and beautiful. Considered one of the cheapest fishes in my area. It's my favourite species. Every fish keeper should have some in at least one tank.

Since you like "neon species", you can consider green neon tetras. They are not overused and less common. I am personally very sick of seeing cardinal tetras and neon tetras for a number of years now. I just cannot stand entering every single house with a fish tank containing these 2 species. I got sick of seeing them in LFS too as they try desperately to promote them. I don't hate black neon tetras though - they are not as popular as the other two.

However, I think the best schooling fishes are Harlequin rasboras and Espei rasboras. They really school together easily. The tetras tend not to school if they don't feel threatened by anyone.

I am a fanatic of less colourful or less popular species. I notice my lemon tetras always keep themselves in a group but I cannot be sure whether the school together as I am having a species tank all by themselves. Pristella tetras school in multiple groups in my tank. Black phantom tetras are not good schooling fish at all - I am getting bored of their loner behaviour lately.


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

totziens said:


> The best schooling fishes are *Trigonostigma hengeli * "porkchop" rasboras. They really school together easily. Other tetras tend not to school if they don't feel threatened by anyone.


I have a LOT of school fish experience, and agree 100% with this statement.










I often get over a dozen fish, they school for a while (threatened by a new tank),
but once they get comfortable, they each do their own thing. I've had hengeli
for years, and they stay with each other even when current and lights are off.
they are also a tough breed which will put up with lower water quality conditions.
they have a remarkably long life span for a tetra, that can easily exceed five years.
they are playful and not aggressive, and can even share a tank with adult shrimp.
for me they swim low under high light, then swim higher as the lights get lower.

Hengeli stay about 2/3rd the size of an Espei - I prefer the smaller "porkchop" breed.
they add a great color and shape contrast should you go with typical cardinal tetras.
if you get cardinals, buy extas - as some tend to die off during new tank acclimation.

really go nuts with shape and color variety; get some yellow _Chela dadiburjori _danios.
buy extras as they are well known jumpers that may prefer your carpet to your tank.
another yellow choice would be endler males, but they chase each other in a pack, 
and not really school; they also don't live very long - maybe 2 years at the most.

I've heard great schooling feedback about ember tetras, but did not try them, 
because I prefer a slightly larger pattern color fish, to a tiny mono color fish.


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

Nice the Trigonostigma hengeli look like really cool fish, but Ive never seen them besides Harlequin Rasboras... Even on Aquabid they don't have them. Do you guys think that Rasboras would look better in a low light tank? I would also love for them to be swimming higher than the plants, because the Crypts will be pushing them up as they grow, I would prefer to have them swimming above instead of under which would be more for my Bolivians. 
I also dont want fast schoolers. More like staying in a bunch then moving around the tank together instead of the Rummy Nose School which I have had before.

Ok, I found some Dwarf Spotted Rasboras for sale. I think they meet my standards and look great! What do you guys think of them, and would 15 be a good number for my tank? It is heavily planted, with some Endlers which I plan to get rid of if these guys are doing great and don't need a dither fish. I have a bunch of Manzanita branches that go all the way to the top of the tank, and they would like that I think. PLEASE any advise is great especially negative advice!
And I think that the Bolivians would keep them higher in the tank if the are scared of them.


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

I know some sellers like to quality their fish as low mid high level swimmers,
but in reality, it all depends on the tank scape where these fish will dwell.
also, in my experience, a _top_ swimmer is really code or _potential jumpers_,
while _low_ swimmer is code for _lazy scavengers_.
Trigonostigma hengeli stay in bunchs, they don't really travel around a lot.
Like most difficult to breed fish, you may have to wait till a particular season
when they may be imported in quantity, but there are at least 3 "porkchop"
pattern rasboras out there, and any one of them would be suitable schoolers.


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

Thanks spynet. Where could I buy them? 

And do you know much about Dwarf Spotted Rasboras?


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

i donno - sorry. according to franksaquarium
_Boraras maculatus_ prefer acidic water, so 
you might be better off with something else.
I can only give you feedback on fish I've had.


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

That is true, but I've kept Discrossus Filamentosus, and they are next to impossible to spawn in any aquarium water because they require super acidic and low density water, and they thrived for me, so I'm not exactly scared about keeping the Dwarf Spotted Rasboras. And my water has a lot of Tannins in it from all the driftwood. And my Bolivians leave my Endlers alone right now, and they are the same size as the Dwarf Spotted Rasboras so the Bolivians eating them is not really a possibility.

What is the difference between: Trigonostigma espei and Trigonostigma hengeli? Invertz Factory has them both for $1.85.


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

asked & answered;



spypet said:


> Hengeli stay about 2/3rd the size of an Espei.


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

And they have exactly the same color? Not one more colorful?


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

I'm still thinking of the Dwarf Spotted Rasboras. For some reason I really like the look of them, and that they are small. But I'll do a lot more research on them lol


----------



## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Dwarf rasboras/boraras - the most common issue among boraras keepers is the fishes go missing without a trace. Most probably died off and the dead bodies got eaten up or sucked by the filter. 

I used to keep dozens of boraras brigittae and boraras maculatus. In my previous job I was sent overseas for a project. After 2 weeks, I returned to find only 2-3 boraras remained. The aliens kidnapped them....haha. I had no issue when I was constantly at home. Maybe they died when there was insufficient food. My friends were having similar issue too. I guess the popularity of boraras has decreased in my country because of this problem. They used to be quite popular at one period.


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

Yeah, I will be getting 25. And They should do well, everything is in there that they like (Except the super soft water), there are floating plants/leaves (Oak), Driftwood goes all the way to the top with Anubias, java Moss, and Bolbitis growing on them, then on the bottom there are lots of Crypts. Can't wait! Just a bit worried about my Bolivian Rams, but they will not really be near each other much. I cant wait to get them


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

I'm sure your Rams will enjoy such an expensive feeder fish.
most chichlids will nip and eat anything they can swallow.

_Social Behaviors:
This is a community fish that can be kept with non-cichlid fish and other peaceful dwarf cichlids. The Bolivian Ram is 'more bark than bite' and will not do well in an aggressive tank. They are just a little more aggressive than the Ram Cichlid, but not at all aggressive by cichlid standards. Some acceptable peaceful tank mates include the Silver Dollar, Dwarf Gourami, Dwarf Rainbowfish (Neon), Synodontis catfish and plecostomus, to name a few. They do tend to eat tetras. They can be kept alone or in pairs. More than one male may be kept if the aquarium is large. Just buying a male and female does not necessarily mean they will pair up. It is better to get a group of juveniles and allow a pair to bond. A pair will swim close together, and at that point you can put them in their own tank._


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

Strange, I have kept mine with Endlers and their fry (The Rams wouldn't touch the fry at all, I had about 250 endlers until I started selling them. And even now I have a Ram Fry that is 0.25" in there and nobody touches it. They will even refuse to eat frozen brine shrimp that is too big... I've seen the Maculatus with Apistos before... But I'll look into it.

And the tending to eat tetras is not true, I kept mine with neons, and they never even looked at them (Plus endlers are smaller, maxing out at 1" for the males (Exactly what the Maculatus will be). I think I will chance it. But I have a empty planted 10G if anything goes wrong... But I'll do a lot more research, my deadline to buy them is Friday... 
Thanks for bringing this to my attention though


----------



## spypet (Jul 27, 2007)

if you say the Rams don't pray on endler males, then you 
should be ok since they are the same size as dwarf rasboras.
i've never had the two fish you plan on combining, so I can
only cut&paste what I found elsewhere. good luck with it.


----------



## Cvurb (May 23, 2010)

Haha, I'm nervous too. Everyday I've been checking to see if they have decided to eat my tiny test fry I put in there (Cruel, maybe... But he is doing great, and he like it more than the 10G lol), but yeah, they will be the same size, and should stay further up in the tank, but if anything goes weirdly they will have to camp in my 10G until they grow a little more. They should be awesome in a school of 25, Can't wait.


----------

