# Rummy Nose Tetras and what fish that schools near top of tank?



## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

I currently have a very happy school of 9 rummy nose tetras. Was thinking about options for a schooling fish that schools near the top? I'd like to have back and forth movement near the top to go with my Rummies who school more towards the lower middle area of the tank.

I know Dwarf neon rainbows, black neon tetras to name a couple school near the top. 

Can anyone name any other nice options that look good with Rummies that school closer to the top of the water?

Thanks for any insight!


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Hatchets (several species). 
Tank must be covered.


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## starfire12 (Aug 13, 2009)

White clouds or gold white clouds. 


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## Discusdude7 (Sep 14, 2013)

How bout hatchets? Make sure you have a lid


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## sadchevy (Jun 15, 2013)

IME black neons school in the mid to lower level. You could look into danios(pearl, zebra, spotted) they are a top water schooling fish. Another would be hatchetfish.


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

sadchevy said:


> IME black neons school in the mid to lower level. You could look into danios(pearl, zebra, spotted) they are a top water schooling fish. Another would be hatchetfish.


It's actually an open top tank so can't do hatchets. 

Does anyone consider gold tetras, harlequin rasboras, middle top?

Didn't realize black neons are mid lower.. Cardinals are generally mid lower too right? Hmm, definitely want he right mid to top schooler. Thanks for the responses everyone!


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

My main focus is they school/swim on a level higher than the rummies. So not necessarily at the very top although that would also be nice. 

To add to this thread, I just remembered furcata rainbowfish are also a good upper middle schooling fish. Something to consider. Anyone know what area penguin, gold or pristella tetras hang out?


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

I have usually seen Penguins and Pristellas about mid tank. Penguins are rather quiet, Pristellas much more active. I sure would not think of either as significantly higher in the tank than Rummys, though. 

With good plant cover some upper level fish might be OK, but in an open tank I really would stay away from the fish that really stay near the top. 

Another group that tends to be upper 1/3, is Guppys and Endlers. My 20 long is very active in the upper half with Endlers. They will chase food all the way down, and are not adverse to swimming all over the tank. But if I look and did a really fast count I would estimate that well over half, perhaps 2/3 of the fish are in the upper 1/3 of the tank. They are not schooling, though. They are social, friendly fish, but they are all over the place, not an organized group.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Diana said:


> Hatchets (several species).
> Tank must be covered.





Discusdude7 said:


> How bout hatchets? Make sure you have a lid


Certainly agree with these posts - Hatchets, for sure - but they're jumpers - so keep a lid on..


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

discuspaul said:


> Certainly agree with these posts - Hatchets, for sure - but they're jumpers - so keep a lid on..


Hi Paul, hope all is well with you and your fish! Yeah hatchets won't work for me, this tank is a rimless open top so I'm gonna have to pass. 

FYI got my inspiration for wanting tetras swimming at different levels from this Amano video at about 1:35 in: 




He does amazing work obviously..

Around 1:35 of this video you can really see how different types of fish are all schooling at their respective comfortable height/depth levels. It really creates a cool sense of depth for the tank. Almost like looking at a slice of the deep ocean. I'd kind of prefer the right level swimmers over the color of fish. 

I have to look into more options as I've never really looked at these different schooling fish in terms of where they swim. And I'm learning that most slender tetras tend to stay towards the bottom.. I'm actually kind of liking the gold tetra as an option. They've always struck me as somewhat bland but if they swim in the right area and are reflective, they could be spot on.


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

In regards to my comments about depth, it certainly doesn't hurt having a tank as tall as a person when it comes to helping with creating depth. haha. But that aside, Amano's scape and fauna selection are really cool here.


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## liljaime (Aug 25, 2013)

Harlequin Rasbora, white clouds, hatchets


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

Several varieties of white clouds, endlers tend to stay in the top third of the tank. 

X-rays (prtistella tetras), neons, cardinals, glo lite tetras, panda garras and pencil fish swim and shoal in the mid to low tank for me.


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

acitydweller said:


> Several varieties of white clouds, endlers tend to stay in the top third of the tank.
> 
> X-rays (prtistella tetras), neons, cardinals, glo lite tetras, panda garras and pencil fish swim and shoal in the mid to low tank for me.


Thanks for the head's up everyone. So the vast majority of tetras have apparently evolved to stay closer to the substrate, that makes sense.

Can anyone confirm any experience with gold tetras? I'm sure they do the same thing as it looks like all tetras are mid/lower.

I'm sort of interested in the Rasboras, does Rasbora Espei or the lambchop rasbora also swim towards the top? Good to hear the harlequins stay near the top. A little worried my discus might be able to eat an Espei, but he's a pretty inept hunter and choosy as well so I think I'd be in the clear. 

I want to have 2 to 3 different schooling fish highways at the different levels and I'm pretty indifferent to color. So silver or transparent is fine. But I like the more stream lined look of tetras as opposed to the more rounded schoolers and I don't want guppies. Am on the fence about white clouds, I know they're attractive hardy fish..

Hopefully I don't do the predictable thing and just load up on cardinals and Rummies. To update everyone, the current fish in the running are: 

Rasbora Espei, Gold Tetras, Furcata Rainbowfish, Cardinal Tetra, Thanks for the input everyone!


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## JustJen (Jun 20, 2011)

I've had furcata and celebes rainbows, loved them both, and they both stayed up high in the tank. I wouldn't say they necessarily school in the way rummies do, but they tend to hang together for the most part. My cardinals were always mid-low swimmers, didn't even come up high for feeding. A friend has gold tetras, and I'd say they're mid-level as well. She has espei's too, but I honestly don't remember where they hang out at...


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

JustJen said:


> I've had furcata and celebes rainbows, loved them both, and they both stayed up high in the tank. I wouldn't say they necessarily school in the way rummies do, but they tend to hang together for the most part. My cardinals were always mid-low swimmers, didn't even come up high for feeding. A friend has gold tetras, and I'd say they're mid-level as well. She has espei's too, but I honestly don't remember where they hang out at...


Thanks for the input. Yeah I need to confirm where gold tetras/Rasbora Espei hang out. I'm okay with the Furcata/celebes not schooling as cool as rummies. The main thing is they swim somewhat near one another and provide nice motion/back and forth in the upper region of the tank. Did you like the furcata or the celebes better?

I do really want a fish that swims like tetras top to bottom but if it comes down to the rainbows. That's not bad at all as they're really attractive looking fish.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Hey Drew - the only discus tank-mates that I kept in my tank that occupied the top half of the tank (besides Hatchets which I don't care for) were Harlequin & Copper Rasboras.
In fact I would say the more often than not, they stuck to the top quarter portion of the tank.


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## DrewWoodside (Apr 1, 2008)

Hey Paul, good to hear it. I'm pretty sure copper rasboras are those Rasbora Espei which I was considering. 










Good to hear you have experience with them staying near the upper quarter of the tank. I think this is the official decision for the top quarter schooler. I like the Harlequins a lot, but I think the Copper ones are a bit sleeker and more akin to my taste currently. When I had the angelfish I think the Copper Rasbora Espei were off the table. But I don't think a discus would be very likely to eat one.

In case you couldn't tell, I'm trying to set this tank up so it's all about decorating around my discus with the discus as the main attraction and schooling or back and forth motion in all quarters of the tank.

So as of now I am planning:

Upper: Rasbora Espei (copper)
Mid/lower: Rummy Nose Tetras, handful of copper/Cardinal Tetra

Fingers crossed this mix achieves the soothing motion/ Chi feel that I'm envisioning! With a bad ass Discus displaying bright Coloration as the focal point.

And if I can find room, one more variety of schooler to fill out the tank or just a trail mix of a couple other tetra types. Scatter in a total of like 3 or 4 total cardinals and copper tetras mix or something along those lines to close it out.. 

I'll be sure to add cautiously and to leave plenty of room so the bio load for this tank doesn't require any more excessive maintenance than I'm already performing. Thanks for the help!


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## GoKingsGo (Jul 15, 2013)

My Glass Blood Fin Tetras typically are top dwelling


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## Cynical Fish Guy (Feb 19, 2012)

DrewWoodside said:


> It's actually an open top tank so can't do hatchets.
> 
> Does anyone consider gold tetras, harlequin rasboras, middle top?
> 
> Didn't realize black neons are mid lower.. Cardinals are generally mid lower too right? Hmm, definitely want he right mid to top schooler. Thanks for the responses everyone!


My H. Rasboras like to school from top to middle... generally, but my tank is a 15 gallon long and only 12 inches high, so it really isn't too deep (from my perspective) to begin with.....


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Yes Drew, Copper Rasboras are Espei's


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## JustJen (Jun 20, 2011)

DrewWoodside said:


> Thanks for the input. Yeah I need to confirm where gold tetras/Rasbora Espei hang out. I'm okay with the Furcata/celebes not schooling as cool as rummies. The main thing is they swim somewhat near one another and provide nice motion/back and forth in the upper region of the tank. Did you like the furcata or the celebes better?
> 
> I do really want a fish that swims like tetras top to bottom but if it comes down to the rainbows. That's not bad at all as they're really attractive looking fish.


I like my celebes better simply because they stand out more because they're bigger. If I had a bigger group of furcatas though (I only have 3), I think they'd be the favorite.


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