# Chili Rasbora Tank Recomendations



## Kelsey Schilling (Mar 7, 2017)

Hello everyone!

I currently have a planted 2.5 fluval set up with a few cherry shrimp and a horned netrite snail.

I'm really wanting to add a few fish and have fallen in love with chili rasbora.

I have "The 101 Best Freshwater Nano Species: How to choose and keep hardy, brillant, fascinating nano fishes, plants, and invertebrates" book and it lists that the minimum size for these little guys is 2.5 gallons. 

My question for everyone would be how many could live happily in a 2.5 gallon? I know they are schooling fish so I want to make sure I get enough for them to be happy. I also have a 3.5 tank I want to set up as a planted tank as well, would this be a better choice? 

If you all think these tanks are too small, let me know! If they are, I'll just stick to my invertebrate set-up ^_^

Thanks in advance for any help!


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Kelsey Schilling said:


> Hello everyone!
> 
> I currently have a planted 2.5 fluval set up with a few cherry shrimp and a horned netrite snail.
> 
> ...


Hi Kelsey Schilling,

If I may, have you seen any Chili Rasbora live swimming in a tank? Just asking all in an effort to better help you out. I have 10 of them currently.


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## Kelsey Schilling (Mar 7, 2017)

Not in person, but just what I've seen in videos on youtube!


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## DigityDog70 (Jan 20, 2017)

Kelsey Schilling said:


> Not in person, but just what I've seen in videos on youtube!


These are truly Nano fish, and they're much more beautiful in pictures than in real life. I say that as mine which are .75 inches and bright red, are so tiny I really can't see them very well. I was really surprised at how tiny they were and because I have plants in my aquarium, I can't even see them unless I hunt for them. 

I will also add, that, unless you're more of an advanced fish keeper, the Nano's can be tricky because you have less room for error with a smaller body of water. What I do have in another tank that are beautiful and bright red and contrary to popular belief about aggressiveness, are Cherry Barbs. They're bright red, about 1½" to 2" long and beautiful and they're truly the exception to the barb rule and are a very docile fish. They chase each other around within their own little world to establish the Alpha sometimes but I also have females and this make the species even more exciting to watch as you get to see how they act and they do school, but I also have a larger tank and quite a few. My ratio is actually off. I have 7 females and 14 males but it works out fine as like I said, they're pretty mellow and my tank is larger. 

I hoped that helped as I had wished that someone had told me about the chili rasbora and how tinsy-winsy and elusive they truly are. I want fish with a personality that I can see. 

Cheers,
DD


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## ichthyogeek (Jul 9, 2014)

Bigger's always better in terms of nano tanks simply for the extra water and space. Unless you have a 55 devoted to the micros...then that might be a bit hard to feed the fish in. But anyways, I'd go for the 3.5 gallon tank, especially if it has more surface area than the 2.5. 

Chili's are awesome fish! One of my friend has about 3 in her 5 gallon just to make sure that they can survive in her setup (we have really weird water where we are). I've personally got CPD's in my 2.5 (going for 6 sometime soon), but going off of what I know, a group of 6-8 in the 3.5 would be a wonderful group, especially in a species tank and with adequate filtration (sponge or box due to their aversion to current). If you go for the 2.5, I'd stick with a group of 5.


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## milingmiles (Aug 26, 2016)

I added 6 chili rasboras to my 10G RCS tank not long ago. They are a beautiful addition to my tank due to their bright color and liveliness. 10G is clearly enough room to hold 6 chilis; in fact, judging from their behaviors there is enough room for 6 more. Although they are peaceful community fish, the tank needs dense plants / hiding places for small shrimp. I have seen my chilis chasing after shrimplets, but I have never seen anyone being eaten. My shrimp colony size has been growing.

I suggest no more than 3-4 chili rasboras for your 2.5G or 3.5G. Introduce them into the tank and see how they do. You should have some plants to provide hiding places for RCS; on the other hand, plants should not overcrowd the already limited open space for the chilis. If possible, I still recommend to go up to 5G or 10G - both rasboras and shrimp would be happier!


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