# What are some hardy species of schooling fish?



## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Over the past year and a half, I've bought a total of 20 cardinals and neons all from a young age. Now only five survive, with the rest dying one by one, separate from each other. 

I keep hearing that they're a hardy fish to have... but not really, in my experience. (or I just have horrible tap water that kills everything in its path)

What's an actually hardy and at least moderately attractive/colorful schooling fish that is safe for a planted tank? I already have guppies, but recently stopped trying to breed them, since having schooling fish appeal to me more.

ETA: My tap water and tank water's pH is over 8.0


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

How about the regular Neon Tetras? Or a school of rasboras?


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Like I said, both neons and cardinals have been kind of flimsy in my experience. 

What type/coloring of rasbora or danio is the toughest, if it makes a difference?


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## Dina-Angel (Jun 20, 2013)

Ohh, i didn't see the neon part, sorry 

The Harlequin Rasboras are pretty hardy, so are the Chili Rasboras i have heard, but never had any experience with them. As long as you keep them in a bigger grou (safety by numbers) they will be fine


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## wheatiesl337 (Mar 30, 2011)

Cardinals can be more sensitive than other tetras, but from what I have heard, neons are pretty hardy? I might be suspicious of your source of fish. Where did you get them from? Tank bred or wild caught? How long were they in the store prior to purchase if you bought them from a store?

I have been looking for cardinal tetras locally, but the stock around has been terrible.

If it's not an issue with the supplier, I would look to your tank next. What is your set-up and what are the parameters?

The first schooling fish I kept were T-Bone rasboras. They seem pretty indestructible.


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## Kitsune_Gem (Apr 10, 2012)

Black skirts and Red Minor tetras. Hardy as all h***, but mean...really mean.. The red minors have been nicknamed the devil fish in my house.


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## fish_22 (Jun 13, 2013)

black skirt tetras are very hardy, but they can be very mean to other fish so if you just had them in a tank by themselves or with some other semi-aggressive that would work best. in large groups they look really cool  also, you can get them for a good price at petco


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## Wannaberooted (Jun 24, 2012)

I've had really good success with Harlequin Rasboras with the same pH as you have. They just chase each other around in a loose group with lights on, and form a close group with lights off with just a lamp nearby. They don't hurt nobody no how.


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## acitydweller (Dec 28, 2011)

with that high of a PH, its probably best to avoid nearly all of the south american and southeast asian species which dwell in acidic soft water environments.

Neons have a range of a 5-7.8 so going to 8 is beyond the stretch for them. Cardinals can be adapted to more alkaline condition if the gh is kept below 4 but this makes them extremely sensitive and delicate to soluble waste and nitrates so your tanks need to be pristine to maintain them.

IMHO, these were not suitable fish for your tank environment from the get go.

A ph of 8+ is generally african cichlid territory but a large number of livebearers will do quite well here. Have a look into these and see if they fit the bill. They will certainly be hardier than cardinals and neons.


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## gene4christ (Oct 25, 2008)

It has been my experience that the Harlequin Rasboras do not school very closely , but rather loosely at best with numbers around 9 . And the Cardinals are a little better but still not at those numbers . However the best for schooling
in my tank is most definitely the Rummy Nose , hands down best for me and very attractive as well . :red_mouth


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## Psychedelic (May 25, 2013)

As long as your ph isn't above 8 I think most fish will be ok. They will adjust, just drip acclimate them for an hour or longer. My rummynose are young but they school perfect and their silver body and red nose with a black/ white tail are gorgeous. They're also a good indicator of water quality depending on how red their nose is.


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## secuono (Nov 19, 2009)

Skirts have always been the best in my tanks. They have black long & regular tail, white [gold] long & regular tail, neon with long and regular tail.


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## thinBear (Dec 16, 2011)

I have different experience with my Hengeli, they are hardy and school very closely, closer than my neon tetras.

They sometimes group and corner in my 10g, where the water current is strong.their swimming are a bit erratic, maybe "crazy" is a more suitable word. At first I thought it was my water parameter/co2 issue; but they have been doing this for more than a week and they seem enjoying this. Its funny to see them exercise against strong current, then blown away, then do it over and over again. They do this when I add water during change too, I think its their nature loving current.

They other story about their toughness which i dont want to share is, when they were still in acclimation jar, I dropped a rock 2x its size onto one of them, instant knock off; 30 sec later, it struggle to swim again, but up-side down; 2 mins later, it swim normally again!


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

wheatiesl337 said:


> Cardinals can be more sensitive than other tetras, but from what I have heard, neons are pretty hardy? I might be suspicious of your source of fish. Where did you get them from? Tank bred or wild caught? How long were they in the store prior to purchase if you bought them from a store?
> 
> I have been looking for cardinal tetras locally, but the stock around has been terrible.
> 
> ...


Bought them from a private-owned fish store, no idea if they're tank bred or wild caught or how long they were in the store. :icon_conf It's a 55gal Seaclear System II, pH 8.0, been running for 3 years fully cycled.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Hmm looks like I'll be trying either Harlequin Rasboras or going the African Cichlid route. Will Cichlids tear up the Taiwan moss on the driftwood in my tank?


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## gene4christ (Oct 25, 2008)

caykuu said:


> Hmm looks like I'll be trying either Harlequin Rasboras or going the African Cichlid route. Will Cichlids tear up the Taiwan moss on the driftwood in my tank?


Ok, well it is my understanding that most if not all African Cichlids are diggers and like to rearrange things to their own tastes.  Not sure how your plants will fare , but if you are very selective in your fish choices you should be fine . :smile: Hopefully someone that has a Planted African Cichlid tank will share their experience roud:


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## blackneon (Jan 25, 2012)

Rummynose tetras are the tightest schoolers i've ever had. They look good in longer tanks and watch them school from end to end of the tank. Just acclimate properly and they are really hardy. I have 7 of them and 5 black neon tetras and they school together. They like currents that they could swim through. Stay away from cichlids in planted tank unless all you want are plants on driftwood. They dig throught the substrate. Had to return a kribensi because of that.


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## talontsiawd (Oct 19, 2008)

Harlequin Rasboras have been very hardy for me but don't school as well as others. My feather fin rainbows schooled in certain situations, mostly being in a smaller group in a bigger tank. They stopped once I added enough.

I have not tried Rummynose Tetras but they are probably the best schooling fish. At one store I go to, they will literally flow your hand which looks incredible being they have a ton of them.

I really like Cardinal Tetras, one of my favorite fish but I am hesitant to call them hardy. I know a few people have had the same experience as me, they seem very hardy for long periods of time and you start getting a random death here and their, or they get sick and no treatment tends to work. I wouldn't count them out if you enjoy them as they are great fish, but I wouldn't call them hardy. They school well though.


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## flight50 (Apr 17, 2012)

caykuu said:


> Over the past year and a half, I've bought a total of 20 cardinals and neons all from a young age. Now only five survive, with the rest dying one by one, separate from each other.
> 
> I keep hearing that they're a hardy fish to have... but not really, in my experience. (or I just have horrible tap water that kills everything in its path)
> 
> ...


Somebody wasn't very honest with you. Neons are a little hardier than cardinals but neither are high on the list. I have kept both before. Feature-wise I only keep the cards now in which for the past 5 years, I have never had more than a dozen at a time for more than a few months. When I keep up with tank maintenance the hardiest fish I have is the panda cory. Not only is this my favorite of all the fish I have kept but its the most enjoyable fish to just watch in my tank. Plus they reproduce fairly easily with a little help on my part.

Without modifying your water, your looking at cichlids or perhaps livebearers with ph that high. The choices thin out for not many tropical fish have profiles above a ph of 7.8. As mentioned fish will and can adapt. Their life span just shortens when their recommended parameters are out of range.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

gene4christ said:


> Ok, well it is my understanding that most if not all African Cichlids are diggers and like to rearrange things to their own tastes.  Not sure how your plants will fare , but if you are very selective in your fish choices you should be fine . :smile: Hopefully someone that has a Planted African Cichlid tank will share their experience roud:


Oh man, I noticed that all African Cichlid tanks are devoid of plants. I guess that must mean something.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Since cichlids won't do, guess I only have livebearers to work with besides trying out the hardier tropical schooling fish... What kind of livebearer has the best hardy/colorful ratio in your experience? 

I was also looking toward schooling fish for the reason that my larger-finned, slower-swimming guppies seem to have a hard time in my tank, due to the strong filtration. IME tetras and other schooling types are very quick-swimming. But if I can't work with tetras, what's a faster swimming livebearer that can fare well in strong currents?


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## blackneon (Jan 25, 2012)

Maybe you can do something like this http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=121044 Or like this http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/photo-main.php/26869 i've read cichlids dont like anubias plant probably because of the taste. =)


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanks for the link! I'm not planning on giving my tank a total makeover anytime soon though. I'd prefer to pick fauna that can adapt to my existing tank.


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## aparker (Mar 12, 2013)

Are you able to test more than just ph? Another thing you may consider is mixing ro water with your tap to give yourself more options.


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## TankYouVeryMuch (Jul 5, 2013)

What about zebra danios?

They school constantly in my tank (i have 8) and after a month their color is starting to come out more, real nice looking if the sun hits your tank ever... The wife thinks theyre dumb, but theyre always amusing to watch


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## snowtires (Jun 21, 2013)

Fast swimming quick active schooling fish are white cloud mountain minnows.they're awsome

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## maximusprime (Mar 4, 2013)

I second the mountain minnows. Almost impossible to kill.

Also, my Serpaes are pretty resilient and school well, but they can be pretty competitive when it's feeding time.


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## jfynyson (Apr 15, 2013)

Bluefin Tuna...lol


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## snowtires (Jun 21, 2013)

Barracuda 

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## MrAlmostWrong (Jul 16, 2012)

Harlequin rasboras. Little dudes are rocks in my tank.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Baracudas. Yum. 

Looks like most votes were for Harlequin rasboras. I'll get 10 of them this weekend and see how they fare. Thanks for the replies!


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## SueD (Nov 20, 2010)

Also take a look at glolight tetras and bloodfin tetras.


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## caykuu (Jul 30, 2011)

Thanks peeps- I decided on harlequin rasboras. I just got 15 of them today and currently acclimating. Hopefully they survive my scary tank.


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## Cricketchick (Jun 21, 2013)

I love my glolight tetras, but if your neons are all dying, maybe not such a great choice. My black skirt tetras as indestructible and while not so much aggressive to their tankmates they are crazy fry eaters and territorial amongst themselves.


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