# What's the smallest Schooling fish?



## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

I would like to have some small schooling fish, they should be smaller than rummy, neon, etc. Galaxy rasboras are perfect size, but I just can't stand them hiding around. The smaller, the better.

Any suggestion? 

Thanks


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

Embers? I'm looking into them for a nice school of maybe 70 in my 95G with my roselines. 


Sent from my fingers


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

is your goal the tight schooling behavior, or the vibrance of the fish? What size tank and what else is in it?

Take a gander through some of my species, they are mostly small
http://msjinkzd.com/species/freshwater-fish/


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

jkan0228 said:


> Embers? I'm looking into them for a nice school of maybe 70 in my 95G with my roselines.
> 
> 
> Sent from my fingers


I think you're talking about ember tetras, right? I believe they're the same size as Neon. Wow, 70 in 95g, I am not sure if they will school, I would think they would probably scattered around. 



msjinkzd said:


> is your goal the tight schooling behavior, or the vibrance of the fish? What size tank and what else is in it?
> 
> Take a gander through some of my species, they are mostly small
> http://msjinkzd.com/species/freshwater-fish/


Thanks for the link. Well, the goal is to proportion wise with the scape of my 50g tank. I need them tiny. I think the closest of my research is Chilli rasboras. Not sure if there is anything smaller and colorful.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

chilis are very very tiny, but they are not really schoolers. They more "loosely gather" which is why I was wondering your goals.

Look into microdevario kubotai. I think they are really nice schooling fish with decent color and outgoing behavior. Danio choprae get a little larger, but they are very outgoing as well. Cpd's are kind of shy, as most small danios are. Other good alternatives are something like Brevibora dorsiocellata- though they are more topwater, Trigonostigma espei (very outgoing and colorful), or some dwarf cories which tend to school midwater when in large groups.


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

You're not going to find fish that will remain in a tight shoal in an aquarium. They shoal together as a form of protection. When they discover they are safe, their fear response is no longer triggered, decreasing their shoaling response. The best you can hope for are fish that are naturally less prone to hiding and more prone to sticking together. If they are active, they may give the appearance of shoaling from time to time.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

msjinkzd said:


> chilis are very very tiny, but they are not really schoolers. They more "loosely gather" which is why I was wondering your goals.
> 
> Look into microdevario kubotai. I think they are really nice schooling fish with decent color and outgoing behavior. Danio choprae get a little larger, but they are very outgoing as well. Cpd's are kind of shy, as most small danios are. Other good alternatives are something like Brevibora dorsiocellata- though they are more topwater, Trigonostigma espei (very outgoing and colorful), or some dwarf cories which tend to school midwater when in large groups.


Yeah, chillis are so tiny, that would be perfect for my scape. I guess I could live with loosely gather. Microdevario kubotai is not bad, but not enough color for me. Danio choprae looks very very nice, however, they might be too big for my purpose. CPD are the best looking, but I will never get them. In my experience, they're just wasting my money. Brevibora dorsiocellata has not much color. 

Now, Trigonostigma espei are amazing and probably the competitor of chilli for my purpose. They look like Harlequin but smaller, I didn't even know there is such a thing. Thank you so much for your options, by the way, how big do Clown killies get?




Complexity said:


> You're not going to find fish that will remain in a tight shoal in an aquarium. They shoal together as a form of protection. When they discover they are safe, their fear response is no longer triggered, decreasing their shoaling response. The best you can hope for are fish that are naturally less prone to hiding and more prone to sticking together. If they are active, they may give the appearance of shoaling from time to time.


Thanks, and I agreed it's their self defense mechanism. So I am just gonna put oscar so they will school :hihi:


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## thechibi (Jan 20, 2012)

Actually, apparently if you get enough of them, CPDs become much less shy. Like, 20 of 'em at least.


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## somewhatshocked (Aug 8, 2011)

Microdevario kubotai may not have a ton of color but their sheen is absolutely gorgeous in almost any lighting. They really pop in just about any tank.

Boraras brigittae are obviously gorgeous little fish. They'd be my pick. But Microdevario kubotai are much more attractive in real life than in photos.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

green_valley said:


> Yeah, chillis are so tiny, that would be perfect for my scape. I guess I could live with loosely gather. Microdevario kubotai is not bad, but not enough color for me. Danio choprae looks very very nice, however, they might be too big for my purpose. CPD are the best looking, but I will never get them. In my experience, they're just wasting my money. Brevibora dorsiocellata has not much color.
> 
> Now, Trigonostigma espei are amazing and probably the competitor of chilli for my purpose. They look like Harlequin but smaller, I didn't even know there is such a thing. Thank you so much for your options, by the way, how big do Clown killies get?
> 
> ...


*I haven't actually found this to be true with most of the teeny fish. They are so low on the totem pole, that if you have enough of them (we are not talking 6-10, as that is not a true school anyway) they exhibit proper behaviors. With larger tetras and such, this is much more true. Little fish don't even really need a perceived threat to gather.*


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## 50089 (Dec 11, 2011)

I've heard the stories of CPDs being shy but I have about 10 of them in a 40 gal and they aren't shy at all. They come to the front of the glass when they see me, they swim with my Embers, very cool little fish. They very rarely "shoal" as there's nothing in my tank for them to be afraid of but they do swim in a group from time to time, particularly when it's feeding time. I've seen them spawn as well. I bought them from a breeder and they were tank raised which might make a huge difference but anyway I just thought I'd throw out my experience with them.


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## xenxes (Dec 22, 2011)

I only have 4 CPDs in my 20L, and they're not shy at all, chasing each other back and forth. It depends on the fish, they "learn" and associate behavior, i.e. wild caught fish will always be shy and jumpy, these were tank born and raised, and scamper to the front for food each time my hand moves up.


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## Eileen (May 31, 2009)

*Micro Rasbora (Boraras Micros)*

My local aquarium store had these little schooling fish. Micro Rasboras (Boraras Micros) I used to have these in my 6 gal. tank.The aquarium store had a small school of these in a nano tank of like 3 gal. size. 4 of them would be good for a tank of 3. gal. 2 gal. maybe 3 but I had 6 of them in my 6 gal. planted tank. Very cute and hardy like the reg. Rasboras the lifespan is 3-8yrs so not bad for a aquarium fish with good care. They also have a very nice coloring that looks good in planted tanks.


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

green_valley said:


> I think you're talking about ember tetras, right? I believe they're the same size as Neon. Wow, 70 in 95g, I am not sure if they will school, I would think they would probably scattered around.


I feel as though they'd be somewhat tight in my 95G with all the open space that I have, making them feel slightly insecure as I have 8 roselines roaming around as well.


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## discuspaul (Jul 27, 2010)

Never heard of these, but they look good - a boraras offshoot of brigittae or maculatus, maybe ?


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Espei Rasboros are pretty small I found, less than an inch long and they school pretty tightly. They are a size up though from chili's but I've seen them shoal really tightly even if they're comfortable and just eating.


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

I think Chili's are your best bet if there is going to be nothing larger in the tank or else they tend to hide and disappear like shrimp, but I would like to have a little micro scape with Chili's it would really trick your eye.


My last surviving Chili.


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## dunehole (Sep 13, 2011)

Maybe they are too big for your purposes, but my Espei Rasboras school really tightly. They are 1 inch or less. Their bright orange color is really nice against all the plants, and they aren't shy at all.


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## blink (Feb 22, 2012)

thechibi said:


> Actually, apparently if you get enough of them, CPDs become much less shy. Like, 20 of 'em at least.


This.

I found that when I had under 10 CPD they were always hiding, now that I've got a bigger group they are out and swimming around in the open areas almost all the time unless I try to terrify them by running up to the tank or something ridiculous.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

i have a few hundred of the cpd's at any given time, I just find them to be significantly less outgoing then several of hte other small fish that are also available.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

150EH said:


> I think Chili's are your best bet if there is going to be nothing larger in the tank or else they tend to hide and disappear like shrimp, but I would like to have a little micro scape with Chili's it would really trick your eye.


Yeah, it might be the one, but Trigonostigma espei looks pretty small as well. Not too sure between those two.:hihi:



librarygirl said:


> I've heard the stories of CPDs being shy but I have about 10 of them in a 40 gal and they aren't shy at all. They come to the front of the glass when they see me, they swim with my Embers, very cool little fish. They very rarely "shoal" as there's nothing in my tank for them to be afraid of but they do swim in a group from time to time, particularly when it's feeding time. I've seen them spawn as well. I bought them from a breeder and they were tank raised which might make a huge difference but anyway I just thought I'd throw out my experience with them.





thechibi said:


> Actually, apparently if you get enough of them, CPDs become much less shy. Like, 20 of 'em at least.





blink said:


> This.
> 
> I found that when I had under 10 CPD they were always hiding, now that I've got a bigger group they are out and swimming around in the open areas almost all the time unless I try to terrify them by running up to the tank or something ridiculous.



Thank you for sharing your experience, I appreciate that. Unfortunately, like I said previously, I had them before and Yes there were more than 15. But the same result. They will still hide around, so for $7 each, that's a waste of money to me. Even if it's $2 a piece, I am not going to get them. Again, thanks for sharing. 



msjinkzd said:


> i have a few hundred of the cpd's at any given time, I just find them to be significantly less outgoing then several of hte other small fish that are also available.


Agreed.


So far from my research, they're still Chilli and Trigonostigma espei (Rasboras espei)roud:


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

u can find lots of nano small fish. but in my opinion they wont school much and most of the time scatter all over (which bugs me) if u want bigger size. then hands down rummynose...prolly the best schooling fish in this hobby in my opinion


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

nikonD70s said:


> u can find lots of nano small fish. but in my opinion they wont school much and most of the time scatter all over (which bugs me) if u want bigger size. then hands down rummynose...prolly the best schooling fish in this hobby in my opinion



I have rummy noses in my 140g and yes, they're the best. Unfortunately, not the best for my scape. They would be giant monster :biggrin:


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

espeis are excellent schoolers as well. Another, less often used but common fish is the black neon. I just got some in on a whim and am really enjoying them.

That being said, espeis are without a doubt one of my favorite small fish of all time. They are vibrant, school well, and pretty hardy. They make a stunning display in a planted tank. I think that you would be really happy with them and their behavior. They also inhabit more the top half of the tank, leaving your options open for another schooler in the bottom, should you go that route. I really like combining them with the Yunnanilus cruciatus loaches (which tend to hover int he bottom third above the substrate) or something like habrosus or pygmaeus cories.


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## Dave-H (Jul 29, 2010)

Chili's are really great. They don't really 'shoal' but they will stay together in a tight group which is mostly the same thing for decorative purpose. Great color and they have a lot of personality.


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## Complexity (Jan 30, 2008)

I had a school of _Boraras maculatus_ many years ago and absolutely loved them. They are very similar to Chilis (_Boraras brigittae_). I can't say that they shoaled together, but they did tend to hang out together. I liked them so much that I'd love to get some more or get some Chilis. They are really tiny fish, but very beautiful. They'd be my first pick if I was looking for a school of really small fish.


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