# Best (small) schooling fish?



## Phish (Apr 29, 2009)

15+ rummies, depending on what other fish you are keeping! Mine chase each other in circles around my mountains.


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## nokturnalkid (Apr 3, 2007)

Top to mid - lemon tetras
Middle to bottom - rummynose


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## astrosag (Sep 3, 2010)

Phish thats awesome! That would be nice since I've got some tall peaks and arranged them so that fish can swim behind them. 

Noktunral, thanks for your input.

How do cardinal tetras rank amongst lemon and rummynose?

The other fish I'm hoping to keep are 2 GBRs, a couple dwarf puffers, and them a few algae eaters (haven't decided which ones).

Feel free to evaluate my fauna list too!

Tank is cycling so I've got time to evaluate recommendations. Thanks!


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## Phish (Apr 29, 2009)

yea it is pretty fun to watch. dwarf puffers may be too aggressive for those tetras. I'd get a few oto's.


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## astrosag (Sep 3, 2010)

Yea, the one "iffy" aspect of my fish selection is the dwarf puffer. I've asked as many people as I can...most say it "should" be ok. I figure that the DPs don't get to be that much bigger than the tetras and are not likely to be able to catch them to harass them.

I've put more thought into the DPs than any other fish. The true problem is that the GF wants puffers...absolutely. I want, after setting this thing up and this being my pet project, a nice schooling fish...you get the picture  She's conceded a bit..at first she wanted spotted puffers. That's not happening considering many things that come with those devilish things.


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## nokturnalkid (Apr 3, 2007)

I've had cardinals but I don't really care for them. They are nice fish but they aren't very active ime. They tend to hang out together but not really swim back and forth. I'm sure others will say that they are great schoolers but I they never really do that for me no matter what the tank size. If I were you, I would either get the dp's or the gbr's. If you get a pair of gbr's, there's going to be a lot of aggression once they start breeding.


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## tbonedeluxe (Mar 10, 2008)

Harlequin rasboras are a very nice schooling fish.


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## StygianSteel (Apr 2, 2010)

tbonedeluxe said:


> Harlequin rasboras are a very nice schooling fish.


That's what I was thinking. Good schoolers and they like the top.


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## chiefroastbeef (Feb 14, 2011)

If you want a really small fish, and lots of them, the chili rasboras are great schoolers, super small, and pretty looking. I have around twenty in my 15g and i love them. They stay at the top.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

norman's lampeyes. They glow in a nice planted tank.


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## GoodwillTKE (Dec 30, 2010)

Have to throw my vote into the harlequin rasbora pool. I love those little guys. They feed like a school of sharks.


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## msjinkzd (May 12, 2007)

espei rasboras are very nice as well.


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## karatekid14 (Jan 16, 2011)

Me too on the norman's lampeye


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## shane3fan (Nov 2, 2009)

Harlequins and White Clouds hang out near the top and school pretty well. I was worried I was gassing mine with CO2 because they stay so close to the top--but they do the same without CO2.


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## astrosag (Sep 3, 2010)

Wow, thanks everyone for the replies!

Ok so it looks like cardinal tetras might be out. norman's lampeye and harlequin rasboras have 2 votes each.

I'll do some research on the two and check back. 


About the GBRs and Dwarf Puffers...will GBRs easily breed (like convicts?). I had the understanding that GBRs should be kept in pairs but also that they require some tight parameters to start breeding. I definitely don't want a breeding pair in that small tank - a friend of mine had two convicts that would seemingly constantly breed! Super aggressive all the time and unfortunately he couldn't care for more than 2 batches of babies. He had to get rid of one of the convicts.


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## astrosag (Sep 3, 2010)

chiefroastbeef said:


> If you want a really small fish, and lots of them, the chili rasboras are great schoolers, super small, and pretty looking. I have around twenty in my 15g and i love them. They stay at the top.


Chief, those fish look amazing! I think a big school of these tiny fish may look awesome....very awesome.

My only apprehension with harlequin and lampeye's are that they don't seem as colorful. But I do trust the judgment of people on this forum .

Tough choice. Would having two smaller schools be difficult to pull off in a relatively small tank?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

astrosag said:


> About the GBRs and Dwarf Puffers...will GBRs easily breed (like convicts?). I had the understanding that GBRs should be kept in pairs but also that they require some tight parameters to start breeding. I definitely don't want a breeding pair in that small tank - a friend of mine had two convicts that would seemingly constantly breed! Super aggressive all the time and unfortunately he couldn't care for more than 2 batches of babies. He had to get rid of one of the convicts.


GBRs are not nearly as aggressive or prolific as convicts. GBRs are much more appropriate for cummunity tanks, and most of the time you wouldn't even have any eggs or fry survive, since the parents usually are not quite as good as convict parents about protecting their young. 

But due to the size of your tank (you don't have too much floor space in these half-moon tanks) I'd personally stick to just one ram rather than a pair if you decide to get one.

Single rams can do just fine in a community tank.

How many schools will fit in this tank depends on which fish you pick out. Chili rasporas are tiny. And I do mean [--------------] big, and about that thin, too, so you could easily stock a school of 10-12 along with another small schooling fish, and still have room for a school of dwarf cories. If you go with Harlequins, I'd stick with just one school, plus your bottom dwellers.


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## takadi (Dec 13, 2010)

Black neon tetras are very tight schoolers. They hang around the top


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## astrosag (Sep 3, 2010)

Do they get to be large or stay relatively small?


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