# Best Schooling fish (finally proof with video) Pg. 3



## Rhaethe (Jan 20, 2010)

Rummynose tetra and lemon tetra are both good schoolers that are also quite attractive.


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## LetThereBeFish (Dec 7, 2011)

You can't go wrong with harlequin rasporas or bloodfin tetras. If you want something a little more bulky, bleeding heart tetras fit the bill.


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## Noahma (Oct 18, 2009)

or you can just do a TON of the Ember tetra. 

Threadfin rainbows are pretty nice too, but once they get used tot he tank they will not school as much


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## mscichlid (Jul 14, 2008)

Go for something small. Embers, espies, hasborus


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## musicmanmoses (Dec 13, 2010)

I love glowlight tetras!


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## jkan0228 (Feb 6, 2011)

You could have a pretty large school of espei's.


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## JasonG75 (Mar 1, 2011)

RummyNose are of course my Favorite planted schooling fish


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

Harlaquin rasbora are really cool.


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## OVT (Nov 29, 2011)

I personally have never seen fish that schools tighter then Rummy Noses


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Thank you for the suggestion everyone.




OVT said:


> I personally have never seen fish that schools tighter then Rummy Noses



I thought that Neon tetra or cardinals where the tightest schooling fish. Hmmmm....Rummy Noses are cool looking.


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## Eldachleich (Jul 9, 2011)

mscichlid said:


> Go for something small. Embers, espies, hasborus


I do not want to de-rail the thread, but this caught my attention. How come there are so many different spellings for coydoras habrosus?
That has got to be the 5th spelling I've seen for this fish. I cant seem to find any info on which one is correct.


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## haterr (Sep 14, 2009)

chili rasboras, ember tetras and pygmy cories are good candidates


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## DishyFishy (Jul 17, 2011)

flame tetras are pretty darn cool too! fun to watch also


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## RAZmonkey (Jul 7, 2011)

I have rummynose, flame and neon tetras that seem to school together in my 75 gallon. I like the bright orange of the flames to contrast the green plants and black substrate I have. They are larger though than the others mentioned.


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## Rich Conley (Jun 10, 2008)

I've got dwarf neon rainbows in my 40BR. They seem to school pretty well.


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## roadmaster (Nov 5, 2009)

Find it strange that no one has asked what type of water the OP has.
This in my mind, would point me to possible fishes that would thrive or maybe not do so well.
Sickly,dead fish don't school very well.


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## fishranger (Nov 15, 2010)

like roadmaster said it all depends on ph and water conditions. Though a school of Sawbwa resplendens would look cool as well!


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## Grifter (Aug 23, 2011)

I love my lemon tetra's they school better than my rosys or neons


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Everyone and their mother has cardnials and neons (as probably you know which is why you said no to them in your topic). While they're definitely beautiful fish, at least from my observation they don't school that tightly and aren't super active.

It really depends on what you kind of fish you want and how active they want to be. Everyone likes active fish so with that said I've had black neon tetras and glowlight tetras and they swam near the bottom of the tank and weren't super active. I had good experiences with bloodfin tetras (really beautiful and active tetras that I don't see many people talk about... but they are amazing because they can live 10+ years) and espei rasboros. 

I think your best bet is to go to your LFS with an idea of the types of fish you would like and hopefully you'll have a chance to observe them. 50 gallons is large enough to house most rainbow fish as well so I would definitely look at them as well. Someone mentioned threadfin rainbow fish and I've had them and they're really beautiful, swim very fast (be sure to have a tank top on or the water not super high as they can jump)... they do have very small mouths so you would have to really crumple up the flake food for them; they could also eat daphnia and bloodworms.


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## nikonD70s (Apr 6, 2008)

if you want the best schooling effect....hands down rummynose. best schooling fish out there. it bugs me when fish scatters everywhere


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## psalm18.2 (Oct 16, 2010)

Ya, agree, neons don't really school. My rasboras do.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Thank you so much for the response everyone. So far that I like are the following:
- Neon/Cardinals.
- Rummy Nose
- Glo tetra
- threadfin rainbow



fusiongt said:


> Everyone and their mother has cardnials and neons (as probably you know which is why you said no to them in your topic). While they're definitely beautiful fish, at least from my observation they don't school that tightly and aren't super active.
> 
> It really depends on what you kind of fish you want and how active they want to be. Everyone likes active fish so with that said I've had black neon tetras and glowlight tetras and they swam near the bottom of the tank and weren't super active. I had good experiences with bloodfin tetras (really beautiful and active tetras that I don't see many people talk about... but they are amazing because they can live 10+ years) and espei rasboros.
> 
> I think your best bet is to go to your LFS with an idea of the types of fish you would like and hopefully you'll have a chance to observe them. 50 gallons is large enough to house most rainbow fish as well so I would definitely look at them as well. Someone mentioned threadfin rainbow fish and I've had them and they're really beautiful, swim very fast (be sure to have a tank top on or the water not super high as they can jump)... they do have very small mouths so you would have to really crumple up the flake food for them; they could also eat daphnia and bloodworms.


well, you are absolutely right. I still like the cardinals, but everyone seems to have these guys. I kind of want something different. I am not sure about the rainbow fish, I believe they will get pretty big. You actually mentioned about those threadfin rainbow, I love those guys, they look amazing, but my LFS only carry the silver color and I dind't know they're actually schooling fish. I would love Colors. 

The only problem with going to LFS and observe them, sometimes, they look like schooling fish, but they are actually not. They seem to be tight, because they overstock the tank. Thanks again.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

OMG OMG OMG....I found these on video Pseudomugil gertrudae ARU II. Are they schooling fish?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kq3nTWM6yyY


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## Storm (Aug 7, 2011)

Bloodfin tetras are some of the tightest schooling fish I've seen. If you get 20 or mor the school is truly a sight to be seen - search YouTube. It looks like those nature movies where they show fish in the ocean schooling... A swirling cloud of silver bodies.

Rummy nose are probably the second tightest schooling tetras. They don't form a swirling cloud like the bloodfins do, but they are almost always swimming the same direction and it's really fun to watch.


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## fusiongt (Nov 7, 2011)

Yep I second bloodfins and in the future would like to get a tank with maybe dark plants, dark gravel, and then a big ol' school of them.

I guess I've never been a huge fan of rummy noses because of their look. They just look so interesting that it's almost fake to me... something about their black and white tail where no other fish I've seen has it that irks me but haha, that's just me of course.

For the threadfins that you said are your LFS and are just silver, maybe it's the lighting or they're mostly female in there. If you look for males, they should have more reddish/green accents on their long top and bottom fins. Not to say the females are bad looking, but compared to the males they look really plane and aren't what we think of when we hear threadfin rainbow fish. They also don't grow that large so that wouldn't be a problem... some rainbow fish can be large but just like rasboras/tetras there are other variations that remain small. Threadfins are definitely schoolers but if they're really comfortable and the males are displaying to the females then they will be a lot looser and not schooling as much (but this is a good thing because when they display it's pretty awesome to see). their color improves as well when they're comfortable so that could be why they aren't that bright in the LFS.

Unfortunately I couldn't find much info on the Pseudomugil gertrudae ARU II that you posted - here's a profile on the version I's of the gertrudes that are a little different but probably behave similar to II. http://www.seriouslyfish.com/profile.php?id=223 

Watching some other videos of the gertrudes I think they behave similar to threadfins where they will school if not comfortable but once comfortable they show off and display and play with each other http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UwR2kzdf-k - so even though they don't school as tightly as tetras, they have an ace up their sleeve when they show off.


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## bk10 (Dec 2, 2011)

I'm partial to neons or serpae tetras although I'm leaning towards trying rummynoses when I want a change.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Thank you for your response everyone. I went to my LFS, and the guy had a great idea. I was thinking to just have 1 type of schooling fish. Then he said, I should have 2 types, so there will be different color of schooling fish. This is a great idea, but not sure if they will actually mixed up and that would not look that good. I was thiking about Cardinals and Glofish. Or Cardinals and Rummy noses.


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## Studman0143 (Mar 20, 2011)

I really like my school of Long-Fin serpae's in my 10G. I'm considering them for my 30G as well. But every suggestion you have here are good ones.
I'm also wanting to do Green Neon's and Green Fire Neon's.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

green_valley said:


> Thank you for your response everyone. I went to my LFS, and the guy had a great idea. I was thinking to just have 1 type of schooling fish. Then he said, I should have 2 types, so there will be different color of schooling fish.


Uh, if you have in your head to have one type, go with that. Usually a larger school of one species looks better, but it depends on the setup. 

The espei, bloodfins and rummys are the best IMO. Also take into consideration your setup and background. Bloodfins and rummys only have color on a small part of their bodies so they can look washed out in certain setups. The espei, harlequins have more color overall.


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## So_Fishy (Jan 16, 2012)

How about Danios, the zebra and leopard? I've had one or two of these in the past and liked the little guys. Any one have any luck with them forming schools?


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## 150EH (Dec 6, 2004)

Rummy's are the best schoolers, Danio's are spastic and agressive in large groups, I've never kept bloodfins but you have a couple reliable sources that say they are tight. I have 39 Rummy's and the stay in formation and I only have 8 green neon but they are all over the place.

Plus how can you pass on those blood red noses


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Rummynose tetras are certainly one of the best. Some rasboras are also good.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

Well, after few months researching and testing all fish mentioned above, my conclusion: Rummy Nose is the best and the tightest of all. 

Here is the proof (My video):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uVeJEGrt70c


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

That one wants discus and some sort of dwarf cichlid. If you could get your hands on 5-7 wild discus and some bolivian rams or checkerboard cichlids... oh boy.


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

LB79 said:


> That one wants discus and some sort of dwarf cichlid. If you could get your hands on 5-7 wild discus and some bolivian rams or checkerboard cichlids... oh boy.


Man Oh Man, I have been thinking about those discus and dwarf cichild. Don't worry, they're coming. :fish::fish:
The thing is, there is some arguments whether discus fit in Aquascaping or not.


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## alohamonte (Jul 25, 2006)

I had black skirt tetras in a 55gal that were tight schoolers.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

That was a beautiful tank in the vid! 

Probably bigger fish than you want, but my Buenos Aires Tetras school every bit as tightly (if not more) than the rummies in the vid. They are a flattened, deep bodied tetra that is mostly flashy aluminium silver with red and black accents. (sorry for the bad pic)


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## Royal Pleco (Sep 11, 2011)

I can vouch that Bloodfins school TIGHT and are always on the move. Very cool fish.


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## Big O (Jun 28, 2011)

+1 Rummy's by far, are the best!


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## angelsword (May 16, 2009)

Rummy nose tetras are my favorite. They school so much more tightly than the neons I had before my angels picked them off one at a time over like a year. Also much better than the cardinals that my Discus ate in like two days. You never ever see a rummy nose by itself. If ones alone it is frantically looking for the group.


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## proaudio55 (Oct 20, 2011)

If you're willing to do semi-agressive . . . Tiger barbs hold fairly close to together. They tend to chase, nip, and grouse with each other every moment of the day.

Youtube of the tank below: 72 gallon bowfront planted aquarium with shoal of tiger barbs, sand bottom - usual day









http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/pHosting/f/9924_april_2012b.jpg


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## VivaDaWolf (Feb 5, 2012)

Going to take a quick vid of my tank.

Some of the fish aren't very active (it usually looks very frantic) because its late and theyre sleeping. Especially the glowlights, they don't move much at night. And its at night when Ill see them actually bunched closer. I dont have a lot of tetras compared to the vids posted but I dont think they school much at all. Same with the neons. But the danios, I LOVE. Always sticking together.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZoNuXEbQH9E&feature=youtu.be excuse the talking.


That rummy vid above is amazing.


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

driftwoodhunter said:


> That was a beautiful tank in the vid!
> 
> Probably bigger fish than you want, but my Buenos Aires Tetras school every bit as tightly (if not more) than the rummies in the vid. They are a flattened, deep bodied tetra that is mostly flashy aluminium silver with red and black accents.


Hey, I got a question about this. Aren't Buenos Aires Tetras infamous for devouring live plants? Or am I confusing them with Columbians or something? I'm looking for a larger school tetra that is plant safe for my cichlid infested planted 75, but there aren't that many options that aren't so small that they would become a snack


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

Serpaes will serve for a cichlid-infested planted tank. Bombproof...


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

green_valley said:


> Man Oh Man, I have been thinking about those discus and dwarf cichild. Don't worry, they're coming. :fish::fish:
> The thing is, there is some arguments whether discus fit in Aquascaping or not.


Pooh! Discus fit in my 55. It's at least three times as heavily planted as yours.


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## driftwoodhunter (Jul 1, 2011)

HybridHerp, I have 12 Columbians and 10 Buenos in a 125g tank. Both have a rep for eating plants, and they sure do some serious chomping in mine! I think it's mostly the Buenos, though. Through trial and error I've found most stem plants are food. What they don't touch so far are anubias - all kinds - crypts (again, all kinds), Kleiner swords, crinum, bolbitis, riccia (as a floater), and all the java ferns. I have a newly planted amazon fern that hasn't been touched yet and I just ordered hygro kompact and another kind of pennywort to try. They need greens in their diet and I don't fee them any, so if I start feeding spirulina flakes or spinach, etc., maybe it will stop. That was suggested to me by the guy I ordered the latest plants from and I'm going to give it a try.

btw, my tanks are all low light/low tech, so the plant choices work for me. I'm more interested in the fish than the plants - I only use live plants now because I've learned how it benefits the fish, otherwise I'd still be a plastic plant person LOL. If you're into show tanks full of lush stems, Buenos Aires aren't for you ; )


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## HybridHerp (May 24, 2012)

I just finally got awesome stem plants to work with my cichlids (rotala jacaranda and ludwigia glandulosa mainly) so I think I'll skip out on those
I'd med with serapes as well but I also have a bichir that might make quick work of them, then again idk


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

alohamonte said:


> I had black skirt tetras in a 55gal that were tight schoolers.


Yeah, they're pretty cool schooling, but not too sure if they are tight as rummy. They're more like serpae tetra



driftwoodhunter said:


> That was a beautiful tank in the vid!
> 
> Probably bigger fish than you want, but my Buenos Aires Tetras school every bit as tightly (if not more) than the rummies in the vid. They are a flattened, deep bodied tetra that is mostly flashy aluminium silver with red and black accents. (sorry for the bad pic)



Thanks for the compliment. Those are nice tetras, yeah, a little be big for me. I'll consider them for my 300g next time. :thumbsup:



Royal Pleco said:


> I can vouch that Bloodfins school TIGHT and are always on the move. Very cool fish.


Hmmmmm, they are pretty tight. The might close to rummy.



Big O said:


> +1 Rummy's by far, are the best!



Agreed :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:



angelsword said:


> Rummy nose tetras are my favorite. They school so much more tightly than the neons I had before my angels picked them off one at a time over like a year. Also much better than the cardinals that my Discus ate in like two days. You never ever see a rummy nose by itself. If ones alone it is frantically looking for the group.


Yup, I used to argue that cardinal and neons are the best. Well, not anymore. They are the best color though. Wait a minute, Angels fish pick them off? because Ia m going to get Angel fish for my 50g. 



proaudio55 said:


> If you're willing to do semi-agressive . . . Tiger barbs hold fairly close to together. They tend to chase, nip, and grouse with each other every moment of the day.


Cool video, but those barbs don't seem to be very active.



VivaDaWolf said:


> Going to take a quick vid of my tank.
> 
> Some of the fish aren't very active (it usually looks very frantic) because its late and theyre sleeping. Especially the glowlights, they don't move much at night. And its at night when Ill see them actually bunched closer. I dont have a lot of tetras compared to the vids posted but I dont think they school much at all. Same with the neons. But the danios, I LOVE. Always sticking together.
> 
> ...


Cool cool cool. Danios are fairly tight



LB79 said:


> Serpaes will serve for a cichlid-infested planted tank. Bombproof...


Indeed



LB79 said:


> Pooh! Discus fit in my 55. It's at least three times as heavily planted as yours.


Hahaha, I like them. But some people hate discus in the tank. But to me, it really depends on the design. For natural design like mine, they would look fantastic.


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## LB79 (Nov 18, 2011)

If you want to lees expensive, angelfish would be a nice option. Wild angelfish would be a little more expensive than tankbred ones, but wouldn't breed as easily, and wouldn't tear the tank's balance and that nice school of rummies apart.


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## Tcal01 (Apr 23, 2012)

Has anyone suggested congo tetras? i have never had them but i think they are pretty cool. They get kinda big though.


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## JasonG75 (Mar 1, 2011)

I actually have 3 schools of fish in my tank and the Rummys are the best 

7 Cardinals (pretty much all over the place) 
6 dwarf pencilfish (Tight, but typically in one spot) 
9 Rummys (tight, back and forth in the tank)


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

LB79 said:


> If you want to lees expensive, angelfish would be a nice option. Wild angelfish would be a little more expensive than tankbred ones, but wouldn't breed as easily, and wouldn't tear the tank's balance and that nice school of rummies apart.


I have a new Angel Project for my 50g.  I've been trying to find those Platinum (white) Angels, but no luck so far.



Tcal01 said:


> Has anyone suggested congo tetras? i have never had them but i think they are pretty cool. They get kinda big though.


Congo tetras seem pretty, but I have never seen them around here.




JasonG75 said:


> I actually have 3 schools of fish in my tank and the Rummys are the best
> 
> 7 Cardinals (pretty much all over the place)
> 6 dwarf pencilfish (Tight, but typically in one spot)
> 9 Rummys (tight, back and forth in the tank)


roud:roud: Rummy noses babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy


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## GrampsGrunge (Jun 18, 2012)

I like Dwarf Pencilfish, Nannostomus Marginatus, they tend to be somewhat calmer in their schooling behavior, tight but not frantic.

http://youtu.be/etu17jpvfPQ


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## green_valley (Sep 14, 2011)

GrampsGrunge said:


> I like Dwarf Pencilfish, Nannostomus Marginatus, they tend to be somewhat calmer in their schooling behavior, tight but not frantic.
> 
> http://youtu.be/etu17jpvfPQ


Those are pretty nice schooling fish. BUt I don't see them a lot around here.


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## mach_six (Sep 12, 2005)

Schooling is a defense mechanism. If there's nothing to be afraid of is why they don't school in aquarium as often. Getting some larger fish may do it.

I transfer 5 2.5-3" BATs to a tank with 3 large full sized silver dollars and a 10" leporinus that are more than 10x their size, even they are not predatory they were schooling initially. Now they are just back to nipping at each other like they did in the tank they came from.


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