want to add COLORFUL Schooling fish.

[Guest]

I want a group of about 8 schooling fish that won't be eaten by my angel fish when they reach full size. I have 2 Oto's and 2 Cory cat fish... i plan on getting 3 more of each to make a school of 5 of them... but they mostly stay at the bottom... sides of the tanks. I want a school that will swim around in about the middle of the tank. But i want colorful fish... something that will really brighten up the tank.

You can see what fish i have in my signature. It is a 55 gallon planted tank. So what school of fish could i add that will add some life and color to my aquarium.

TIA

 

[Apocalypse_Gold]

Rainbows are brilliant schoolers. I love the preacox/dwarf rainbows. It is important to shop around. One lfs has them for $8 and another has healthier ones for $3.

 

[greenmaji]

Rasbora heteromorpha, Harlequin rasboras

 

[Fluff]

rummy nose tetras are pretty tight schoolers. They are lovely too in a school. And they are mid to top level swimmers.

 

[virus]

Danios! are cool schoolers!

 

[Guest]

Yeah, but Danios aren't very colorful. I had some zebras, i gave them to my sis in law. I want very colorful fish. Rainbows sound like a good idea, but everywhere around here they are really expensive. The Rummy nose tetras are kinda blah looking to me. I want some color but on a budget. The pics of the Rasboras i saw were pretty cool looking.... ive also thougth of, are they called serpae tetras? there is a long finned variety at my LFS that are pretty cool looking.

 

[lyquidphyre]

I have Serpae's in my tank with my angels.. and they look amazing with green plants.. and they shouldn't be too expensive

 

[Guest]

Yeah, but Danios aren't very colorful. I had some zebras, i gave them to my sis in law. I want very colorful fish. Rainbows sound like a good idea, but everywhere around here they are really expensive. The Rummy nose tetras are kinda blah looking to me. I want some color but on a budget. The pics of the Rasboras i saw were pretty cool looking.... ive also thougth of, are they called serpae tetras? there is a long finned variety at my LFS that are pretty cool looking.

You might want to check Petco if they have one near you, Rainbows have been on sale at the Petco by me for $5.50 for over a month now, I have no idea why. Otherwise, you could go with any of several tetras, I would just go to the liveaquaria.com site and search around under tetra until you find a few you like, and then see whats available at your LFS. I have a 55g tank too with mostly schooling fish, its a cool look for a tank.

 

[Guest]

we have a petsmart nearby, but i don't buy fish from there, they are always diseased and die. Yeah, i like the idea that you have all schooling fish in yoru tank Tony, i bet that looks aweseom, which is why i wanted too add a school to mine. I figure, ill finish the Oto and cory schools, and then get one or two mid level schooling fish. I just don't want them to get picked on by the angels or the gouramis. Or the bala or the red tail.. lol.

 

[lyquidphyre]

My serpaes don't get picked on by my angels or red tail.. or even my barbs

My suggestion would to have one midlevel schooling fish instead of two, because the more you have of the fish, they better it looks.

 

[Guest]

awesome, thanks for the advice lyquidphyre... i think ill go with the serpaes... they really caught my eye at teh fish store.

 

[greenmaji]

Just a side note the Harlequin rasboras are more colorfull then regular rasboras...

 

[Andos99]

I have 10 neon tetras in one of my tanks....I know they won't work out too well with angels, but I they are fun to watch, not to mention quite colorful.

 

[Guest]

see i think neon tetras are kinda dull looking. because they are mostly clear.
The harlequen rasboras look really interesting too, i think im inbetween those and the serpae.

 

[shawmutt]

Yeah, but Danios aren't very colorful.

There are color variations you can look for, such as the turquoise and glowing danio.

Another option is cardinal tetras, they are slightly larger (about 2" when fully grown) and much more colorful than neons, and I've seen a few tanks with angels and cardinals living happily together.

 

[lyquidphyre]

The harlequen rasboras look really interesting too, i think im inbetween those and the serpae.

Im torn between those two.. er I was.
I had 8 serpae and I was debating getting 10 of each (rasbora and serpae) but decided the larger school (15) of serpae would look really nice with all the green Ive got going on

 

[Guest]

while im thinking about it, is there anything besides Tetra's or Danios that school and stay relatively small and are safe with my fish? I like Tiger Barbs, but i know they are out of the question with my Angels.

 

[greenmaji]

the rosey barbs are suppose to be safer..

 

[Guest]

Remeber? I had rosy barbs, someone told me they get really big, i had 3 and they were too fast at getting the food for my angels and Gouramis, i had to sell them back.

 

[greenmaji]

JMHO... you seem to have alot of fish in your tank.. it just might be you need let them grow up some and you wouldnt feel the need to have more fish? in other words the tank would seem more full..? :? I feel if you crowd your angels they will not be as big and beautiful as they can be when there not crowded.. they can get 8" long, how big are yours now? I really dont think there all that crowded right now from the fish you have in your sig. but it seems like it could get close quick.... Im really not trying to upset you with this but I think if your show fish got bigger then thats when I would think about getting more fish.. hope this helps..