What schooling fish to get

[logansmomma1228]

Here is my planned stock ATM, I plan on adding a couple more cories in the mix as well .

What schooling fish would go well in there? Preferrably something to add some color.

 

[mommytron]

I love our cardinal tetras our daughter sees them from way across the room even though they are only 1" little fish. I was also looking at Cochu's blue tetras, they are soooooo pretty. glowlight tetras are pretty neat too, we saw some with very vivid orange stripes.

 

[Crepe]

You can get anything you want. I like neons, cardinals, rummy noses, congos, blues, bengal danios, rio de oros, and lemon tetras. It's all up to you though.

 

[taylorodw]

I would just stay away from tetras described as "nippy" because of the gouramis. Other than that, like Crepe said, mostly anything goes.

I think Cardinal and Rummynose tetras are awesome looking.

 

[maxima423]

Tropical Fish for Freshwater Aquariums: Golden White Cloud Mountain Minnow are one of my favorite schooling fish =]

 

[Lowryder]

I like my bloodfin tetras, they really look good swimming in and out of my plants. So my vote is for some type of tetra, there are so many different colors to choose.

 

[BigJim]

+1 for bloodfins. Harlequin rasboras or rummy nose tetras too.

 

[SnailPowered]

I really like the celestial pearl danios and I think they would be great with the gouramis. But they look more like fish that I would fin in a lake in Arizona is why I think I like the so much.

 

[logansmomma1228]

So the majority like tetras Mommy, I do really like the cardinals as well. Also the neons are cool. The white clouds look nice too... so many options! Lol. I haven't even got to the danios yet. I think I will take Logan to the LFS and try and figure out which ones catch his attention more. It will be hard because he loves to watch all the fish moving around, but I would like something colorful for him to see .

 

[CA_BroncoFan]

Harlequin Rasbora's are awesome or you could go with black skirt tetras. I like gold barbs which are a much more docile barb and ive had with betta's and other fish with longer fins and have not seen them show any aggression.

 

[logansmomma1228]

So ATM I am between white clouds, cardinal tetras, zebra danios, or harlequin rasboras. It will probably end up between the clouds and the cardinals because they are brighter and more colorful so to speak. . . Such a hard decision lol!

 

[maxima423]

white clouds!!! they are so nice =] i was going to put around 12-15 in my 55g if i dont decide to do EBJ!!! god even when i prepay i am still thinking about these awesome fishes T___T

 

[logansmomma1228]

lol, well aqadvisor is saying that the rams and gouramis will be too aggressive with the cardinals when they each start breeding. Any thoughts on that? I really do like the white clouds as well. I love how their fins look. I know AQ can be conservative though so I am double checking on here. I like to see my stock though

hmmm... according to aq the white clouds take up less space as well.

 

[taylorodw]

White Clouds are more likely to stick to the top of the tank. They also have a low bio-load, exceptionally low for the aqadvisor system. The developer of aqadvisor posted on here, about how the bio load value for a white cloud is one of the lowest on aqadvisor.

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

i would highly recomend the harliquen rasboras... so awesome. quite a hardy little fish and in a planted tank, they color in VERY nicely. salmon to pink to orange, with that black triangle, and red rimmed eyes... going to get another bunch of them to boost my current school. i get them locally $1 each, at that price.. total deal.

 

[severum mama]

So ATM I am between white clouds, cardinal tetras, zebra danios, or harlequin rasboras. It will probably end up between the clouds and the cardinals because they are brighter and more colorful so to speak. . . Such a hard decision lol!

IMO you should probably skip the danios. They are super active fish and based on my experience with keeping a trio of sparkling gouramis, I really think the sparklers would be stressed by all the activity. This is the same reason I have to respectfully disagree with the recommendations for black skirts or blue tetras (assuming that poster was referring to the cochu's blue tetra/Boehlkea fredcochui- we have about 20 in at the moment and they are just incredibly active).

Either white clouds or cardinals would do fine with the gouramis. The rams, I'm not so sure about. If they decide to pair off and spawn, IMO your gouramis may be in some trouble... I'm basing this on HN1 and my experiences breeding GBRs and several species of apistos; these fish are very similar to Bolivians in terms of overall behavior.

lol, well aqadvisor is saying that the rams and gouramis will be too aggressive with the cardinals when they each start breeding. Any thoughts on that? I really do like the white clouds as well. I love how their fins look. I know AQ can be conservative though so I am double checking on here. I like to see my stock though

hmmm... according to aq the white clouds take up less space as well.

Relying on tools like AqAdvisor can often steer you in the wrong direction IMO. There is just so much that goes into stocking decisions that can't be formulated or quantified. The info you're getting there is just completely incorrect IMO. Either cardinals or white clouds are going to stand a much better chance with the rams breeding than the gouramis will. If the gouramis choose to spawn, you'll see some aggression, but they are so small I would not anticipate any damage to your other fish. Also, the tool telling you that cardinals "take up more space" than white clouds is completely incorrect as well. I've had some very large cardinals in some of my past tanks, and HN1 and I are currently breeding some jumbo longfin white clouds in a pond, and they are so similar in terms of max size that I'd consider the bioload of each adult fish to be the same.

Remember, the creator/s of tools like AqAdvisor are just hobbyists like you and me, and are just as fallible as the rest of us. What you're seeing there is no more the result of fact than the opinions you're getting from others here in your stocking thread. It's cool to use stocking tools to get ideas, but don't put too much faith in the results.

 

[logansmomma1228]

What about the keyhole cichlid? I saw one of them and they look like the rams. I really would like a pair like the rams to be there.... they are so gorgeous and seem to be the best chooice for a cichlid in a community tank. Hmmm....

As far as AQ goes I use it for a general idea and then I always double check on here and research more, it just helps to see what supposedly gets along with what.

 

[severum mama]

Keyholes are great fish and are generally really peaceful for cichlids, but just like with the rams I think the gouramis may be in trouble if a keyhole pair were to spawn in the same tank. That's JMO though.

 

[logansmomma1228]

Aargh! Lol I am so indecisive. If it comes down to it I will get rid of the gouramis... I have really been wanting cichlids since I got into this and as I said the rams are just awesome. Do you think there would be problems with cories though if they start to breed also?

 

[severum mama]

Based on my experience, I seriously doubt it. Cories are pretty tough. They have "armor" on their bodies and it's very unlikely that either keyholes or Bolivians will damage them.

If you could squeeze in just one more tank, you can do a species tank for a sparkling gourami trio in a 5.5 or 10 gallon. Mine were in a 5 gallon Eclipse corner tank and did wonderfully together until they got cooked by a malfunctioning heater.