1 very special fish

[mmohamma]

Hello experts,

After 2 months of watching George Farmer you tube videos, I managed to start up my 20G long tank. I got dwarf hair grass with Co2 injections. 8 Amano Shrimps and 4 tetras. This is the first time I got tetras. They are not very active and tend to just sit around in a school. I would like to have 1 and ONLY 1 larger fish that would keep the tetras in a school and swimming around. I'm thinking the big fish would swim around and naturally, the tetras would school more and swim around. naturally, I'm not looking for a predator or any fish that would harm the plants.

Any ideas?

 

[Fresh2o]

You could probably get 8-10 more tetras (assuming neon from the pic). You may see better group dynamics with a larger number.
I once had Gold Tetras and all they did was hide. I then picked up some long fin blue Danios and that promoted activity with the tetras. No schooling but they were more active.
Currently I have Ember tetras and they are pretty stationary. With them are emerald Eye Rasboras and they are a bit more active and add some movement. However, the Furcata Forktail Rainbows really add movement and color. They are active like Zebra Danios but not as spastic and nippy.
Really cannot think of a solitary larger fish you can add that will promote schooling (and not try to eat them). It could backfire and the tetras become used to the new fish and stop schooling.

 

[Fresh2o]

BTW nice setup.

 

[King Fisher]

Nice tank. I agree with fresh.....up the number of fish. They'll school better. 4 isn't enough, you should go with 6 of any type of schooling fish. Have you thought about maybe adding two different types of school's of fish?

 

[mmohamma]

Actually I had 13 neons. but every 2-3 days, I lost one It seems neons are very sensitive. Fortunately, I haven't lost any more in the past week. I'll give another week and will add more neons.

Thank you all.

 

[King Fisher]

I think something like honey Gourami's might fit nicely with your smaller schooling fish. Let us know what you go with.

 

[stooker]

Definitely figure out why you were losing so many tetras before moving on! I've found neons to be fairly hardy, tbh...

 

[mmohamma]

well,

Right after FreshO2's response, I added 8 harlequin rasbora. It's been over a week now. They are all doing great, happy, eating and no casualties. But unfortunately, I lost 2 more neons. looking at the last 2, I think they are keepers.

If All goes well, maybe after a month, I'll add some zebra danios. That should top off the biosphere for a 20G tank.

Thank you all for your suggestions.