Mix and Match Schools?

[Cattrah]

I couldn't find a very adequate answer while searching the forums on the rules for schooling fish. We have a 10g freshwater tank in the process of fishless cycle and we've been researching what we want to put in there. We're probably going to start with a school of 5 tetra or danios. There are soooooo many varieties of each kind, it's hard to pick just one. So I was wondering, can you mix and match to achieve the complete school of 5? I assume you would have to pick varieties that are similar in shape and max size. Or is it just a no no, a school is purely a number of fish of the exact same variety? I saw two or three different colors of skirt tetra (just an example, we'd probably go with a smaller max size variety) at the store and thought it would be easier for my 5yo daughter to name and bond with her fish if she could tell them apart, but I don't want to mix and match if it is bad practice and the fish won't be happy together.

[Luananeko]

Sadly no, you can't really mix and match to make up a school unless they are the same scientific name. A 10 gallon is pretty small for most schooling fish, especially the various skirt tetras. You could do 4-5 platys though. Get one of each color and she'll easily be able to tell them apart. Just be warned that if you don't get all males or all females that you'll have to figure out what to do with the babies.

I would avoid the usual types of danios, as they are much too active for a 10 gallon tank. GloFish Danios in particular are far too often marketed for the small tanks when they really need 30" of tank length minimum. You can use aqadvisor.com as a sanity check on your stocking plan. It's not foolproof and needs to be double checked with research and asking experienced fishkeepers (NOT your local fish store, their goal is usually just to sell fish, not have you keep them well), but it's a great starting point.

[hennaartist]

I agree with Luananeko!

Also, in a 10 gallon most schooling fish won't really school.
You could always do one platy, one Molly, one sword tail, and one guppy. That way you wouldn't have to worry about if their male or female to avoid babies, and you'd have sons variety.

If you truly want a school of fish in a 10 gallon then get 5 or 6 neon or glow light tetras.

Also, for algae my daughter loves her snail.

[Luananeko]

Ehhh, I'd avoid different types of livebearers, as they WILL hybridize. Swords and mollies also tend to get too big for a 10 gallon. Platies or guppies are your best bet. There are more than enough color morphs to keep them unique looking

[Mcgolg76]

If you go ten gallon and want multiple schools. Can do 6 celestial pearls and like 8 pygmy Cory's. Even add one honey gourami. Of course hard to tell apart the individual cpds and Cory's

[RTDav]

I've got six guppies, one platy (the otger one passed) and I don't know if it's me being excited but the left over platy seems to have schoold with the guppies. Could try that.

Also I have a 5 month old daughter who gets mesmerised by the fish.

[Cattrah]

Thanks for the responses. Guppies were at the top of our list anyway since they're kind of fancy, so I suppose we'll start with a pretty group of males (we do NOT want babies!) and maybe a few weeks later add some ghost shrimp. I think she'd be pretty happy with that. We're doing gravel in the tank so from what I've read the cory's just aren't happiest without sand so I don't think we'll do any corys. I don't have any desire to overstock, that just means more work for me.