Schooling fish for 20g long, harlequin rasbora?

[northernpangio]

Hey guys,

My quarantine tank is almost ready for new fish. I have a heavily planted 20g long with just kuhli loaches so i'd love some activity at the top. I've been looking into espei rasbora, harlequin rasbora, and purple harlequin rasbora. Is there any differences between harlequins and espeis? I can't decide which one I should get and how many would be appropriate.

I had seen neon dwarf rainbowfish at my LPS that would follow my hand from one end of the tank to another. It was mesmerizing to see a schooling fish do that. Is there any schooling fish suitable for this tank size that has the same behavior?

I was also thinking about getting a little honey gourami as my LPS has 2 but they're both males.

Any suggestions would be fantastic!

[myo]

There’s a few smaller Rainbowfish species I would recommend - for example:

Rhadinocentrus Ornatus - Ornate Rainbowfish
Pseudomugil Luminatus - Neon Red Blue Eye
Pseudomugil Furcatus - Fork Tail Blue Eye

[BBradbury]

Hello north...

Tetras are schooling fish and small enough for a 20 gallon tank. Rasboras aren't, they're a type of shoaling fish. Tetras will school until they feel comfortable in the tank and then will swim on their own.

B

[northernpangio]

Originally Posted by myo

There’s a few smaller Rainbowfish species I would recommend - for example:

Rhadinocentrus Ornatus - Ornate Rainbowfish
Pseudomugil Luminatus - Neon Red Blue Eye
Pseudomugil Furcatus - Fork Tail Blue Eye

Thank you, I will check those out!

Originally Posted by BBradbury

Hello north...

Tetras are schooling fish and small enough for a 20 gallon tank. Rasboras aren't, they're a type of shoaling fish. Tetras will school until they feel comfortable in the tank and then will swim on their own.

B

I had read up a little bit about ember tetras but i'm getting conflicting info on whether they're shy fish or not. Some people said that they needed a single dither fish to keep the tetras alert and not hide.

I just got back into the hobby in 2017 and i've never had schooling or shoaling fish, so not sure what either is really like long term.

[rlederer]

I have about 20 harlequin rasboras and 20 cardinal tetras in a 65 gallon tank and honestly, I don't see much difference in their group behavior.

[northernpangio]

Originally Posted by rlederer

I have about 20 harlequin rasboras and 20 cardinal tetras in a 65 gallon tank and honestly, I don't see much difference in their group behavior.

I've been leaning towards harlequins to keep an asian themed fish tank going. Do you enjoy yours? Are they active?

[rlederer]

They are active and attractive