Stocking Replacement suggestions

[blueparadise]

Hi guys! I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium and I have plenty of filtration. My current stock is as follows: 1 pair of paradise gourami, 1 bushy nose pleco, 12 serpae tetra, 1 angel, 1 yellow dream killifish, and 1 dalmation molly. I want to get rid of everything except the gouramis and pleco. Any suggestions on another school? I want the gouramis to be the focal point of the tank and a school of dither fish THAT AREN'T FIN NIPPERS. I would also like a school that has a different body type/color that won't clash with my gouramis. lol. I would also like to add a school of 8 black kuhli loaches.I've thought about adding some zebra danios but want to consider every option before acting upon it. Thanks!

 

[prinzlerr]

It might seem cliche, but neons or cardinals are some of my favorite "schooling" fish. They're not necessarily a tight schooler in my tank, but the bright blue is certainly eye-catching. Depending on your temps, you could also go with White Clouds. Another that I've always wanted to try, but have yet to find locally, are CPDs. They look absolutely stunning in pics, but I'm not too sure about how well they school.

 

[Old Scales]

Look at Rummy Nosed Tetras also. Tight schoolers. OS.

 

[blueparadise]

Thanks for the input. I've never had cardinals or neons due to the fear of being eaten by my angels. I also considered CPD but locally they're around 8 dollars a piece and I'm not ready to drop $100 on a school at the moment. If you had the choice between giant danios, zebra danios, and cardinals, which would you choose for a school?.

 

[prinzlerr]

Thanks for the input. I've never had cardinals or neons due to the fear of being eaten by my angels. I also considered CPD but locally they're around 8 dollars a piece and I'm not ready to drop $100 on a school at the moment. If you had the choice between giant danios, zebra danios, and cardinals, which would you choose for a school?.

I'm personally not a huge danio fan, so I would go with the cardinals. It's nothing against the danios, but the tetras just catch my eye. The danios may school better; I'm honestly not sure. I have my tetras in a planted tank on a dark substrate, and those blues almost seem blinding sometimes, lol. It's definitely personal preference, however. I agree on the CPDs, they are pricey for a small fish. I haven't ever seen any live, so I can't justify purchasing them. The photos online always make me consider it, though.

Old Scales brings up another popular choice in the rummynose, but those are also not available to me locally (for some reason), so I have no experience with them. Another option that I just remembered are harlequin rasboras. They're a cool little fish that I've owned before as well, and they color up nicely.