View Full Version : Fish suggestion please
ArkyLady
05-08-2003, 9:06 PM
I have a 55 gal that I recently stocked with 16 neons, 16 glowlights and 5 panda cories. Other than considering adding a few more cories later, I'm pretty happy with how this tank is stocked. I have one problem though, the tetras have stopped schooling. I read somewhere that adding another fish will sometimes help make them school more, so I'm looking for ideas of what I could add to achieve that.
I thought about maybe one betta or a pair of angels? Or maybe a few SAE's? Suggestions? :)
ChilDawg
05-08-2003, 9:07 PM
Neons are Angel food...I wouldn't add Angels to that mix.
A Betta might scare the tetras into schooling, but I can't verify that!
i have a beta in with my neons. i have 4 neons, so they dont school much. neither do my zebras, i have those. my painted glass fish does get them schooled periodicly though. and the beta is great for any community tank.
ArkyLady
05-08-2003, 11:34 PM
I was afraid the angels might just have a nice lunch in there.
If noone else has any other suggestions, I may just get a betta next week and see how well that works. I love bettas anyway and it would feel good to have the opportunity to save another one from his little jar prison at Wal-Mart. (yes I have a quarantine tank heh)
ChilDawg
05-08-2003, 11:36 PM
Careful, ArkyLady...I think Wal-Mart might sell them at the start of the decline of their golden years!
(Or maybe just mine and the few that I saw that already had hunchbacks...)
firetank
05-09-2003, 2:41 AM
hey arky...
how about a dwarf pike????
there from the same region, and some of the smaller species only hit about 5\6" or so.......
im not sure if neons might be a little to easy to predate tho.....
(are they blue neons>>??)
thom336
05-09-2003, 4:03 AM
Originally posted by ChilDawg
Neons are Angel food...I wouldn't add Angels to that mix.
I keep neons and angels together, and have never experianced a problem. If young angels are brought up around neons, and other such tetras, then there will not be a problem.
Thom.
thom336
05-09-2003, 4:08 AM
And quite the other way round, bettas are neon food. Characins are well known for ripping up the long, flowing fins of fish such as bettas.
Personally I would go with a group of young angels, and raise them up with the tetras.
Thom.
ChilDawg
05-09-2003, 7:06 AM
Neons are definitely pike food.
JohnMemorialHS
05-09-2003, 7:52 AM
Reason your tetras aren't schooling is because they feel safe in the tank, so safe that they see no threat at all. But if you really want them to school again, you could always add something that's a little bit territorial, such as a couple of dwarf gouramis, or even dwarf cichlids like german rams.
in my community tank, i have neons, zebras, a beta, 2 cory cats, a bolivian ram, 2 phantom tetras, a painted glass fish, 2 mollys, 4 platys, and a beta. never had any problems with any of these fish. i had a puffer for a few days, but he nipped my betas tail a few times because with all the other fish, its tough to get him live food. if you like betas go for it :) i have never had any conflict between my neons and my beta. the only this that chases another fish is the painted glass fish for some reason, he chases the zebras, and the neons sometimes. :)
I also read of other people using Pearl Gourami(s) to get the group of fish to school. They're big enough, and yet not too aggressive.
Also, if you want truly schooling fish, a group of rummy nose tetras is a good option. They almost always stay in school, at least from my experience.
Kirin Fang
05-09-2003, 7:16 PM
Tiger Barbs might scare them into schooling together. I keep Tiger Barbs and Neons in a 55 gallon and the Neons school together most of the time.
ChEeRs_BiG_EaRs
05-10-2003, 2:27 AM
um, i heard that tetras school when they feel threatened, what this is telling you is that your tetras are very happy with their home atm. personally i wouldnt put nething in there, sept maybe a few more tetras so u dun need them to school. fish with lower stress levels live longer.
hope this helps
BiG EaRS
superjohnny
05-10-2003, 3:00 AM
yea guys. Telling him to put tiger barbs with his neons is just BAD ADVICE. Tiger barbs can be quite aggressive and neons are community fish. The Tiger barbs can and will eat at the neons.
If they don't school it's because they're happy. That's a GOOD thing. I agree with BiG_EaRs.
dbcb314
05-10-2003, 7:15 AM
kirin fang,
your nuts to put neon and tiger barbs togther. i dont see how it would work at all. more power to you if you got it to work
i though the whole point of having the smaller tropical fish is to watch them school as the bigger fish dont do that. if they were not schoolin, that would stink.
ChilDawg
05-10-2003, 8:46 AM
Well, there are bigger fish that school, but we have trouble keeping them in our tanks.
However, if the whole point is for them to school, why do people keep Zebra Danios, Tiger Barbs, and many of the other Cyprinoids?
ArkyLady
05-10-2003, 9:27 AM
The main reason I chose the tetras was the fact that they school. While I'm happy that they feel so safe and secure, my tank isn't as enjoyable now that they're just swimming around aimlessly.
I don't want to put something in there that will just be constantly trying to eat them or scaring the life out of them, but had hoped there was some fish I could add that would keep them on their toes a little more without harming them. Is that the only reason fish school is because something is trying to eat them and they're fearing for their lives all the time?
I currently have 57" of fish (not counting a pleco that will be moved to a 150 gal soon) in this tank (55 gal) once they're full grown, so I don't really have room to add much. I had hoped a betta would solve this since he'd stay rather small and not add to my bioload too much, but I wouldn't want to just have the tetras fin nip him to death.
ChilDawg, I've only had one betta from Wal-Mart. My mother-in-law bought me one of those bettas in a jar with a plant things for Christmas a few years ago. He lived nearly 3 years, but not in that stupid jar. I setup a 10 gal for him :) That's not to say they sell good fish, I probably just got lucky. My Wal-Mart stopped carrying fish completely thank goodness, but they do occassionally have some bettas in little jars there still.
ChilDawg
05-10-2003, 9:30 AM
I'm hearing a lot of great things about Wal-Mart Bettas on many boards, so I'll go check out the one near my *other* hometown to see if they carry better stock. If you can find a good one, wherever you find it, he'll probably keep your tank in schooling order...but the fin-nipping worries me, so I'm glad that someone else brought that up about the Cyprinoids--I'd never heard it before, but I trust it to be true. *Everyone* likes eating betta fins, so why should tetras be the exception?
ArkyLady
05-10-2003, 10:15 AM
I just realized something, I recently purchased some painted glass fish before I understood what these fish go through. I guess I still haven't quite learned the "research before you buy" lesson :D
Anyway, they all died except one that is still living in my quarantine tank. He's been in there over a month and should be safe to add to my tetras by now. Do you think this might be enough to get them to schooling?
ChilDawg
05-10-2003, 10:16 AM
Maybe, but your glassfish would probably like to have some companions, or else it will pass away. Also, I believe that they are brackish water fish, so I wouldn't put them in with the tetras, and instead buy some unpainted glassfish and set up a BW tank for the lot.
thom336
05-10-2003, 12:59 PM
By glassfish are you talking glasscatfish? Because they are FW.
ChilDawg
05-10-2003, 1:00 PM
The glassfish that are denoted as painted glassfish are Chanda spp., which are BW.
thom336
05-10-2003, 1:07 PM
Ah, different fish. Ignore what I said, just that Glass Catfish are sometimes known as Glassfish.
Slappy*McFish
05-10-2003, 3:05 PM
I agree with the pair of Rams idea...any dwarf cichlid would be great for that tank. You get a breeding pair of Rams, those neons will school.
Diesel2NR
05-10-2003, 6:26 PM
I'd add a Betta or Powder Blue Dwarf Gourami. I had bad experiences by keeping a betta with some one time, so I'd recommend one or the other. The Gourami should get about 4 inches long, throws in a little color, and is somewhat territorial, so it might get the to school also, but not get big enough to eat them. HTH a little
Edit: after thinking about it, I think I'd try to keep a theme of South American fish and would try to get 3-4 keyhole cichlids myself. Once again, these grow to 4" (from research, not experience) and I like them a lot. THey don't cost nearly as much as rams either.
ChilDawg
05-11-2003, 10:25 AM
Originally posted by ChilDawg
...but the fin-nipping worries me, so I'm glad that someone else brought that up about the Cyprinoids
Who let me get away with that one? Tetras are Characoids. Shame on all of you for letting me say something that blatantly wrong and not correcting me on it! :)
mwood322
05-11-2003, 10:46 PM
Well, seems like the most votes are for a betta. Since I can't keep neons alive for a very long time, not sure what might get them to school. I did think of a Flag Cichlid, which I rememer doesn't get too big, and stays around the top, which might make the neons a bit more nervous. Other suggesstions of a ram seemed good too.
As far as schooling goes I've found Rummynose Tetras, Tiger Barbs, and any kind of rasbora school more consistantly than neons. Rasboras even when calm are very tight schoolers. Barbs are consistantly in a group, even if not actually schooling, and Rummy-Nosed Tetras are almost always nervous, no matter how much cover you have, making for a good schooler.
I've found as far as nippiness goes neons are fairly benign. Buenos Aires Tetras are very nippy, as are Red-Eye Tetras, Silver-Tip, Serpaes, and Blind Cave Fish. Most peaceful have been neons, cardinals, glowlights, flames, and daimond tetras. I also haven't found all barbs to be nippy. Great luck with Cherry Barbs and Chequed Barbs, and have kept Tigers with peaceful fish, but I kept 13 Tigers and they really didn't bother other fish in that number.
--Mia