fish help

[baggins22]

i am thinking about my tank fish setup, i wanted to get some neon tetra's and red eye tetra's. i know both fish are schooling fish but i was wondering what would be a good number of each to get (12.5 gallon tank, but i thinnk , if i have room i might want to get another fish or 2)i was thinkin 4 neon, and 2 red eye?

Thanks

[Radek]

Well, both of the fish you suggested do much better in groups (~6 or more). The neons school more tightly than the red eyes, and they stay much smaller, as red eyes get to be around 2 inches. If you want to have a nice school, you might want to consider just keeping a larger group of neons, while just not going for the red eyes

[baggins22]

so when i look at fish profiles, and they say grouping, they means 6+ fish?

hhmm.. i had my heart set on getting both, 2 red eyes would do bad?

[Radek]

Tetras are for the most part schooling fish. Some prefer to be kept in larger schools (if possible), while others are somewhat less gregarious. It's definitely possible to keep both together nevertheless. If you're planning to only keep neon and red eyes, you could probably go with 7-8 neons and 4-6 red eyes. I had 4 (red eyes) for a long time and them seemed to do very well, and later on I added another 4. HTH

[baggins22]

i was thinking about getting a chinese alge eater, but ive read those can be a little aggressive....?

[baggins22]

any thoughts?

[Kasakato]

No Chinese Algae Eater. They will get too big. I would have 6 or 7 neons but thats about it.

[Kasakato]

Err which tank is this, what is the size, and what is already in it?

[baggins22]

right now nothing really, i made the mistake of listing to my lfs and they sold me some fish that wont work out (bala sharks for a 12.5g), so today im taking them back and getting diffrent ones.

is ther another type of algea eater i can get?? one that is kinda small and peacfull?

Thanks

[Betta-Gurl]

Ghost shrimp, or a cory cat, or an otto cat. I would say 6 neons and maybe 4 redeyes and then maybe like 3-5 shrimp they are really good for algea

[Kasakato]

I like Otto Cats for alage eating. They make quick work of most of it.