Stocking Ideas for a Rainbowfish Tank? Thoughts?

Here is my final stock plan...let me know if it sounds good...

16-20 rainbows
3 dwarf plecos
3 yoyo loaches

that is it for now...I may add rummys or the hoplo catfish later on...

just wondering...if I get like a trio of 5 different species, will they still be social and school or will they not?
 
I hadn't read the need for rainbows and schooling until recently, starting with the aqadvisor tool found on these forums. When I put my current config in last weekend, it suggested in BOLD that most of mine need a minimum of 5 each.

I haven't seen any of mine schooling closely together, but they obviously peacefully co-existed, and now that I have that knowledge, I'll make better efforts to have more than 1-2 per species when the tank needs more restocking w/o overdoing it.
 
Okay, sounds good!:) thanks!
 
ya i have 5 Dwarf Neon (Praecox) all males and 5 Thread fin rainbows 3 Males 2 females.... the Dwarfs do seem to stick pretty close together in the tank like said above not really schooling but they do stay close to eachother. The threadfins on the other hand are a bit more independant from eachother.

the Neon Rainbows are very active feeders so i find I have to watch very closely to make sure my other fish are getting food as well..

I have Espei Rasboras and since they will come up to the top of the water and feed they do fine, now I also have Cardinals and Neon Tetras which stay closer to the bottom and the Threadfins dont come up to surface to feed either and I have to watch to make sure they and the tetras are getting food or else the espeis and Dwarf Neons will eat it all
 
In my experience, Rainbows of one species don't "school"...more like hang out together.

Personaly, I like mixing different varietys, as I like the mix of different colors in tank. I've never had a problem having two or three of some species.

I would pick what you like, the Rainbows will be fine.

Here's the link to the thread with a vid of my tank:
http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?271719-120-Rainbow-Community-Tank-Video


your tank looks pretty sick! love the boes...and thanks! i will prob do at least 3 diff species
 
ya i have 5 Dwarf Neon (Praecox) all males and 5 Thread fin rainbows 3 Males 2 females.... the Dwarfs do seem to stick pretty close together in the tank like said above not really schooling but they do stay close to eachother. The threadfins on the other hand are a bit more independant from eachother.

the Neon Rainbows are very active feeders so i find I have to watch very closely to make sure my other fish are getting food as well..

I have Espei Rasboras and since they will come up to the top of the water and feed they do fine, now I also have Cardinals and Neon Tetras which stay closer to the bottom and the Threadfins dont come up to surface to feed either and I have to watch to make sure they and the tetras are getting food or else the espeis and Dwarf Neons will eat it all

thanks! good to know as I was planning on some smaller tetra...I do recall my dwarf neons being super active in my 72G but other fish still got food...maybe just depends on what you get...mine were not always excited at feeding time...

espei are like smaller harlequins, right?
 
ya espeis are just a brighter color orange and only a little smaller than the harliquins, they still get to around 1.5 in fully grown but not as thick as the harliquins from my experience
 
okay, nice! I am currently winning on a bid on aquabid for 8 roselines:) If I win, I may abandon the idea for small schoolers altogether...I am also winning on a bid for 10 red irians:D
 
Someone is willing to sell me 20 red irians for ONLY $60 plus shipping($15)...I know this is a good deal...problem is I do not need that many...I have the space at the moment, question is do you guys think I can sell at least 10 here or on Craiglist? I think on CL, I could get $3+ each...maybe I'd resell on aquabid but that would be kinda weird...what do you think? The tank is empty, but ready for fish...
 
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