Colorful, Characterful Fish

[Lansirill]

I have a nice school of Bloodfins going now and I have a small school of cories cooling their heels in quarantine. Both groups are entertaining to watch, and I doubt that's going to change when I mix the two in the same tank. However, while pretty, neither fish has a lot going for it in the way of color.

What I definitely will be doing is adding a few colorful fish to my tank. I would like to keep up the personality in the tank and add another (at least loosely) schooling species. I'm already fairly well stocked (10 Bloodfins and 6 cories in a 33G) so I'm not really looking for anything large. I had wanted some Pearl Gouramis but if I added them I'd want to do a full trio and, really, while gorgeous fish they aren't colorful in the way I'm looking for.

The only fish that I can think of that really fit the reasonably small and colorful bill are platies and guppies. Dwarf Gouramis are an option, but are a little low on the color. I'm looking for more of a full body color rather than a muted, metallic color. I haven't gotten the impression that any of these fish really interact much.

Am I missing anything? The only fish that I've seen that have the type of coloration that I want have been livebearers. I'd love to be wrong though.

 

[Swayde]

Female Bettas? I added one to my community tank and she brought a lot of color and flash. She's actually really sweet and doesn't pick on any of the fish. The Angel pushed her around a bit at first and nipped her tail, but it's already healed and the two swim side by side, especially at feeding time.

Endler's Livebearers are real colorful, but I haven't seen any locally so not sure how hard they are to come by.

 

[MikenDanielle]

I would go with some Guppies. I added two neon blue tux guppies to my tetra tank and I just love them. I never thought I would, but the gf seen thema nd wanted to get a couple so I did and yeah, there def awesome fish and lots of colour.

 

[OgreMkV]

What about the Paradise Fish (blue gouramis)?

 

[Lupin]

What about the Paradise Fish (blue gouramis)?

I've never heard of paradise fish's name being synonymous to the blue gouramis'.
Paradise fish
Blue gourami

 

[OgreMkV]

Sorry, I guess I should have said Paradise Gourami. Our L (chain) FS doesn't differentiate between the two.

 

[rwilliams254]

What about Cardinal Tetra's? Colorful, yes. Schooling, yes.

 

[Lansirill]

I'm not so keen on another school of tetras. While some of them are colorful, they're colorful in a different way than, say, a platy. I'm looking for more of that later style of coloration.

A female betta could work. I'd have to hunt around awhile to find a nice one, but I've seen them around.

Has anyone kept a reasonably large (4+, ideally 6+) group of platies, swords, or guppies? I'm curious how they behave other than breeding constantly.

 

[Ruben Tolon]

I'd look into dwarf cichlids if you want personality and color, especially the dwarf acaras and rams.

 

[jpappy789]

Rams all the way. Mine are so friendly and come to the front of the tank whenever I'm near, of course they think they're getting food. But oh the colors! Stunning...