Nano fish options?

BagelDog

BagelDog

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Apr 21, 2009
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Montana
I'm looking to purchase some interesting schooling fish. I'd like to keep the adult size at about 1" to maximize the amount of fish I can keep in my tank and enhance the schooling effect.

I'm currently looking at neon or cardinal tetras to do the job. (I know they're over used but they are so good looking in contrast with other tetras out there) The brighter and more iridescent, the better!

Any suggestions?
 
Neon and cardinal tetras don't school very tightly compared to other tetras or raboras. I don't really specialize in tetras but I've had cardinals and neons before and I've seen much better schoolers. There are also just as pretty tetras out there that school very well just do some research.
 
I like ember tetras, green neon tetras, or rasbora hengeli. Cardinals and neons grow bigger than 1" and school much looser than the ones I mentioned. Ember tetras, once comfortable in a tank will have a deep orange glow to them. The green neon tetras are smaller and more slender than the ordinary neons. They only have a hint of the red coloring, but the green/blue irridescent stripe is longer and more intense than neons/cardinals under the right conditions.
 
I just stumbled across Boraras merah "Phoenix Rasbora". They look pretty nice. Anyone familiar with their behavior?
 
Great call on the Green Neon Tetra, I really like those! So, am I right in saying that the green neons school tighter and are a bit smaller than their neon brothers? A bit less red too, right?
 
Green neons do school tighter than reg neons but probably not as tight as rasboras. There's not alot of red showing, but the green/blue stripe is really striking. Most schooling fish form tighter schools only when there's a perceived threat in the tank. You might want to add a larger peaceful fish to see if they can be "scared" into forming tighter schools. But as they become more acclimated to their enviroment, the schooling behavior will lessen.
 
Is the green/blue stripe that much more striking than the neon or cardinal's blue stripe?
I've never seen them in person.
 
Emerald eye rasboras get about 1". People have said they reach 2", but honestly, I've had a few from several sources in a 75 gallon where they're well fed, healthy, happy and with fish-acres of room. And they're 1" for the most part, maybe one female is 1.3".

Bororas briggitae (phoenix rasboras) and bororas maculatus (err... Another type) are tiny, tiny rasboras that stay that small. Mine reached a massive 3/4". If that. They schooled fairly well (only had 4 survive for a while, though I'd LOVE to have them again, absolutely love to), about as much as my Ember tetras, which I still have all 4 of them and have had them for over a year. They're between 1/2" and 3/4" long, and glow with a very ember-like orange. Sometimes if they're excited and the light hits them right they get bright orange. Great fish.

Celestial pearl danios are awesome as well. I can only describe the colouration as "royal". Navy blue bodies with gold spots (star-like). Rich orange bellies, faces and throats (like on many trout and family). Red lips and fins, with the fins having a tiny strip of clear in between the red. Freaking awesome.

Neons don't school much at all. Kind of funny little guys though, I miss the non-schooling in them now :D Cardinals school better and have more thorough colouring. Never tried 'em though.

Good luck, all of the fish I mentioned are pure ownage :owned: :)
 
The size of the tank and how close you will be to it play a facter. I have a 20g long stocked with cardinals and embers. From my couch 8 feet away the cardinals stand out but the tiny embers are rather hard to see.
I find cardinals to be pretty tight schoolers. They just are not very active.
 
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