Yet Another "What Fish to Get?" Thread (With Pics)

iansmith

iansmith

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Feb 23, 2006
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I have a cycled 20 gallon long I want to add some more fish to. It currently houses five mollies. (Unsalted tank) BTW, these guys look healthy? One male lyertail, four females. Fish anatomy is new to me, I can't tell whats the chest and whats the stomach. :-) (Click for bigger)



Anyways! I was thinking (and posting) before about neon tetras. I want something colorful, but mostly I want *tight* schooling. Any exceptional schoolers out there that I might have missed?

And some sort of catfish bottom feeder. I don't need it to clean up, just want something moving around down there. I was hoping for one that gets to about three inches perhaps. Any that can handle being the only opne of their kind in a tank?

Anyways again, been reading a lot of posts here... got to love the internet. I'd have a pile of dead fish and a tank in the basement if not for all the info around.
 
harlequin rasboras school quite well
is the orange fish with black triangles by the tail
they really go with the plants, and they give you the cool breezy feeling
i dont have them because theyre too active for 7gallon..(;_;)
 
The best schooling fish I have in a small tank are Silver Hatchetfish.

I like them because they look a lot bigger than they are, so I can have a larger school without signifincantly increasing bioload. I have 10 of them and they are very fun to watch, especially at feeding them when they swim right at the surface using their specialized mouths to feed on floating bloodworms. But they are not colorful. Marble hatchetfish are a little more interesting to look at, but still not "colorful"

I also like my school of neons, although it has shrunken since an ick outbreak.
 
If you want to see them a lot, get a few cory catfish for the bottom. If you don't mind them hiding under a rock most of the time, get the kuhlis.

I love my kuhlis, but only see them at feeding time. I moved them to a new tank recently and one of the 4 decided to stay in the original tank by swimming down into the gravel. It took several weeks before i saw him again and was able to move him over to be with his friends.
 
I have hengel's rasboras, similar to harlequins, but a bit smaller (1-1/2" as opposed to 2") Sometimes they are all over the tank, but mostly they hang around together, zipping back and forth in a group (and the tank looks SO empty). They're funny, sometimes the group turns around and 1 or 2 don't notice. Then they quickly go to join the group, who are on their way back by this time and they pass each other and the stragglers have to stop quickly and turn again. Anyhow, they are fun to watch.

q_vp03.jpg
 
Rasboras look like a good choice, although those hatchetfish certainly have an interesting shape!

Assuming I get a breed that is 1" - 2" in length, how many would go in a 20 gallon long with 5 mollies? A big school is what I had planned, so the more the better.

I am moving in the next few months, and once situated I plan to get a 55 or larger so the 20 is going to just be a temorary home. But I don't want to overstock it even for a few months.
 
I have a group of 5 pristella tetras that are almost always together. There is one that is a little braver than the rest and separates from the pack now and then.
 
I would guess 10 of something would be fine in a 20 long. in fact, that would give the fish a nice long area to swim in :) you may be able to fit more, but I'll leave that one to people with a little more experience ;)

BTW, the schools in my sig stick together reasonably well, but if you want a group that really sticks together and looks impressive, then a large group is the way to go :)
 
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