What kind of schooling fish?

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aquafan

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I was hoping to get some recommendations from all of you. I have a 55 gallon community tank and I wanted to add about 8 small schooling fish. I tried my luck with 5 neon tetras in hopes to add a few more later. I had 3 die on me so I went and bought 3 more. 2 more of them died and I do not wish to see any more of them pass, it makes me sad. The 3 remaining seem to be do alright for now. Should I try more neon's? Is there a less sensitive fish you can recommend? I'd like to work my way up to a school of 10.
Other tank mates will be: 2 cory cats, 2 dwarf gouramis, 1 angel fish, 2 Bolivian Rams, 1 plecostomus, & 1 elephant nose fish.
Thanks
 
First off, quarantine the new fish, especially if wild caught, which is true of many tetras.

Second, from what I have read (not experienced), angelfish eat neons and other small fish.

Third, they need to be kept in gorups, so either give away the neons you have or get more.

If the tank specs are ok, then you should be able to keep a healthy shipment of fish alive long enough to adjust. If they die, get a refund from your store. Either try another store or try stocks that have been in the store tank for some time.

Other fish would be a variety of tetras and zebra danios. the latter gte to a bit over 2", so you probably wouldn't consider them small. You could try cardinal tetras, but you'd probably get similar results.
 
Is your tank cycled? Has it been running with fish for more than 4 weeks? Any foul smells or the like? Neons aret super hardy but there not exactly weaklings, zebra Danios are hardy and school exuberently but you wont find anything that schools as well as neons and is as hardy as they are. Check your water chemistry and get back to us if you would.
 
I agree you should either return all 3 neons or get more. If you return them, I'd suggest Harlequin rasboras. They school better than neons, are very colorful, and are the wrong shape to become an angel snack. They've always been my favorite schooling fish.
 
I agree with all that has been said. :nod: But I gotta say that my favorite schooling fish (and if you wanna stick with Tetras) is the Bloodfin Tetra. I have 6 of these beautys and they are almost never apart. :wub:
 
I'd suggest returning the neons as well. Also get a few more cories they should be in groups of at least 4.

Neons are actualy very fragile fish due to mass production and inbreeding. Not that many are wild caught now - they are mostly commercialy produced in huge numbers with little attention to the lines or breeding. Wild-caught neons are a lot hardier but only if acclimatised carefuly and very slowly. I'd avoid neons either way. BTW, I have had neons eaten by angels but it'll only be once the angel is full grown and even then it may not eat them if it's used to them from a young age - none the less, it's a risk I'm not willing to take myself ever again and I'd strongly advise against any more neons.

If you wan't an excellent shaoling fish that won't get eaten and are quite hardy, I second the harlequin rasboras. There is no fish, IME, that schools better than these and they are also very attractive and won't get eaten.

If you want tetras that your angel won't eat and are interesting to watch, go for 6 or so black phantom tetras. They may not be as great schoolers as the harlequins but they are very beautiful and fun to watch. The males 'flare' at each other and display with their long black fins and the females have red coloration mixed in with the black which looks stunning - especialy if their in a large group.
 
Also forgot to mention that a good schooling fish for an angel tank is the scissortail rasbora - though they aren't as small as neons, harlequins or black phantoms.
 
Thanks all, you've been plenty helpful. I've decided that small schooling fish are not compatible in my community tank. I gave my tetras to my dad. He has a 20 gallon tank with 7 fancy guppies. They are doing quite well. They don't hide anymore like they used to in my tank. They actually swim along freely with the blue/red guppies my dad has. It's a beautiful site to see. Thanks again.
 

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