Small, Shoaling Fish Options

[Rynofasho]

Hello all,

The more I learn on this site, the more I have to adjust my potential future stock as I find out what fish work well in what environment.

I currently have a 36 gallon tank. Future stock will include the following:

5 LF Zebra Danios - (Already have these in the tank)
6 Peppered Corys
1 Small Plec

I was planning on getting a shoal of about 10 Neon Tetras to finish it off, however the more I read, the more I feel they arent the best for my tank.

I have pretty hard, alkaline water from the tap (8.5+), and the pH in my tank usually ends up evening out around 7.6 - 7.8 (just have one REALLY big, dense piece of bogwood so don't ask me how it ends up coming down that much!). It seems that Tetras are a rather sensitive fish and prefer acidic water conditions and overall are tough(er) fish to maintain for a rookie like myself.

I read this fact mostly about Neons and especially Cardinals. Is this true for pretty much all tetras? I'd like to stock 8-10 of something that is less than 2" and is still pretty hardy and aesthetically pleasing.

What other options of very small, hardy, shoaling fish do I have that would thrive in a hard water tank and with a rookie dad?

 

[FishAreFriendsNotFood10]

im no expert and im sure some1 else will come along with a better opinion but maybe u can use p.h buffers? ....
or if you have a maturer tank you could try galaxy rasboras?? very pretty little fish

 

[Ryan12]

Im a big fan of all kinda of rasboras. With the future stock you intend to get the traditional Trigonostigma heteromorpha, or harlequin rasbora, it would make a pretty good fit. If you drop the zebras, and add a bit more hiding places you can get some of the boraras sub-genus. They are tiny, but really neat.

 

[Rynofasho]

Edited the original post --- I already have the Danios, so the other fish are all the future ones Don't plan on dropping them as I quite like them now!

 

[Monty-2010]

You could try some of the different types of tetra's there are a lot to chose from e.g. red eye tetra, they're a bit more tolerant of a wider water conditions also a little hardier. i love the harlequin rasbora, they should be ok with the danios i've kept them together before without any issues. you could also think about barbs, things like tiger barbs would look pretty good with the fish you are thinking about add a good colour contrast, but you just need to be careful as they can be a bit nippy

 

[Carlovel1]

Hello all,

The more I learn on this site, the more I have to adjust my potential future stock as I find out what fish work well in what environment.

I currently have a 36 gallon tank. Future stock will include the following:

5 LF Zebra Danios - (Already have these in the tank)
6 Peppered Corys
1 Small Plec

I was planning on getting a shoal of about 10 Neon Tetras to finish it off, however the more I read, the more I feel they arent the best for my tank.

I have pretty hard, alkaline water from the tap (8.5+), and the pH in my tank usually ends up evening out around 7.6 - 7.8 (just have one REALLY big, dense piece of bogwood so don't ask me how it ends up coming down that much!). It seems that Tetras are a rather sensitive fish and prefer acidic water conditions and overall are tough(er) fish to maintain for a rookie like myself.

I read this fact mostly about Neons and especially Cardinals. Is this true for pretty much all tetras? I'd like to stock 8-10 of something that is less than 2" and is still pretty hardy and aesthetically pleasing.

What other options of very small, hardy, shoaling fish do I have that would thrive in a hard water tank and with a rookie dad?

You could get a large group of Blue-Eye Rainbowfish/Pseudomugil family. They are small, peaceful and do better in alkaline water as in your case.
Carl

 

[myrtle]

Whilst Rainbows prefer harder water, they are not tolerant of poor quality water (not that I'm suggesting that your water quality is bad!) so keeping up with weekly w/c are essential. If you are happy that you can maintain the water quality then there is no better fish IMO.

 

[Rynofasho]

Alright -- I think I might have to have a look into them. My wife is more keen on the 'pretty' fish so our Danios have lost their allure for her. She's more of a Betta / Guppy gal it appears.

I will have a look into the Rainbows though, thank you!

I've also been looking around and it seems that the Bolivian Ram might do ok in there, so I'm going to try to find if I could easily keep a few. Thanks again!