Cardinals, Lemons, Blue Emporers, Rummynose, or Silvertips?

[Demobanana]

Which one should I get, if some of them can even fit in a 20 g tall planted tank? Want to keep them with honey gouramis (idk 1, 2 , or 3) and a school of pygmy cories. Never kept any tetras or any schooling fish btw, so kind of a beginner. And maybe its because theyre babies but all of them are on the same level of desire for me.

Edited July 16, 2021 by Demobanana

[Jungle Fan]

Cardinals, Lemons, and Rummynose go well together, as do the Green Neon. Then again I'm a Cardinal fan as anyone knows who has seen my tank.

[Emika_B]

I'm a rummy nose fan, myself.  They can be a bit tricky in quarantine if they're wild-caught - parasites and all that.  But once they're healthy and established they're pretty easy to care for.

[lefty o]

in a 20, i like the neons, cardinals, embers, and green neons. they stay a size that allows having more in a small tank.

[Trish]

Lemon fan, at least a small school of 6.  They are hardy.

[Patrick_G]

I’m currently looking for some Tetras but I’m paralyzed by indecision. I’d like to say I’ve narrowed it down but they’re all so interesting. I guess Cardinals, Red Phantoms, and Diamonds would be near the top of my list. 

[laritheloud]

On 7/16/2021 at 6:37 PM, Patrick_G said:

I’m currently looking for some Tetras but I’m paralyzed by indecision. I’d like to say I’ve narrowed it down but they’re all so interesting. I guess Cardinals, Red Phantoms, and Diamonds would be near the top of my list. 

If you like the prospect of self-multiplying tetras, the Diamonds will do the trick. 🤣 Four tetra fry surviving to juvenile-hood/young adulthood in my community tank and counting... 

[Ken]

I have both Lemons and Cardinals in a 40. The Lemons can blend into the Amazon Sword and Val a bit despite their bright looking colors. The Cardinals pop from across the room. My Lemons are more active and larger than the Cardinals. 

 

 

[Demobanana]

On 7/16/2021 at 4:27 PM, Ken said:

I have both Lemons and Cardinals in a 40. The Lemons can blend into the Amazon Sword and Val a bit despite their bright looking colors. The Cardinals pop from across the room. My Lemons are more active and larger than the Cardinals. 

Both pants I have...I want to have the activity but that blue and red pop might look really good... not to mention I also plan to have a yellow honey gourami.

[Ken]

On 7/16/2021 at 6:44 PM, Demobanana said:

Both pants I have...I want to have the activity but that blue and red pop might look really good... not to mention I also plan to have a yellow honey gourami.

Here's a not so good picture taken a minute ago.

[Randall from Texas]

Bloodfin tetras are great if you can find them!

[JettsPapa]

I'd pick lemon tetras from the options you gave, but you missed one of my favorites.  Serpae tetras look really good in planted tanks, don't get very large (similar size to lemons), and are very hardy.  They have a reputation for being fin nippers, but when they have enough of their own kind to hold their attention that's rarely a problem.  I've had as few as 9 in a tank with pearl gouramis and never had an issue.

[Beardedbillygoat1975]

Green neons, small and so bloody bright and strong schooler! If this is for a 20 g high they’ll never outgrow it and they’ll use most of the tank if you set it up right. 

[Demobanana]

On 7/19/2021 at 12:49 PM, JettsPapa said:

I'd pick lemon tetras from the options you gave, but you missed one of my favorites.  Serpae tetras look really good in planted tanks, don't get very large (similar size to lemons), and are very hardy.  They have a reputation for being fin nippers, but when they have enough of their own kind to hold their attention that's rarely a problem.  I've had as few as 9 in a tank with pearl gouramis and never had an issue.

its what my lfs had, but they also had serpaes. what makes serpaes..."better" than lemons to you?

[JettsPapa]

On 7/20/2021 at 1:39 PM, Demobanana said:

its what my lfs had, but they also had serpaes. what makes serpaes..."better" than lemons to you?

They're both nice fish; I just really like the way the colors of the serpaes contrast with green plants.

[mountaintoppufferkeeper]

@DemobananaI'd probably also search on the COOP YouTube channel and watch a few of the care guides and top 5 etc videos get an idea of the differences  (  https://www.youtube.com/c/Aquariumcoop/search?query=tetra  ). Most of it would just be your personal preference. Generally I'm a sucker for rummynose myself. I use the red nose to keep track of the health of the community and water parameters and always shoot for the bright red noses if they dull something is wrong and investigate the cause. This one has a few of the tetra you were looking at bookmarked:

[Demobanana]

On 7/16/2021 at 6:21 PM, Ken said:

Here's a not so good picture taken a minute ago.

ok, what would you say is more fun and "better" in your eyes. Honestly the bright blue and red sound great to me even though I love the lemons black bars...but I want to know just how active they are compared to the lemons. Size...I dont know if it really matters since itll be heavily stocked.

[Ken]

On 7/20/2021 at 8:55 PM, Demobanana said:

ok, what would you say is more fun and "better" in your eyes. Honestly the bright blue and red sound great to me even though I love the lemons black bars...but I want to know just how active they are compared to the lemons. Size...I dont know if it really matters since itll be heavily stocked.

The Lemons are more fun to watch. The Cardinals just kind of drift around, even at feeding time. The Lemons are "busier". Something funny that happens occasionally is a Lemon will zoom across the tank with a Panda Cory hot on it's tail, I've never seen what brings it on but it's amusing.