Favorite Shoaling Speicies

[TheSwissAquarist]

On 2/14/2023 at 4:33 PM, Up North said:

I just recently setup a 29 gallon and I'm debating between rummynose and Silvertipped tetra.  Any suggestions? 

Thanks

Rummy nose have that fun schooling behavior, while silver tips have those nice little iridescence on their fin tips.

(Both great, but I always take the cheaper one. 🤣)

 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/14/2023 at 10:33 AM, Up North said:

I just recently setup a 29 gallon and I'm debating between rummynose and Silvertipped tetra.  Any suggestions? 

Thanks

what other tankmates are you going for? rummynose have a very tight schooling behavior, with silvertips being more active, and food crazy.

[Gannon]

On 2/14/2023 at 10:30 AM, Theplatymaster said:

what other tankmates are you going for? rummynose have a very tight schooling behavior, with silvertips being more active, and food crazy.

I'm also debatinbg between these two and various pencilfish species. I think I'll go with pencilfish or rummynose bcause I plan to have slower moving cories and honey gouramis also.

[DiscusLover]

Buenos aires tetra are a very underrated schooling fish

[Up North]

On 2/14/2023 at 10:30 AM, Theplatymaster said:

what other tankmates are you going for? rummynose have a very tight schooling behavior, with silvertips being more active, and food crazy.

5 Kuhli loach and possibly 4 peacock gudgeons.  Tank was an impulse buy at petco 50% off sale.  Just waiting on cycling and plants to establish

[Lennie]

On 2/14/2023 at 7:34 PM, Gannon said:

I think I'll go with pencilfish or rummynose bcause I plan to have slower moving cories and honey gouramis also.

I have corys, a honey gourami and rummy noses in my 29g 😄 Well, to me, a school of 10 seems okay in 29g and they have been doing good. But If I were to stock the tank with my current experience, maybe I would go for a lil bit smaller sized schooling fish and more crowded group instead.

Rummy noses get kinda big, and they are fast and active. They really want to try their chance on any potential food source. They have eaten my amazon frogbit roots until they all die. They try to eat snails' snellos, even blanched veggies. They just try to nib on every potential food :D. Just keep that in mind. 

Rummy noses display a beautiful look especially in a planted tank. Silvertips have a puppy behavior you don't commonly see from schooling fish. When I saw them LFS, I loved their character. And It was not only me. I've seen other people be like, "these actually look cool".

I wanna say check your lfs and which one do you like more, but rummynoses lose their red color in stores generally so keep that in mind as well.

@Up North tagging here as you may wanna read too!

If you guys have any questions feel free to ask

 

 

[Gannon]

On 2/14/2023 at 12:39 PM, Lennie said:

I have corys, a honey gourami and rummy noses in my 29g 😄 Well, to me, a school of 10 seems okay in 29g and they have been doing good. But If I were to stock the tank with my current experience, maybe I would go for a lil bit smaller sized schooling fish and more crowded group instead.

Rummy noses get kinda big, and they are fast and active. They really want to try their chance on any potential food source. They have eaten my amazon frogbit roots until they all die. They try to eat snails' snellos, even blanched veggies. They just try to nib on every potential food :D. Just keep that in mind. 

Rummy noses display a beautiful look especially in a planted tank. Silvertips have a puppy behavior you don't commonly see from schooling fish. When I saw them LFS, I loved their character. And It was not only me. I've seen other people be like, "these actually look cool".

I wanna say check your lfs and which one do you like more, but rummynoses lose their red color in stores generally so keep that in mind as well.

@Up North tagging here as you may wanna read too!

If you guys have any questions feel free to ask

 

 

All good things to know. As long as pencilfish are decent schoolers and fun to watch I think they'll be my go-to choice. 

[DaniV]

Right now, I am loving my Harlequin Rasboras.  They're very active on their own, and when it's feeding time they are fighting with the mollies to being the first ones to get the food.  I've got some Neon Tetras in quarantine right now to become tankmates for my betta.  Kinda hard to really appreciate them when they're not in a planted tank with lighting to make them shine.

[beastie]

On 2/14/2023 at 5:34 PM, Gannon said:

I'm also debatinbg between these two and various pencilfish species. I think I'll go with pencilfish or rummynose bcause I plan to have slower moving cories and honey gouramis also.

While my rummynose work with hatchetfish, which is good and the reason I got them, they are so so fast, like torpedos, zooming through the tank. Cube of frozen bloodworms got torn to pieces while the water was almost bubbling. Heck yesterday one of the rummynose actually jumped out of the tank while I was feeding due to the frenzy. Knowing what I know about them now, I would never ever combine them with a slow eater. Even feeding my corydoras is a bit harder, and the honey gourami might not stand a chance

[Lennie]

On 2/15/2023 at 10:04 AM, beastie said:

Even feeding my corydoras is a bit harder, and the honey gourami might not stand a chance

Yup. I have to overfeed every time to make sure my honey gets the food. I always think he does not get enough but he has big poops and a good weight so he surely gets his portion 😄

Thank god I have corys and shrimp to clean up the food that falls down the substrate.

[Theplatymaster]

i always scatter pellets along the bottom, the platies and cories and panda garra will feeding frenzy, and my betta will find an untouched pellet on the side and eat that.

[The endler guy]

On 2/15/2023 at 6:20 AM, Theplatymaster said:

i always scatter pellets along the bottom, the platies and cories and panda garra will feeding frenzy, and my betta will find an untouched pellet on the side and eat that.

My betta has no competition and he still has a hard time catching sinking pellets 

On 2/15/2023 at 3:11 AM, Lennie said:

Yup. I have to overfeed every time to make sure my honey gets the food. I always think he does not get enough but he has big poops and a good weight so he surely gets his portion 😄

Thank god I have corys and shrimp to clean up the food that falls down the substrate.

I’ve found with my Bolivian ram, that if you feed lots of small food they may not get enough. But if you feed big food (sera o nip tabs or hikari sinking wafers) they will dominate the food 

[Theplatymaster]

On 2/15/2023 at 6:38 AM, The endler guy said:

My betta has no competition and he still has a hard time catching sinking pellets 

my betta doesnt catch them, he has gotten very intelligent in getting food. here is his process:

1.food is dropped in

2. other fish swarm the food

3.wait a minute or two till some of the other fish are breaking off

4.find a pellet on the ground

5.pick it up and eat it, (he grabs it with his mouth and eats it)

[Lennie]

On 2/15/2023 at 2:38 PM, The endler guy said:

I’ve found with my Bolivian ram, that if you feed lots of small food they may not get enough. But if you feed big food (sera o nip tabs or hikari sinking wafers) they will dominate the food 

True!! My honey tries to dominate frozen bloodworms/bs aswell. I usually cut wafers/o nips to 4 and spreading them around, otherwise my L199 gets less food or whenever he moves, he pushes everyone away from a single one. He be the shyest but the biggest boy.

I used to feed him after lights off, but due to MTS population, I feed him when It is close to lights off but not exactly, as plecos eat a bit messy. So during day time, fish constantly search for food particles around and clean up better after the pleco before the lights are off, then corys do the job after the lights are off. He did not lose any weight over the months so he is doing fine.