Favorite Schooling Fish

[Gunz05gunz]

Definitely love diamond tetras. Fat pigs when it comes to food though.

[KDodds]

No, rams don't school. More females than males and you may wind up with a harem or two, but not a school. I like the Macro shots of the celestial pearls, but as a fish in a discus tank, if they didn't get eaten outright, you'd need a magnifying device to even notice them. Heck, even in a 10 you have to get in real close to appreciate them.

[Jhhnn]

I figure celestial pearls might last an hour with my discus, and that'd only be the really fast and skittish little fishies...

I won't buy 'em, anyway- aquarist demand threatens their existence in the only known habitat...

[Apistomaster]

Rummy Nose Tetras
Green Neons They seem to outlast Cardinals
Bleeding Heart Tetras
Black Neons
Black Phantoms
Lemon Tetras
Colombian Tetras
Silver Hatchetfish
Diamond Tetras
Robert's Tetras
Rosy Tetras
Ember Tetras

Not recommended
Congo Tetras because they grow too large and swim too fast
Red Phantoms based on their preferred temp of 74 to 78*F
I don't keep SE Asian fish like Rasboras with Discus.

[KDodds]

I figure celestial pearls might last an hour with my discus, and that'd only be the really fast and skittish little fishies...

I won't buy 'em, anyway- aquarist demand threatens their existence in the only known habitat...

That's actually pretty old news. There have been several other populations discovered since then.

[Apistomaster]

Celestial Pearl Danios have proven to be extremely easy to breed so wild caught imports are not very common. They are Danios after all and Danios are all easily bred.
They were fetching high prices when first introduced but now they are often only $4-5 each.

[seancj]

Once my tank is well cycled and stable, how many tetras can I safely, and appropriately, put in a 240 gallon? I will eventually add a pair, maybe up to 5, discus in the tank with them after the tank is several months established.
I will have a large sump style filtration with lots of mechanical and biological filtration.

[Apistomaster]

Here is my suggestion for Tetra stocking of your 240 gal assuming 5-6 adult Discus.
For top water fish: 20-25 Silver Hatchetfish and 20-25 Nannostomus eques Pencilfish.
Midwater: 50-60 Rummy Nose Tetras and 40-50 Green Neons.
This would be a maximum of 170 small Characins.
The Green Neons are the smallest of the Neon types but school better than Cardinal, are strikingly beautiful and something a little different from the popular Cardinal Tetras. Green Neons seem to do better for me than Cardinals. Cardinals tend to school best when they are frightened. Most of the time they seem to form a couple smaller groups that keep an eye on each other rather than truly school. I have seen Green Neons listed on line for as little as a dollar each. People will often ask you what they are because they don't quite look like the Cardinals they are so familiar with. I have liked them ever since I shipped them in to my old shop over 40 years ago. I presently have 15 living with some Apistogramma trifasciata.

One other fish worth considering is some Spotted Headstanders, Chilodus punctatus. They are good algae eaters and will clean plant leaves without harming them. 6 would be enough. They do about as well at cleaning algae as Siamese Algae eaters but are more ecologically appropriate.

[seancj]

Thank you Apistomaster for the detailed reply. I'll have to check out the green neons. I'm not familiar with them.
Like you, I do tend to favor things a bit out of the ordinary, so I appreciate your advice!
Sean

[KDodds]

Agree with the qtys., but you could push the limits a bit more if you really wanted to. I'd love top dwelling fish, but hatchets from experience, will make it out even the smallest of holes eventually. I've decided not to replenish them primarily because of this. But, viewed from eye-level, hatchets are pretty much invisible anyway, they stay so near the top and amongst anything there (plants, driftwood), that they might as well not be in at all. Instead, I'm going to go with 3 mid-water species. And my suggestion, for variety, would be to similarly change it up. There are a large number of tetras available that would work and I'd suggest differently shaped fish as well as differently colored fish. I'm using cardinals and bleeding hearts and will be adding emperors. I would also consider adding cories or some similar fish to "clean up" after the mess discus feeding makes.

On the headstanders, they're not herbivorous, or even omnivorous. They may pick at algae looking for minute crustaceans and such, but they do not consume that algae. http://www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/F...cies=punctatus

[Apistomaster]

Agree with the qtys., but you could push the limits a bit more if you really wanted to. I'd love top dwelling fish, but hatchets from experience, will make it out even the smallest of holes eventually. I've decided not to replenish them primarily because of this. But, viewed from eye-level, hatchets are pretty much invisible anyway, they stay so near the top and amongst anything there (plants, driftwood), that they might as well not be in at all. Instead, I'm going to go with 3 mid-water species. And my suggestion, for variety, would be to similarly change it up. There are a large number of tetras available that would work and I'd suggest differently shaped fish as well as differently colored fish. I'm using cardinals and bleeding hearts and will be adding emperors. I would also consider adding cories or some similar fish to "clean up" after the mess discus feeding makes.

On the headstanders, they're not herbivorous, or even omnivorous. They may pick at algae looking for minute crustaceans and such, but they do not consume that algae. http://www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/F...cies=punctatus

Having kept many dozens of Chilodus punctatus over the past 4 decades it is my experience that that are indeed quite herbivorous and a useful fish to keep in small groups in planted tanks as aides for controlling algae growth on plant leaves. As is the case with all algae eating fish, Chilodus will not eat all types or all quantities of available algae but they do help.
More importantly, they are peaceful, interesting head standers which add to the character of a planted aquarium. They are the only genus of head standing Characins that do not grow too large, nip fins, eat your plants or have some other objectionable behavior as a community fish in a planted tank containing smaller peaceful fish.
Fishbase is a useful reference but it has little detail and accounts for little in the way of observed aquarium behaviors as it is mainly a catalog of short descriptors. I am sure a review of more of the aquarium literature about Chilodus punctatus will confirm my observations. See Baensch Aquarium Atlas Vol I. Chilodus eat most foods so I don't consider them to be pure herbivores but the reality is that there really are no such things. Some fish need more vegetable matter or more meat. Meat eaters need vegetable matter but they obtain it indirectly through their prey.
I agree that choosing your fish also by contrasting shapes make a more interesting display. My suggestions were just that. That is why I added Chilodus punctatus because they have a distinctively different shape and behavior compared to many common Tetras. I like Silver Hatchets for the same reason and because the surface level can use something up there. Having at least one rhomboid shaped Tetra like Bleeding hearts, Diamond Tetras or Black Phantoms is always nice to include.

[KDodds]

Actually, the links within the link provided do provide reference for the gut content study. IME, headstanders are not herbivorous, they won't seek out algae matter or plant matter, but may pick amongst vegetation for food items like pods, worms, etc. Yeah, some plant matter may be ingested as a result, but it's not something they seek out. Just my experience.

[Tito]

Agree with the qtys., but you could push the limits a bit more if you really wanted to. I'd love top dwelling fish, but hatchets from experience, will make it out even the smallest of holes eventually. I've decided not to replenish them primarily because of this. But, viewed from eye-level, hatchets are pretty much invisible anyway, they stay so near the top and amongst anything there (plants, driftwood), that they might as well not be in at all. Instead, I'm going to go with 3 mid-water species. And my suggestion, for variety, would be to similarly change it up. There are a large number of tetras available that would work and I'd suggest differently shaped fish as well as differently colored fish. I'm using cardinals and bleeding hearts and will be adding emperors. I would also consider adding cories or some similar fish to "clean up" after the mess discus feeding makes.

On the headstanders, they're not herbivorous, or even omnivorous. They may pick at algae looking for minute crustaceans and such, but they do not consume that algae. http://www.fishbase.org/TrophicEco/F...cies=punctatus

As I am still in the middle of completing the fish selection in my 125, I have been thinking about this very same idea. And I thin you are right on the money. Many people like the cookie cutter - put in a school of Rummy nose. Well I was going to go with that but I can tell that I wont be happy. I began thinking about a few groups of tetras. I think I will get a trio of each tetra and put them in a 29 gallon for observation. Like swimming patterns, color, schooling, water column level, etc. I think then I would be able to find my favorite groups of schooling fish.

[Bgroovy2]

I prefer the Cardinal Tetra but being that they are wild caught, they can be difficult to get at times. Right now, I have oppted for the plain old Neon!

[tcyiu]

How are your Neons doing in warmer water? For that matter, what temperature are your tanks?
Tim