Groups, singles or pairs..?

Thinking ahead, I know there will be space for another tank, how do you prefer to stock your tanks..?

A single species in a larger group? A selection of singles/pairs/trios of different species? Pros and cons of the different options?

I’m not anywhere close to thinking about specific types of fish yet and I know that if you go for a mix of species they will all need to have compatible needs as far as water parameters go

I tend to go for community tanks, but am currently setting up a species only (so far, lol) tank for a group of eartheaters to grow out. I am very tempted to do a single specimen wetpet tank. I do have a small species only pea puffer tank and a medium sized breeding tank for orange chromides.
I usually start with what I want the "main" fish to be (sometimes a shoal and sometimes a single "centerpiece " fish. Then I decide on tank mates, then hardscape, then plants, and finally substrate and equipment.

I had one main display tank with a variety of different fishes in. Most of my other tanks were single species tanks, or rainbowfish tanks that had 1-4 species of rainbowfish.

NannaLou said:

Thinking ahead, I know there will be space for another tank, how do you prefer to stock your tanks..?

A single species in a larger group? A selection of singles/pairs/trios of different species? Pros and cons of the different options?

I’m not anywhere close to thinking about specific types of fish yet and I know that if you go for a mix of species they will all need to have compatible needs as far as water parameters go

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I really would recommend platies. They like to be kept in groups and are livebearers like mollies and guppies. They are friendly fish. I use to have a platy fish and she would love to chase my finger when I put it in front of the tank Platy fish do look rather quite nice too. They come in many different colors I've even once seen a blue one. Platies can live 3-4 years with good care. They are related to swordtails.