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Swordtails are hard water fish which would not do well at your 8.36 dH.
A lot of rainbowfish, though not all, are also hard water fish.

I have cherry barbs, males are bright red and females may be drabber in comparison but mine are a gold colour with brown stripes.
 
Lemon tetras are an option, they're pretty docile and school well, plus are fine with your current stock and temps/parameters.
 
Are rummynose an option? I don’t really like the look of the lemon tetras. Also my temperature is set at 24 degrees fish like the standard emperor according to Maidenhead aquatics say they can be kept between 23-27 degrees. Rummynose 22-27.
 
Rummynose are hit or miss. They ship poorly, so it seems you either get a tough bunch that live long as long as you maintain water quality, or shipping damaged ones that keel over within days or weeks of arrival.

Longfin leopard danios both nip and are nipped. They are just an old mutant form of zebra danios. But they are a limiting fish. You seem attracted to silvery torpedo shaped fish, with Sawbwa, danios, rummy nose ... there are lots of quick little Danio and Rasnora species. I wouldn't go for cherry barbs for 2 reasons - they would compete with the Bolivians as substrate oriented fish, and would get pushed around, and I just don't like them.

Sometimes it takes patience. We want to assemble our communities quickly, but there are a lot of good fish that show up in good stores maybe once a year, in a slow rotation of stock. Redline rasbora, rubrolineatus tetras (they've shown up locally and are a 'new' offering I like a lot), Colombian tetras... there is cool stuff you may not see every day, but tend to see every year if you aren't stuck with chain stores like in the US.
 
I have quite a few different Maidenhead aquatics stores all within 30 minutes but they are chain stores which have quite a lot of species but don’t normally change there stock much from what I’ve seen so might be wrong about that. I have just had a look at rasboras and quite like the look of the red tailed rasboras but still prefer the look of the various tetra species I’ve mentioned. If I can’t find any suitable tank mates I could just get a large group of leopard/zebra danios.
 
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I've never been in a Maidenhead Aquatics store, but from years on forums I have the impression they are far superior to the US chains, in terms of that they offer. I've traveled through the northern US and hit 3 stores many km apart in different towns, and the 2nd tank on the left has the same species in all. In fact, they all have the same species in the same tank - very studied marketing placement.

Here's one. Head and Tail Light tetras? In angled lighting that isn't overpowering, they are very nice.
 
Fishkeeper123 said:
Are rummynose an option? I don’t really like the look of the lemon tetras. Also my temperature is set at 24 degrees fish like the standard emperor according to Maidenhead aquatics say they can be kept between 23-27 degrees. Rummynose 22-27.
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Rummynose are an option, your tank is just about enough room for their swimming activity. They shoal fabulously so a group of 20 is desirable. Maidenhead tend to stock petitella bleheri which tolerate higher pH/GH than the other 2 species, although if you can soften the water some that will be advantageous.
 
How can I soften the water? On the Maidenhead website it says they are petitella bleheri. Is there a way to make sure the new fish will be healthy especially as I want minimal quarantine.
 
Also I’m using the information from my water supplier but it’s from 2023 so not sure how accurate. But I have done a ph test recently that said around 7.5. I think I’ll do some research and see what my LFS says I’ll mention rummynose and standard emperor tetras and see how healthy they look. @CassCats you have mentioned the temperature won’t work for the emperor tetras or would it be because of the danios and not being compatible together? Also can anyone help with any ideas on how I could reduce quarantine? If not I might try and find a local seller at maybe a fish club/auction.
 
Hemigrammus bleheri is the most commonly seen these days of the three rummy-nose tetras. It is also the most colorful with the most red and most reliably present red on the head.

Hemigrammus rhodostomus is the original rummy-nose, that is, it was discovered and described the earliest, 1924. It's the rummy-nose of the old aquarium books. The red on its head is a bit less than the above and comes and goes, being more dependent on mood. It is seen less these days.

Petitella georgia is the false rummy-nose and falls somewhere in-between the above two color-wise and has a more prominent black strip on on the posterior portion of its flanks.
 
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Fishkeeper123 said:
Also I’m using the information from my water supplier but it’s from 2023 so not sure how accurate. But I have done a ph test recently that said around 7.5. I think I’ll do some research and see what my LFS says I’ll mention rummynose and standard emperor tetras and see how healthy they look. @CassCats you have mentioned the temperature won’t work for the emperor tetras or would it be because of the danios and not being compatible together? Also can anyone help with any ideas on how I could reduce quarantine? If not I might try and find a local seller at maybe a fish club/auction.
Click to expand...
It's not good to keep fish at the lowest ends of their temperature ranges. The ideal longterm temperature for emperors is 78F or 26C. Which is too hot for danios longterm. There is too narrow of a temperature overlap and it's unhealthy to keep fish on the extreme ends. Temperatures are always better to aim for a middle ground for that fish and leave room for seasonal swings. Keeping it too narrow can cause problems.

I'd skip emperors altogether.

There are better options, even if emperors are pretty. Plus these guys don't do well in smaller shoals, better kept 10+ as they can also be more aggressive with one another.
 
Okay I’ll skip them. I think I’ll try and get 15-20 rummynose tetras. If i can find a healthy bunch and after I move my Bolivian rams, Bristlenose and 4 assassin snails to the bigger tank and keep the rummynose in quarantine.
 
That sounds like a plan. Rummies are nice fish, school tightly and are pretty mellow in temperament.
 
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