Thinking About My Stock...

[attibones]

In this 38 gallon planted tank (listed as 38, so probably less than 35 gallons actually), I keep 9 peacock gudgeons, 3 albino BN plecos (all still juvies but are now getting their bristles), and 5 emperor tetras (I think 3 males and 2 females).

I'm waiting until I move again in February to finish out my tetra school. When I bought these guys, I got their whole stock. I plan on getting more females than males for a total of 10-12 emperor tetras.

I was considering getting gertrudae rainbows, but I'm not so sure now if that is what I want to do.

I suppose I'm wondering if I should get even more of the emperors, or if my plecos would eventually overload the tank. Or if I should get a fairly diminunitive species like glowlight tetras (not Glo, glowlight) or a rasbora.

Opinions? Concerns? When I move, I'm planning on possibly getting a 55 or another ~40 gallon, but that isn't set in stone right now. I'm just mentioning that because if I do need to eventually divide the plecos, I may be able to manage that.

 

[l_l_l]

I think you should up your school of emperors.
The more they are, the happier they are.
Large schools of tetras are awesome.
 
Rainbows would be nice as well since they occupy mostly the top part of the aquarium, and the other species have the lower half.
I don't think that your emperors would overload the tank as they stay quite small.

 

[attibones]

Having larger schools does make the fish more comfortable. So maybe I should look into having up to, what, 20 tetras? I know that right now they are in small numbers but I do want to wait until after the move because it will just be easier on me and the fish if I have few fish to worry about transporting.

If I did go with the rainbows, what number should I look at?

 

[l_l_l]

Good idea on waiting for the move.
A number above 12 seems to do well with any tetras.
I have large shoals of Hemmigramus bleheri and neon tetras (more than 12) and they all look really happy.
 
As for the rainbows, a minimum school would be of  6-8, but with these, the more, the better. These fish are really small, but they are fun to watch when in large numbers. These fish would be a perfect match for the gudgeon as they both prefer minimal flow and occupy different space.
 
If you want to dream about them, I suggest you search for the various cousins of the gertrudae, Pseudomugil gertrudae aru II being my personal favorite.