Which Make Tighter Schools? Rasboras Or Tetras?

[lefty07603]

hello, i am setting up a 55 gallon and i was curious on which made tighter schools! i want a school of 7 zebra danios and i always wanted a school of harlequin rasboras but at the LFS there were some tetras that caught my eye. its tough because i want a few guppies, a couple swordtails, a couple platy maybe a molly, and a centerpiece, maybe an angel or a gold gourami i am still undecided on color scheme but it will have yellow, red and orange. so hot colored fish. does it look good to have some cold colored fish mixed in? im also considering hatchets but idk if that would be pushing the stock limit. Thanks guys and gals
 
basically my main question is which schoolers would accent my predicted stock well and how many schools and how many per school 
 

 

[TallTree01]

I have kept tetras but not rasboras. Everyone seems to think that rasboras are the tightest shakers though. The danios don't shoal tightly at all tbh.

 

[RCA]

I 

 the Rasboras Espei, and now have a total of (checks spreadsheet) 25 split into three aquariums at present.  11, 8 and 6.  I find they school well and that is why I got more of them for the other aquariums.  They are hardy, a very bright orange compared to standard Rasboras, plus they keep a streamlined appearance, vs the deeper body.
 
Zebra Danios dart all over the place like maniacs, is there a reason you want Zebras?  I have seen some of the other Danios and they can be attractive as a school.  Another to consider would be pencil fish, mine have gone a jet black, bright red with white tips to their fins, a lot brighter (as most fish are) than the stock tanks at the LFS.

 

[TallTree01]

Forgot to mention that zebra danios aren't compatible with rasboras cos the danios need much cooler water to thrive.

 

[lefty07603]

okay thank you guys! so ill definitely get some species of rasboras i would say a school of 7? and thanks for your input on the danios. they looked like they school tight but i guess they have to if theyre in an undersized tank that theyre sharig with 15 other fish. do tetras school very tightly too? i used to not like them but some that i saw are beautiful! maybe rummy noses? and im still contemplating hatchets too. but idk if theyd fit. thanks guys!

 

[lefty07603]

okay so ive don some research and rasboras stay  in the upper two-thirds of the tank! perfect! and now i want a school that will stay in the bottom two-thirds, i was thinking rummy nose, serpae, or glowlight tetras! what do you guys think!? and any other ideas?

 

[TallTree01]

Bottom 2/3s? How about cories?

 

[char la]

if you want a group of fish that with shoal together at the bottom half of the aquarium get rummynose, they're one of the best tetras for shoaling ive seen

 

[lefty07603]

okay ill see if any of my LFS's have any rummynose. ill see which of the three catch my eye and i was gonna have 3-6 bamboo or amano shrimp. would the cories interfear with them? but ive also never had bottom scavengers... maybe i should have cories or some sort of <5 inch loaches instead of the shrimp

 

[DerpPH]

rummy noses are really wonderful! school tightly and are yellow and red! they are quite the charmers if you want some bottom dwelling fish! just go with shrimp though! they can do more than what loaches do! hope this helps.

 

[MBOU]

Wow... don't know which rummynoses you have seen that are yellow

 
But as for the whole shoaling/schooling thing.... there are a lot more tetras than rasbora.. but of the commonly available, the rasbora are the better schooling fish (swim together) whereas most tetras are shoaling (spend times together when feeding etc but loosely drift about together).
 
Best schooling species easily available:
 
Rummynose Tetra
Penguin Tetra (can be bolshy and are top dwelling mostly, keep in larger groups of 10+ and they look amazing)
Congo Tetra
Silvertip Tetra
 
Harlequin
Copper Harlequin (H. espei or H. hengli)
Volcano Rasbora
Fire Rasbora
Cherry Spot Rasbora
Microrasbora sp
 
Glowlight Danios (stunning and one of my favourite species, prefer warmer than most danios, happy at 24 deg C)
 
(Fairly tightly schooling fish though more likely to be in and out of plants/bottom of tank rather than at front, great species to add as less likely to mix into one big mass of assorted tetras and rasbora and are not nippy if kept in sensible shoals of 6+)
 
Pentazona Barbs
Rhombo Barbs
Gelius Dwarf Barbs
Dwarf Neon Rainbows
Forktail Rainbows (love these guys)
Pseudomugil sp (tiny rainbows like the Forktails, inc P.signifer and P.gertrudae)
Featherfin Rainbows
 
Personally, I like the "Three R's"... Rhombos, Rummynose, Rainbows In order, bottom dwelling, mid dwelling and top(ish) dwelling. Love Forktail, Signifer and Gertrudae rainbows!!

 

[DerpPH]

Wow... don't know which rummynoses you have seen that are yellow
 
But as for the whole shoaling/schooling thing.... there are a lot more tetras than rasbora.. but of the commonly available, the rasbora are the better schooling fish (swim together) whereas most tetras are shoaling (spend times together when feeding etc but loosely drift about together).
 
Best schooling species easily available:
 
Rummynose Tetra
Penguin Tetra (can be bolshy and are top dwelling mostly, keep in larger groups of 10+ and they look amazing)
Congo Tetra
Silvertip Tetra
 
Harlequin
Copper Harlequin (H. espei or H. hengli)
Volcano Rasbora
Fire Rasbora
Cherry Spot Rasbora
Microrasbora sp
 
Glowlight Danios (stunning and one of my favourite species, prefer warmer than most danios, happy at 24 deg C)
 
(Fairly tightly schooling fish though more likely to be in and out of plants/bottom of tank rather than at front, great species to add as less likely to mix into one big mass of assorted tetras and rasbora and are not nippy if kept in sensible shoals of 6+)
 
Pentazona Barbs
Rhombo Barbs
Gelius Dwarf Barbs
Dwarf Neon Rainbows
Forktail Rainbows (love these guys)
Pseudomugil sp (tiny rainbows like the Forktails, inc P.signifer and P.gertrudae)
Featherfin Rainbows
 
Personally, I like the "Three R's"... Rhombos, Rummynose, Rainbows In order, bottom dwelling, mid dwelling and top(ish) dwelling. Love Forktail, Signifer and Gertrudae rainbows!!

Rummy noses have that slightly yellow body when hit by light correctly!

 

[lefty07603]

okay thanks guys! so im thinking
7-8 harlequin rasbora
7-8 glow light rasbora
4 swordtails
2 platy
2 mollies
4 male guppies
1 gold or opaline gourami
4 amano or bamboo shrimp
 
is this good? i think my final two are glowlights and harlequins! glow lights arent genetically modified right? i knkw the glofish are and its terrible. i want to make sure i dont give money to them.  it was close between glowlights or rummy noses. im staying away from barbs because they can get nippy sometimes. thanks again!

 

[MBOU]

I am assuming you mean the glowlight danios? And no, not GM fish at all
 
Personally I wouldnt be putting one of the larger gouramis in like those with guppies etc, they can be quite narky, Honey Gouramis would work, you could fit in a pair then as well!

 

[lefty07603]

oops i meant gowlight tetras! like the one attached! although i like the serpae tetras... hmmmm choices choices, and ohhh a big gourami would be nippy? what could be my centerpiece?     i have no idea which tetra. im still tied between the 3 kinds i mentioned before