Which Make Tighter Schools? Rasboras Or Tetras?

[char la]

please dont tar every barb with the same tiger barb brush. theres a lot of barbs that are perfectly safe with community species. in my tank my pentazona school lovely. i always tell my customers they are like friendly tiger barbs

 

[lefty07603]

oh i was unaware! what species are completely safe and school nicely? thank you for informing me and being mostely on the bottom half of the tank would be a bonus

 

[lefty07603]

now its between glow light tetras or cherry barbs too manny choices,  does anyone have experiance with cherry barbs? what if i do
 
7 rasboras
7 glowlight tetras
7 cherry barbs
4 platy/swordtail
1 molly
4 male guppies
4 shrimp?
is that pushing it? 

 

[DerpPH]

another suggestion to non agressive schoolers are rosy barbs!
I suggest you also get more mollies since it needs a school of about 6... also swordtails too...
and I would suggest you get scissor tails rasboras! they are quite the charmers!

 

[lefty07603]

thanks but i just dont have the room for rosy barbs and mollies and swordtails arent schooling species. idk if i want a 3 schools or 2 schools with a couple gourami... decisions... and i watched videos but it seems cherry barbs dont school tightly at all, am i wrong?

 

[DerpPH]

So what do you really want? gourami or schoolers?

 

[MBOU]

Cherry Barbs arent schooling but they do shoal well. Seems to vary throughout the day, when feeding they scatter then all come back together as a group. They do need plenty of plants/hiding places to feel safe though.
 
Pentazona, Gelius,Jae, and Rhombo Barbs are also all good choices, though Jae Barbs might not be an easy find.
 
I would say make up your mind on the livebearers, either have a few mollies or have none, one on its own is just a bit cruel. 3 Mollies and 3 Platies would work. Personally I would say get all males as nobody wants millions of babies but if you insist on letting them breed, 1 male, 2 female of each species will work.

 

[lefty07603]

okay i think im gonna pass on the cherry barbs even though theyre so pretty. and yeah i want happy fish so i may pass on the molly, i always heard mollies do just fine alone but idk i dont want any unhappy fish. And my tank is going to have a lot of plants and a few stones. i have the hardscape done but im planting it now. looks like the semi-final list is 
7 harlequin rasboras
7 glow light tetras
4 swordtails
2-3 platy
4 male guppies 
1 or 2 honey/dwarf gourami
4 shrimp
 
thank you guys! finally got the schoolers all set!

 

[Ruskull]

now its between glow light tetras or cherry barbs

too manny choices,  does anyone have experiance with cherry barbs? what if i do
 
7 rasboras
7 glowlight tetras
7 cherry barbs
4 platy/swordtail
1 molly
4 male guppies
4 shrimp?
is that pushing it? 

 
 
Cherry Barbs are great fish.  They chase each other playfully and you get the added bonus that it's easy to tell male from female.  In fact they look so different that it's almost like having 2 separate shoals of fish for the price of one!  The male Cherry's available by me are incredibly red also.............they don't school like other shoalers do, at least they never did for me.  I always had them in pairs, 3 pair to be exact.  

 

[And76reW]

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.

Rasbora Espei ;-).. Beautiful aren't they.. Can't wait to purchase some.

 

[RCA]

now its between glow light tetras or cherry barbs

too manny choices,  does anyone have experiance with cherry barbs? what if i do
 
7 rasboras
7 glowlight tetras
7 cherry barbs
4 platy/swordtail
1 molly
4 male guppies
4 shrimp?
is that pushing it? 

 
 
Cherry Barbs are great fish.  They chase each other playfully and you get the added bonus that it's easy to tell male from female.  In fact they look so different that it's almost like having 2 separate shoals of fish for the price of one!  The male Cherry's available by me are incredibly red also.............they don't school like other shoalers do, at least they never did for me.  I always had them in pairs, 3 pair to be exact.  

I would go for the Cherry Barbs too over the Glowlights, they will offer more colour within the aquarium.  I believe your male guppies may harass any females in the tank, so be prepared to do a switch around if they do.  Have you seen the endler guppies?
 

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.

Rasbora Espei ;-).. Beautiful aren't they.. Can't wait to purchase some.

They are indeed stunning, mine are a really bright orange now and I love them.  At feeding time they are like little piranhas.  I have now split them to 9, 10 and 6 between the three tanks.  I would get more if I could get hold of them as they look great in a school.  Imagine like, 50-100 of them