Schooling fish suggestions...

The forum for the very best information on loaches of all types. Come learn from our membership's vast experience!

Moderator: LoachForumModerators

Post Reply
SAEdude
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:41 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

Schooling fish suggestions...

Post by SAEdude » Sun Sep 14, 2008 4:22 pm

Hi

I am working on a planted Asian 33G tank.

I have my mind made up on a few species
-SAE
-Dwarf Loach
-Panda Garra (if i can find any)
-Hillstream Loach (maybe)

i have always loved Harelquin Rasbora and want to add a large school of them. However, do you think that there would be a better choice of schooling fish to add to the list of fishes mentioned above?
or, would the Harlequins fit nicely?

thanks for any suggestions.

User avatar
Matt
Posts: 353
Joined: Sun Feb 04, 2007 6:20 pm
Location: Barcelona, Spain.
Contact:

Post by Matt » Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:24 pm

I reckon you'd be better off with a fish that enjoys similar conditions to the species you mentioned already. Harlequins are not hill stream fish and are not generally found in areas with a lot of flow. Maybe a Danio or Devario sp. would be better?

User avatar
mack
Posts: 91
Joined: Sun Aug 31, 2008 7:42 pm
Location: New Zealand

Re: Schooling fish suggestions...

Post by mack » Sun Sep 14, 2008 5:27 pm

SAEdude wrote:Hi

I have my mind made up on a few species
-SAE
I would personally not keep a SAE in a 33 gallon. Mainly because of their size. Plus they like to be kept in a group. So I would suggest 2-3. But that would be in a tank much larger around 200lt, 50g.
-Dwarf Loach
Nice chose of fish. I myself find them very entertaining to watch. That is why I shall be getting around 10 of them for my 30g planted tank.
i have always loved Harelquin Rasbora and want to add a large school of them. However, do you think that there would be a better choice of schooling fish to add to the list of fishes mentioned above?
or, would the Harlequins fit nicely?
I have 9 Harlequins and they are wonderful fish. I find them to be great hardy active fish to keep. So I would defiantly get them.

thanks for any suggestions.[/quote]


Now I was wondering if you are going to have your tank planted?

mack
I was once open minded, but my brain kept falling out

andhara
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 4:54 am
Location: My Mother Earth, Jakarta
Contact:

Post by andhara » Sun Sep 14, 2008 6:02 pm

I have 330ltr planted tank with 50 SAE & Botia Locahata size 1" & 1 Botia Macrachanta size 3" as an algae eater. They live in peace & no dwelling the substrate.
Have you seen this?

Image

SAEdude
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:41 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

Post by SAEdude » Sun Sep 14, 2008 10:09 pm

Matt wrote:I reckon you'd be better off with a fish that enjoys similar conditions to the species you mentioned already. Harlequins are not hill stream fish and are not generally found in areas with a lot of flow. Maybe a Danio or Devario sp. would be better?
thanks for the replies....

any suggestions for a few specific species of schooling fish that prefer a river biotope? preferable with nice colors.

thanks

SAEdude
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:41 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

Post by SAEdude » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:37 pm

After doing some research, it seems that the White Cloud Mountain Minnow would be a good fit with Dwarf Loaches, Hillstream Loaches, Panda Garra and SAE since they all prefer tanks with cooler water and strong currents.

What do you think?

SAEdude

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Post by Diana » Mon Sep 15, 2008 10:38 pm

A really fast river will not have fish swimming in the mid-stream areas. They would get washed away. Fish in such a location are built to hide among the rocks and cling to the rocks. Hillstream Loaches, Gobies, Darter Tetras and similar fish.
Even species from families that often are schooling are not really schooling fish when they are found in hillstreams. Look into Darter or Hummingbird Tetras for example. Just about every fish in the Tetra family is schooling. Not these guys!

For somewhat slower water movement (but still faster than most community tanks) have a look at Glass Catfish. Mine spend almost all their time head first into the water from the filter, hovering in place.

Many Rainbow fish also come from rivers, but I don't think the water movement is fast enough for Hillstream loaches. Also, they get bit too big for a tank under about 4' long. VERY active fish.

Many Danios come from faster moving water, and are schooling. Not all, but a little research might dig up some species worth looking for. Do not get the long finned version of the Zebra Danio, if you decide that Zebras are OK. The long fins are not great for the faster moving water.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

SAEdude
Posts: 22
Joined: Thu Sep 11, 2008 7:41 pm
Location: Montreal, Canada

Post by SAEdude » Mon Sep 15, 2008 11:09 pm

thanks for the reply...

for me, a nice large school of fish is more of a priority than the Hillstream Loach. I know that SAE, Dwarf Loach and Panda Garra come from streams and prefer a tank with water movement. I understand that Hillstream Loaches need even more flow than that so maybe they should not be included in my plans.

thanks for the help.

User avatar
helen nightingale
Posts: 4717
Joined: Mon Mar 27, 2006 7:23 am
Location: London, UK

Post by helen nightingale » Tue Sep 16, 2008 7:03 am

if you dont go for the hillstream tank, harlequin rasboras will be fine. they live in a variety of stream conditions, from relatively still to flowing water. mine are fine in my loach tank. they also like slightly acidic, soft water, which loaches tend to like too.

quite a few of the other rasboras will be fine in a tank with moderate but not high flow. dont choose the dwarf species though.

if a nice shoal is important to you, i would suggest getting 10+ as i have found people often say you must have at least 3 or 5, and you never see the shoaling properly. get as many as you have space for.

Diana
Posts: 4675
Joined: Wed Jan 04, 2006 1:35 am
Location: Near San Franciso

Post by Diana » Tue Sep 16, 2008 10:47 am

WCM are a good choice, too. Yes, cooler, and flowing water set up for them.
38 tanks, 2 ponds over 4000 liters of water to keep clean and fresh.

Happy fish keeping!

User avatar
Barracuda518
Posts: 609
Joined: Wed Jun 14, 2006 4:24 pm
Location: Alabama, USA

Post by Barracuda518 » Tue Sep 16, 2008 3:59 pm

I also have a school of 10 Harlequin rasboras in the tank with my B. straita and YoYo loaches. Great fish, always schooling around the tank, in and out of the plants.

Post Reply

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 108 guests