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Fish recommendations

5K views 29 replies 7 participants last post by  LisaC144 
#1 ·
Right now I have 5 black skirt tetras. I recently increased the school from 3 to 5. Fin-nipping wasactually fairly rare with 3, but it has actually gotten MORE aggressive since increasing the school to 5 :hmm:. Doesn't make much sense to me because I always thought increasing helps curb aggression. Anyway, I'm going to ask my LFS if I can trade them in for store credit or other fish. I'm looking for
something with a little more color than the black skirts provide. This is a standard 55g tank.

Current stock:
3 Angelfish
9 Cardinal tetra
5 black skirt (going back to LFS)
Will be 6-8 cories

I was thinking a different school of tetra or maybe even hatchetfish?? OR will 1 more Angelfish work if the blackskirts go back? Just throwing ideas around right now. Any suggestions for me??
 
#2 ·
I'd honestly trade them in too.
Hmmm well I LOVE my Emperor Tetra that's outta question so I'd suggest you these :) Or the Kerri Tetra..just googel images you'll understand. Others smaller and pretty that I really felt in love with are the Rummy noses. Another neat bugger I found today was Glowlight Tetra's; look super dul when you look them up online but boy are they some colorful (orange silver mix) cute lil buggers!
 
#4 ·
Those are very nice too; get really nice coloration when you feed them pumpkin every once in a while :) I try to remember when I had mine I had something like 10-12 of them and they school real nicely ALWAYS together but where kinda skiddish if fast moving fish where in the same tank.
 
#5 ·
Here's my Emporer not the best shots I ever took but will give you an idea. They have stunning blue eyes and a very unique body shape IMO I love them. Kerri's look the same just more purple where's these are more shimmering turquoise/blueish.
 

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#7 ·
Were it me,, I might consider lemon tetras or one of my favorites,, Bleeding Heart tetras. Photos you see of these fish don't really do them justice and once settled and comfortable with water,,they are peaceful and colorful fish. Bleeding hearts also live quite a while. Iv'e had nine for around three years and understand they can live much longer. They also grow a bit large for Angelfish to consider them as snacks.;-)
 
#8 ·
I like the Bleeding Heart Tetra too. It will all depend on what my LFS has in stock at the time. I already have cardinal tetras, so I am trying to find a fish that won't get lost with them. Maybe a slightly different shape than the Cardinal. They definitely had Rummynose's in stock when I was there yesterday.
 
#9 ·
Rummy's also often look pretty poor at the stores; but one's brought home settled in and on top if you have black / dark gravel like me they look so awesome but I really found with them the group shouldn't be smaller then 10 or more otherwise they are pretty skiddish; when I had the mystery AWOL Rummy's and was down to 7 all skiddish add 3 more and whoop all up front- all active....
 
#10 ·
I do have black gravel. This is for my 55g that I just converted to planted :) I like the rummynoses, alot. My only thought is that I might want a fish with a different shape than the Cardinal's that I already have. Just so they don't blend in and get sort of "lost". Does this make sense?
 
#11 ·
Just to keep up with what we talked about in PM's for others' benefit, an excellent companion to angels are any (except Serpae) of the rosy tetra clade of the genus Hyphessobrycon. Many of these, at least the commonly-seen ones (there are 30 different species in this one clade alone) are included in our Profiles; use the scientific search and check out the Hyphessobrycon species, the fish that belong to this clade are so identified within the text.

Byron.
 
#13 ·
Well, I gave my 5 black skirt tetras back to the LFS and got 7 Bleeding Heart Tetras. It was between that and the Red Phantom Tetras (those are the 2 they had in stock from the rosy tetra clad). After doing a bit of research, I found out that the Red Phantom likes cooler temperatures and I keep my tank at 79 degrees. Well let me tell you, I am loving the Bleeding Heart Tetras. It is exactly what I was looking for in terms of shape and size so they didn't blend in with my Cardinals (who are quite stunning). The two schools are very distinct and I love the color that the Bleeding Heart Tetras bring to the tank.

On a side note, I still love the rummy's and they will definitely be at the top of my list if I ever get another larger tank (more WHEN than IF ;-) ). I just didn't want the same shape tetra as my Cardinals for the reason stated above :-D
 
#14 ·
I have a 55 gal. community tank also. I keep the temp. at 72 degrees. I have 2 angelfish, 2 bushy nosed plecos, 11 Von Rio Congo tetras, 6 Harleqen Rasboras, 2 Boesmani Rainbows, 12 Assassin snails, 4 Bumblebee Platies that are going to be moved into a new 20 gal. tank with 5 espe's rasbora tetras and 1 short fin brown busynosed pleco. I think that turning down the temp to 72 would be alright if you do it slowly from what you have it set at. I have pool filter sand in my 55. gal and a black background and the colorful fish look great against it and so does the live plants I have in my tank.

I'm glad that you were able to exchange the blackshirt tetras. I used to have them and I did not like them as they were sort of mean to my other fish. I also like the Glo-light tetras that I had in that tank but I rehomed them to a friend to get the Von Rio Congo Tetras.
 
#15 ·
That's the whole reason I traded in my black skirts. They seemed okay with the other fish (would sometimes brush up on the angels) but were somewhat agressive/nippy towards each other. I didn't like that. I'm going to keep my temperature at 78/79. The fish seem to be content with it and I like the Bleeding Hearts anyway.

I love the Glo-Light tetras as well. They have some really nice coloring to them. I will consider them if/when I get another tank, but wanted something that would stand out against my Cardinals as well. I think the Bleeding Hearts do just that. I am very happy with them.
 
#16 ·
I can only back up the idea of the Rummy's as we talked about before WHEN you get another tank. Unfortunately they look pretty discolored in stores but once added to a nicly plantd tank ideally dark substrate man their colors stick out I LOVE my lil gang (10 of them) and time again again its interesting to watch how when you have a small group (remember how the initial stock didn't fully make recovery from the ich?) small group they tent to hide a LOT you up the group to 10+ and have a nice school swimming peacefully around the tank. I actually am considering to stock mine up to a larger group like 15 maybe. They're so gentle and pretty I love them :)
 
#17 ·
Oh that would be really nice! I hear ya about them hiding when in a smaller school. I had 7 Cardinal Tetras which were somewhat active but stayed in the back of the tank a lot and when I increased the school to 11 it made a HUGE difference in them. Now theyare all over the place and it really looks beautiful.
 
#18 ·
I will try Cardinals one more time as well the initial purchase when down the drain (literally) but I'd love to have a larger school of them as well. But that would then be it for my 45g stocking :-(
 
#21 ·
I will there was many possible factors why the first stock went down; so I figured I'll let the 45g be for a few months with the Emporers, Rummy, Cory and sometime this summer will try again (froma different store as well lol)
 
#22 ·
Just took some more pic's tonight had to share these one's with ya...HOW could you resits these cuties :mrgreen:
 

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#24 ·
LOL I hear ya...as we picked up the 30g the other night hubby goes "So now you got all sizes you wanted - we're done shopping right?" meanwhile I try to NOT lie and not choke on my fries - Thankfully one these flashy Mustangs like he has came right by and I went "DID you see THAT Mustang there I wonder what engine he has"...so I nicely diverted right off that subject real quick before I had to answer that question honestly LOL
 
#25 ·
LOL, nice deflection! Pete would definitely be open to me getting another. He wanted me to get that 135g and move the 55g upstairs. I don't want a tank upstairs though because we wouldn't enjoy it like we should. I can easily fit a 30g or a tall tank in the basement with the 55g though ;-) Uh oh!
 
#26 ·
Hubby is fine by my addiction and enjoys the fish....but to be honest he has a point to question when enough tanks are enough LOL .... at least until I get my fish room *fat grin*
 
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