[edman2012]

Hello everyone, I'd like to get advice on additional stocking of my tank. Its a planted 50 gal which currently houses 8 black neon tetras, an opaline gourami, 3 Bolivian rams, a red tailed shark, a whiptail cat, a bristlenose pleco, 6 otocinclus, & 3 roseline sharks. Its quite a bit of fish I already have, although I know I haven't reached the limit, which I'll address shortly.
I'm wondering if I should either boost the school of black neons or add another school of other small fish. My concern is that if I add another school it would have to be at least 8, so I fear overcrowding but I don't have much experience with schooling fish.
The top half of the tank doesn't have a lot of movement so I'm not concerned about overcrowding as long as I choose wisely. In terms of bioload, I actually want some more waste! I've recently begun dosing nitrogen because my plants haven't had enough. Prior to dosing I consistently had 0 nitrate readings despite only 10% weekly water changes.

 

[Cspencer83]

Well if you want a really energetic fish that usually stays fairly high in the tank there are Zebra Danios, I don't know a lot about the other Danios but i know that the Zebras look nice are very energetic and love to school, also they are fairly fast fish

 

[jaysee]

What are the dimensions of your tank?

 

[edman2012]

I've had zebra danios before, but I think they can be too energetic for my personal preference. Tank is 36'' long, 18'' wide, and height I belive is 18'' or 19''.

 

[jaysee]

I would return the roselines unless you plan on upgrading them to 6 foot tank. They get large, are fast and are active. Too, they are schooling fish and really should be in a group of 8 like you were mentioning for the other schooling fish. You could do a smaller barb species like Odessas or golds in place of them.