Small schooling fishes for 20cm cube tank?

[hebi]

hi guys,

i am currently looking for some nice and small fishes that school in a 20cmx20cmx20cm tank. any fishes to recommend? tetras are nice but they seem to grow to a rather large size relative to my tank.

also, will the strength of the current affect the fishes i can keep? the current is pretty strong i think . i yesterday place a guppy inside and its struggling so i took out that poor guy.

[illumnae]

Axelrodia riesei (Ruby tetras) stay rather small and should be suitable for your nano tank

[hebi]

thanks illumnae for the quick reply . i just googled and saw its pic, really a nice red fish. but i got a few questions

1) i know some fishes well in a heavily planted tank but mine is an iwagumi tank, so is it fine with that?
2) where can i get this fish? and maybe the rough price of it?

thanks

[linahalim]

White mountains minnows are nice to keep
schooling fishes

thanks illumnae for the quick reply . i just googled and saw its pic, really a nice red fish. but i got a few questions

1) i know some fishes well in a heavily planted tank but mine is an iwagumi tank, so is it fine with that?
2) where can i get this fish? and maybe the rough price of it?

thanks

[hebi]

the problem is they dont really school well and they grow rather large. i keep around 20 of them in my 3ft tank . really nice fish but too big .

[ranmasatome]

How many pieces are you aiming to put in this tank?

[hebi]

erm.. isnt that determine by the size of the fish? im looking for around maybe 10 pieces as i know some fishes do better with more companions.

[oblivion]

i recommend 6 pieces of green neons

[ranmasatome]

erm.. isnt that determine by the size of the fish? im looking for around maybe 10 pieces as i know some fishes do better with more companions.

Well.. in a sense it is...but you don't really know what fish you're getting so i was just asking to see if it was possible to recommend slightly bigger fish but in smaller numbers. Like maybe 6 pieces?

However, if you have a fixed number you like then we are limted by how many you want in the tank right? Besides in a tank this size.. even if the fish is NOT schooling also cannot really tell that obviously...unless they are really small fish.

[hebi]

Well.. in a sense it is...but you don't really know what fish you're getting so i was just asking to see if it was possible to recommend slightly bigger fish but in smaller numbers. Like maybe 6 pieces?

However, if you have a fixed number you like then we are limted by how many you want in the tank right? Besides in a tank this size.. even if the fish is NOT schooling also cannot really tell that obviously...unless they are really small fish.

haha good point. why didnt i think of that? of course i prefer fish that are small in size, preferably below 3cm(max size) so it wouldnt look too weird.
i checked the ruby tetra illumnae recommended. some websites state that it doesnt grow beyond 2cm and it looks nice so im now considering that.

[wasabi8888]

Not sure whether ruby tetras school though. The rubies that I see, are pretty much swimming on their own

[ranmasatome]

That is a nice fish..but it really does not like high flow like you mentioned...
i'm not saying that they can't live in there..but it probably isn't preffered. If you notice how they swim... you'll see what i mean, especially in a tank where even a guppy sized fish is having difficulty.

i don't know of many fishes that like high flow and yet are small and those i know aren't easily found..so either go with lee1224 suggestion of green tetras...or if you want to try slightly larger species.. you can try the rasbora kubotai or rubescence that biotope brought in recently... its a very good batch...with good colouration.. but these fishes really don't school that well.. thats the only problem. For fish taht school and yet able to take higher flow rate..they need to be bigger..
So you have 4 choices... either...
1) lower flow rate
2) but bigger fish that school...but looks funny or
3) put nice sized fish taht school but gets blown all over the place by your flow rate.
4) put fish taht can take the high flow rate but don't really school.

[hebi]

ok i think the flowrate of my eden501 will reduce after a while so maybe by then i can add those fishes, so i pick 1). 2) is no for me haha and i may consider 4). i wonder what fishes actually like high flow rate or can take it.

[oblivion]

stuff more wool into the eden
anyway with the eden it tends to slow down after a month or two

i use an eden in my 30x30 cube and the green neons take it pretty fine
in fact i think even if the flow up abit more it still shouldnt be a problem

[nys]

I would like to recommand Boraras uropthalmodies as they are small and schooling.

In addition, White Cloud Mountain Minnow are good as they are playful, like to chase after another, sudden "brake" with their red fins "opened" fully. They do enjoy wave except maybe a bit big for your choice (~4cm).

[ranmasatome]

Boraras uropthalmodies is quite a good choice!!

[wasabi8888]

May I know where is the origin of Boraras uropthalmodies? is it suitable for a Amazon tank?

[ranmasatome]

Not from amazon.

[hebi]

but sadly , i saw from a website stating that Boraras uropthalmodies will grow up to 4cm. any LFS to recommend or farms near the west or to be more precise, choa chu kang area, where there is a large variety of such small fishes? the only one i can think of is qianhu.

nys: haha ya really love those fish and their colour and their lips some got abit red like lipstick. and i notice they dont really school tightly unless i go near the tank bu t they like chasing each other, like one partner each like that and flare. if only they were smaller( baby white cloud mountain minnow are nice,i saw one in my tank but now grown up so not so shiny)

[ranmasatome]

It takes ages for them to reach that size...you'll probably have destroyed the scape in this tank by then.. or even have gotten rid of this tank altogether.. who knows...

I think its alright...