I would go for the pencils, the pencils have sooooo much more personality than tetras (I’ve kept the rubies and they were fine but nothing particularly) and are so entertaining! They don’t just use the top they’re all over, very playful fish with interesting behaviours, and their territorially is not too much. Also they’re much more beautiful irl with a lovely iridescence.
A recent fish I’ve started keeping which I love and which is quite all over is the rosy loach. They’re tiny, enjoy being in a big interactive group, active and cute. They hover about in a very charming way, a lot like pygmy cories, but much less shy.
Thanks Rosie, I am heavily swaying towards the Dwarf Pencils if I'm honest, just because I've wanted to keep them for a long time and they are quite unique little fish.
I have looked at Rosy Loaches in the past and always liked them, so it might be worth me taking another look. 👍
Looks great. Congratulations on the babies and really nice to see those loaches in a planted tank.
Thanks Tim - yeah, they're a really strange and odd-ball little fish, but great fun to watch.
They are lovely little fish. Photos never seem to do them justices. I find evening time the best time to see their courting behaviour as my lights start to dim unlike other tetras I have that seem to be at their showiest in the mornings
Yeah, I'm going to have to set up the camera on a tripod a few hours before and try to capture some images of them - I've noticed they seem more active towards the end of the day too!
What I’d describe as your standard tetra if that makes sense? They’ll often find a spot that they enjoy and stay there most of the time, occasionally flirting around the tank and sparring each other. I keep mine in a small tank so a large shoal in a big tank could behave differently.
That was something I was a little concerned about. I found the same with my Embers, and when I kept Black Neons in the distant past - they find a comfortable spot and just sit there until some food appears. That and their higher sensitivity/more extreme blackwater requirements is probably going to knock them off the list for me.
Ruby tetras are cheap and tough fish, I really like the way the hover around like little hummingbirds and the colours really pop once fully settled. I’d say they’ve got more colouration than an ember. I’ve never really been a fan of those.
Hmmm, yeah I'm still intrigued by the Ruby tetra's - it's getting to be a tough choice.
Pencilfish are great but they normally have a bit of attitude. Not sure how they would behave being essentially one of the biggest fish in your tank?
Cheers
The 'attitude' is the one thing that concerns me a little with the Pencils. I have read that the Marginatus are the least aggressive though. Keith did offer me Coral Reds Pencils and Purple Pencils, but whilst beautiful they would be slightly larger, and potentially more aggressive like the Beckfordi which seem to be most renowned for it - I'm sturggling to find much in the way of references online reporting aggression with the Marginatus, certainly outside of conspecifics.
There would be quite a few fish that will be a similar size of slightly larger than the Marginatus - I think they max out at 20-25mmm, so the Threadfins will be slightly larger, as will the Sedge tetras. Plus there is a lot of real estate for them to spread out over if any territorial aggression does occur. I seem to be talking myself into it 😂
I'd ditch the 30mm rule and add some Dicrossus filamentosus. Will occupy all levels. Sorry it's not a tetra. 😀
Thanks John, but Cichlids are out for me I think this time around. Lovely looking fish, but too large, and too 'shrimp-chomping' for this set-up.
Great journal and a lovely looking tank. I would agree about the rosy loaches, they are fearless,active and social little guys, they use all levels of the tank. On the threadfins they fly about at all levels especially when they are breeding.
Thanks Liam, another vote for the Rosy Loaches, I'll check them out in some more detail. Yeah, I'm looking forward to getting the Threadfins in place - they are kind of the showpiece fish of the tank.
Thanks Bazz 👍
If it were me I'd have to get some Corydoras hastatus to see how they interact with the Hyphessobrycon elachys.
If you want underwater hummingbirds
Pseudomugil luminatus would be my suggestion. They stay mostly in the mid to top of the tank and the way they swim and display reminds me hummingbirds.
I'm pretty maxed out on the Cory front I think with around 10-12x Hasbrosus, 6x Pygmy's plus 30x Six-rays incoming.
Funnily enough with the Pygmaeus, we've had those for several years now. I originally got them for my sons low tech tank, and we barely ever saw them in there - just occasionally at feeding time. Then when we moved house they went in the holding tank, and we barely ever saw them in there either. Now in this big tank their personality has completely changed, and they are out all the time, probably the most visible fish in the tank currently - generally trying to make friends with the Zebra Oto's constantly swimming alongside them.
Pseudomugil species were something I was considering when looking at the Rainbows - they are a beautiful fish, but I was put off a little by quite a few reports of them jumping - maybe one for the future.
Question for the group: On the Threadfin Rainbows, I'm going to request a mix of males and females (as they are more easy to tell apart), if females are included in the shipment - does anyone have any idea what sort of ratio I should be aiming for - I can't find much in the way of answers online - most places seem to suggest the males don't particularly pursue or harass the females, with a number of owners reporting no issues with more males than females, so I was kind of thinking of about a 50:50 mix?
