What tank mate to pick-- hmm cant decide

[nicholas76]

Let me set up the scenario for you.
4 x 2 x 2.
Heavily planted tank.
2 adult Discus and about 40 of one of these types of tetras.

Whats would you select?

note . neons are basically 10 for $10 at your good LFS. Rummys and cardinals are generally 10 for $30

[nicholas76]

Rummy nose

[nicholas76]

neons

[nicholas76]

cardinals

[goldenpigeon]

* i can get cardinals 10 for $20 ;)*

anyways. neons are a colder water fish and generally dont last too ling in discus tanks. it can be done but they suit 22-24 deggree water much better.

if it were to be heavily planted i would go cardinals. 40 of them will have a stunning effect with your plants. rummys are my second favorite tetra thoagh ;)

[sammigold]

why not go 20 cardinals and 20 rummy nose....

I have both in my tank and they both have a distinct beauty of there own... also the rummy nose can warn you of any water probs as the red noses tend to fade if there not happy.....(they also fade at night while sleeping but thats a camoflage thing i think)

I say go for both... :)

[nicholas76]

hey sammi


wasnt too sure on compatability bud,

do yours compete? at all,, do they school together ???

[goldenpigeon]

i keep both togeather and they go excellent!.

however if you dont have a large enough tank and over 15 (odd) of each species they will group togeather and IMO that isnt the desired effect. i try to get 2 seperate schools.

[OscarManAlpha]

Hmmm..........

If it was me and it's not !!! I would just go with one probably the Rummy Noses as they tend to get bigger the females anyway ( from personal experiance only )

Also your non fish friends will just see neons. ( sadly )

And Amano and his fans tend to stick to one type, as the overall effect is far more dramatic.

Same go's for a whole group of the same type of Cory IMHO.

But that said the other ideas are also good and you may get bored of just the one as you will be the one veiwing it on a daily basis.

In case your not sure I voted Rummy Noses in the poll LOL

Cheers,

Mark

Found this photo with both.

http://www.aquariumdesigngroup.com/detected.php?page=&pass=

Try this link go to the galleries ( top right hand side of page )
and freshwater planted tanks may provide some inspiration for a display tank.

[nicholas76]

Cheers guys,

Mark thanks for the link. ive book marked it.

I do have the 4 x 2 x 2 so I think I will stick with the one type of neon to give it that large schooling appeal.

Although I really like neons ( i love the blue ) I'll go the cardinals due to the longer life and more colouring aspects on the fish.

Fyi i will attempt to but as many as i can afford, wanting to add 40- 50 tetras.

Keep the poll going lets see how it develops!!!!!!!

[FishLover]

My neons only lasted about 20 days. They are colder water fish. Nice to look at them for the first few days. They started to die off few at a time after a week or so. :-( You are going to kiss your money goodby in less than a month for sure. Discus may enjoy the extra food in the mean time.

I vote for cardinals just because they can handle the warm water and bigger. Less chance for them to end up in the Discus' belly.

[Daetarek]

Out of the choices, cardinals are probably best, but i find if your going for aesthetics, you need to take into account the look of the tank a bit, if its heavy planted etc ... rummys may not show up to well, the other thing is cardinals in a big shoal may take focus off of the discus :( not a good thing.

personally i have gone off of these types of tetras, and lean more towards phantoms, bleeding hearts etc ...

[OscarManAlpha]

And Amano and his fans tend to stick to one type, as the overall effect is far more dramatic.

:oops: :oops: :oops: Hmmm...Just got a copy of Aquarium Plant Paradise ( Takashi Amano ) and it seems he does mix different types of Tetra's in some of his display's so I have to correct myself !!!

great book picked up from APW at a great price : )

I still prefer the look of many of the one type of schoaling fish in a display tank.

And some of the tanks in my new Amano book are along that theme.

I had Harlequins they tend to live for a long time for a small fish and are very tight schoalers.

I could be wrong once again, but I think the Neons and such when in good conditions and when not frieghtened seem to split up.

Cheers,

Mark

[sammigold]

sorry for late reply Nick..... I only have a few rummys and they do tend to hang around and school with the cardinals... (I think because there is not many so they like the numbers thing with the cardinals.)

[sammigold]

sorry for late reply Nick..... I only have a few rummys and they do tend to hang around and school with the cardinals... (I think because there is not many so they like the numbers thing with the cardinals.)