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Until recently, I was using my heavily planted 30g long aquarium with a 10g sump to spawn otocinclus. I recently moved the oto shoal to a slightly smaller aquarium purely out of convenience and now I have a fishless yet beautifully planted aquarium with nothing but fire red and blue bee shrimps and a small shoal of corydoras pygmaeus. While I am well aware that PlanetCatfish might not be the best place to start my search for ideas outside of the catfish world, I know that many of the members of this forum have broad spectrum experience ranging well beyond the catfish world.

My problem is that I have no idea where to start when picking my new project fish. My ultimate goal with this tank to have only the C. pygmaeus and a single other species of small, colorful schooling fish that is not super common, yet is possible to spawn in this type of community set-up. Ultimately, I want to have a single show species (in addition to the pygmaeus and shrimps) that is reproducing steadily.

I am looking for a fish that:
Does not not grow larger that 2.5" (smaller the better)
Colorful (not picky here...just something that will stand out against the greens and bronzes of the plants)
Schools/spawns in groups
Not a big fry/egg eater if fed well
Prefers soft, acidic water in the mid-high 70*F range
Not in every single other fish-keeper's fish room

Open to any and all ideas and advice, and I know it sounds like I am being very picky but this particular tank has been my pet project for quite some time now and I am excited for my next venture with it.

Thanks in advance,
Joe

If anyone has any ideas, please let me know. Scientific names preferably. Also, below is the tank I will be using.

Thanks,
Joe

Have you had a look at pencilfish, Nannostomus? They are available in a range of different variations on the "colourful and lengthways stripes", stay small ranging from 3/4" (20mm) to about 2" (50mm), and they can be bred in a small setup with lots of plants. is quite commonly available, other forms may require a bit of searching around to find.

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Mats

Hi all,
Pencil fish are a possibility, but I would keep away from N. beckfordii, as it an efficient fry/shrimplet hunter, and much more bottom orientated than the other species.

I like the "Hockeystick Pencilfish" N. eques, although you couldn't call it colourful. The "Dwarf Pencil" N. marginatus would be more colourful, but may eat shrimplets. I think the same applies to N. mortenthaleri and N. rubrocaudatus, but I haven't kept these.

If you don't mind having fish from the wrong continent, 1 from New Guinea and 2 from W. Africa would be ideal. Poropanchax is very easy to breed, the other 2 are slightly more difficult.

My first choices would be the "Threadfin Rainbow", (Iriatherina werneri) these are perfect for what you want, but you may struggle to find females for sale. These will spawn without any problem, but the fry are absolutely minute. These fish like really small food items, even as adults, and I feed both Corydoras pygmaeus and I. werneri Micro (or Walter/Banana) Worms, even as adults.

The second choice would be "Norman's Lamp-eye", Poropanchax normani again absolutely ideal, and a subtly attractive fish in good conditions.

Final one would be a bit more difficult, but not impossible, that is the "Rocket Killi", Pseudepiplatys annulatus.

cheers Darrel

A little livebearer perhaps? The small danios and rasboras are becoming more available now too.

Neoheterandria elegans Sundadanio axelrodi

Before even logging on to check what ideas anyone might have sent me today, I had done some of my own research. My number one and two choices were and currently are the threadfin rainbow and spotted blue eye rainbow. Now that I saw that the threadfin was a suggested species as well, I am even more inclined to look more deeply into these.

One the subject of livebearers, I was strongly considering black bar Endlers but I want a self sustaining population of fish...not an explosion of fish to the point that the tank no longer looks attractive lol and my current third choice is the celestial pearl danio. I really like these but have not yet done enough research on their requirements.

I was actually at a local livebearer/killifish show yesterday and I really liked some of the killifish.

Does anyone have any first hand experience with spawning either the threadfin or blue eye rainbow? Also, does anyone have any experience with breeding the celestial pearl danio? Keep in mind, this will be a single aquarium project...the fry will be raised with their parents.

Thank you all so much for your input, these have all been fantastic ideas. I honestly didn't think I would get such great responses!

I haven't bred Celestial Pearl Danio's but they're pretty good for a tank like this. I'd also have recommended species of Boraras.

joe323 wrote:Does anyone have any first hand experience with spawning either the threadfin or blue eye rainbow? Also, does anyone have any experience with breeding the celestial pearl danio? Keep in mind, this will be a single aquarium project...the fry will be raised with their parents.

Iriatherina werneri aren't that small actually. I've seen individuals of 5cm. I've bred Pseudomugil gertrudae and Danio margaritatus. You'll get some fry if you leave the parents in the same (well-planted) tank but not boat loads. Both of these species will spawn in Java moss though the blue-eyes would prefer floating plants or mops.

A nice killie to keep with corys is Aphyosemion striatum. Never bother the cats and given plenty of cover produce plenty fry.

So in that case, what do you guys think about a trio of Pseudomugil gertrudae and a trio of Iriatherina werneri? Would that work, do you think? I must admit, I do really like the Iriatherina werneri but the gertrudae are definitely a very close second. If I had to pick one I would pick Iriatherina werneri but I have read that they are very very difficult fry to raise and my concern is getting them fed in such a heavily planted set-up. The fry would be so spread out that spot feeding wouldnt even really be possible...

How was your experience with the gertrudae?

The werneri are easy to breed but the fry are very small. You need to start them off with green water. You can collect their eggs using killie mops.

Mark

In that case, do you think it would be a more practical idea to go with the Pseudomugil instead of the Iriatherina for purposes of being able to raise the fry?

Nematobrycon palmeri or Hyphessobrycon amandae????





Joe