accompanying fish

[Muller]

I've got a L134 tank and am creating a L046 tank. I read that it was good to have some accompanying fish above the plecos so they feel more relaxed. In the wild it seems a kind of indicator for predators. What kind of fish would be suitable? I read 'rainbow fish', but don't think that's a species or is it?
thanks,
Stijn.

[Bas Pels]

I'd take a tetra, any tetra. Rainbow fish come from New Guinea, or Australia, and some prefer hard water. Tetras are from South America, and you might even find species from the same area.

[MarcW]

It does depend on what you'd like to do.

Keep as close to their natural habitat as possible? Then look up the tetras from the same rivers.

Something easy and cheaper (given they breed like rabbits) rainbow fish would work too, but as Bas mentioned they are found several thousand miles from your catfish.

In some tanks I have tetras from the same rivers as the catfish, in others I have rainbow fish, mostly because I started with 4 and now have a few hundred!

I would say the rainbows are bolder and more active than the tetras I keep, that might be something to consider if you want the tank to appear active.

[Linus_Cello]

Rummy nose tetras supposedly are good dithers and indicators of water quality

[Jools]

Rummy nose are good for L134, less so for the clear water zebras. Massively off biotope, but I found that Harlequin Rasboras were the best in terms of being cheap so as to buy in numbers, and can readily hop between black water and clear water tanks with strong currents AND high temps.

Jools