Should I Go For a Rainbow School in a Community Tank?

[NathanF]

Just posted earlier that I was looking for some big-ish schooling fish to liven up my 55g which currently has:

12 Cardinal Tetras
2 Pearl Gouramis (shy and peaceful with each other and everyone else, though one Molly had to be removed that kept picking fights with one of them)
4 Platys
2 BN Plecos
1 Dalmation Molly

My LFS has loads of beautiful, colorful rainbows. I've totally ignored them though since they seemed far too awesome to be attainable. I just assumed they were like Cichlids, beautiful but aggressive and not for a community tank. That's why I posted earlier about getting some larger tetras / hatchet fish.

But after some reading it seems rainbows aren't as difficult as I assumed. They are certainly a few orders of magnitude more beautiful than, say, Buenas Aires Tetras, so I would obviously prefer them if I could keep them!

What do you think about adding a school, perhaps 5 to the above tank? The Turquoise and Boesemani Rainbows look quite cool. My LFS also has tons of other species of rainbow if there are others more peaceful / compatible.

Thoughts?

[rich311k]

I think a school of 5 rainbows would do nicely in your tank. They are great fish.

[Lady Hobbs]

Mine are with some gold tetra and a pair of angels. I really wish I had somewhere else for the angels, tho, because bows prefer water a bit on the cooler side....at least cooler than angels like. But they should work well for you and even better if you get mostly or all males.

I'm not sure how your cardinals will fair. Larger fish eat smaller fish. It's what they do in the wild and what they do in aquariums. They have a big mouth and a small throat so they may be OK but I don't think I'd put neons or cardinals in with mine. A BIG school of neon rainbows would be very neat. They stay about 2 1/2" and are very pretty and for sure your cardinals would be safe with them.

[NathanF]

Thanks for the info.

The cardinal tetras were the ones I was worried about. To be honest though, I think I may be willing to risk it, given just how amazing rainbow fish are.

So, do you think my cardinal tetras would be safe with neon rainbow fish because neon rainbows tend to be more peaceful than other rainbows, or did you mean they would be safer if I simply got a big school so the school paid attention to themselves rather than other fish? If so, how would you define big? I don't think I can do my than 5, maybe 6 if I commit to not getting any other fish.

[Lady Hobbs]

Cardinals should be fine with the neon rainbows because they remain a small rainbow.

[NathanF]

My LFS has pairs of dwarf neon rainbows for $10 a piece, so I'll have a look at them.

Going to be hard not to want to get those other bigger rainbows though...

[Garrett]

I have a school of praecox and a mixed bunch of neon and cardinal tetras and never have a problem.

[Gisela]

I have a lot of different Rainbowfish in my 125 g. Some are really big. For the 55 g I would go with the smaller Rainbows like the Neon (dwarf) Rainbowfish or Threadfin Rainbows. My Millenium and Lake Goyder ones are huge. A School of Celebes Rainbowfish or blue-eyed Forktails are also beautiful, I have them in my 55 g.