# Opinions stocking 75 gallon - Schooling fish



## Tensa (Aug 2, 2014)

Hi guys.

Finally got a new tank after my 25 gallon rimless used tank broke a year ago. Was crushed when we returned from our honeymoon and the tank was broken especially since I had waited a month for the amazonia to stop leeching and just stocked it a week before.

I've got the 75 gallon set up and running and am trying to decide on fish. It is going to have some mosses on a large piece of driftwood in the tank. Rest of it is going to be bare with a thin sand bottom.

I like fish that school and from watching thegreenmachine, scaling, keeping fish small to keep the tank feeling big. Have been toying with trying to keep fish that do not grow larger than 1 inch.

*For sures:*
1) RCS - I just love the way shrimp look and I like watching them hang out on moss and driftwood.
2) 10-12 otos - Our family tank is just over run with Algae. With this new tank, I figure the otos will help keep any algae/diatom growth in check. I've also seen them swim together.

*The fish I have been toying with:*
Bottom level:
1) Pygmy Cories - I figured a school of small bottom feeders would be good. However from my research, it sounds like they tend to hang out in the mid level of the tank as opposed to the bottom. (Are there any other types of Corys that don't get larger than an inch that stay on the bottom?)

Mid level:
1) Small rasbora - I know April has strawberry rasboras and I was thinking of getting 20-30 of them. I cannot find any information on how they behave in a tank, whether they will swim together or just do their own thing. Like the fact that they do not grow longer than 1 inch.
2) Ember Tetras - I had a school of 12 in the 25 gallon and they always hung out together. Was really bummed when I went to the LFS and they no longer had any. (Used to have 40 to 50 regularly) Also like the fact that they are small.
3) Rummy Nose Tetra - At first I felt they were really big considering they grow to 2 inches. However I saw a video on jiayaw's tank journal and am wondering if they would be fine. He has a school of 22 in the video and they are so beautiful!
4) Some other small tetra - Maybe glowlights? However I think the rummy noses are much more attractive personally.

Top level:
1) Marble Hatchets - Based on my research though, they like floating plants and I don't have any of those right now. Do you guys know any other top level fish that will stay at the top most of the time?

What do you guys think? I am currently really intrigued with the Rummy Noses (Because I know they like to swim together) - Thinking about 20 to 30 of them + 12-14 small corys on the bottom would be good.


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## tony1928 (Apr 22, 2010)

I got some espei rasboras from April and they school fairly tightly for me. Nice bright orange and red and if you lights are just right, they have a great sheen to them, almost a glow.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

Marble hatchet will swim in mid water as they feel more comfortable in your tank. They stay on top only when they are not comfortable or feeling danger. If you are keeping CRS, you should keep those marble hatchet. They stay smaller and will not bother the shrimp.


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## jiayaw (Jun 10, 2011)

In my opinion, the different types of dwarf rasbora would be too tiny for a 75gal. Unless if you want viewers to actually get engaged with viewing parts of your tank close up. Also the rasboras tend to just casually stroll. I got 6 of the dwarf and 5 brigittae. When they school they school together briefly and then they go off on their own again and it repeats. They are really nice jewels for nano tanks but personally I'd find them too tiny for anything over 3ft long.

As for the rummynose, the ones I got have fatten up and grew to 1.5"-1.75"now, pretty darn close to being fully grown and they still seem pretty decently small for the tank. That is because they have long slender bodies, a 2in rummynose in reality is perfect size for the 75gal. Not to mention they really school tightly. Only time they don't school is when lights are out and they scatter to sleep. Sometimes you'll get a few that ran off on their own so you'll have two smaller groups schooling tightly until they join forces again.


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## jiayaw (Jun 10, 2011)

Also like to mention, the rummynose tend to swim around bottom mid level of tank, occasionally higher but definitely close to bottom than high mid level.


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## Tensa (Aug 2, 2014)

Thank you guys!

Charles: How active are your marble hatchets? I've seen videos on youtube where they just stay stationary the entire video. Do they prefer to swim in schools?

Jiayaw you're totally right, they were perfect in your video 

I am set on 25-30 Rummy Nose Tetras to be the main school of fish in the tank.

For some reason I thought all plecos grew to over a foot in length. Did some reading today and realized there are plenty that max out at smaller lengths. Do you guys prefer plecos to otos? The only real con regarding plecos seems to be they generate more waste than most other fish?

Does anyone have any experience with the _Corydoras hastatus_ _Corydoras pygmaeus_? Are they more mid level fish as opposed to bottom?


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## DBam (Aug 9, 2010)

Love the idea of rummynose and hatchets with dwarf Corys. You might want to add something like rams or apistos to spice it up without adding size. Small rainbows make great schools too.


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## charles (Apr 21, 2010)

If you are keeping shrimp, I would prefer the otocinclus over plecos. 
The hatchet will swim around and school together. I have both rummy and hatchet in numbers... 
The dwarf cory is more of a mid water swimmers. You will have enough fish in the mid water.

How about some mid size corys like metae...


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## kim86 (Sep 5, 2012)

A school of pencil fish would be cool!


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## reeferious (Apr 30, 2010)

A shoal of cardinal tetras will surely light up your tank or if you prefer less hardier neon tetras


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