Tetra Varieties

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Aug 26, 2012
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TL;DR: Should I get 12 x 2 types of tetras or 8 x 3 types?

I'm in the process of gradually stocking a 55g FWDSB riparium. The actual tank dimensions are 48"x21"x22", so the volume of water is 55g (measured out as I was filling the tank for the first time), but it has a bit more floorspace than your standard 55g.
It's currently planted with a few different types of swords and some dwarf hair grass. As well as a bit of duckweed and a water hyacinth on the surface.
I've got a large sponge filter (rated for 80g).
Two 100 W heaters that keep the tank at a balmy 25 C.
And two T5HO flourescents (one full spectrum, one roseate) on an 8-hour timer for lighting.

As far as stock goes, I have:
8 x bronze/green cory cats (C. aeneus)
8 x black neon tetras (H. herbertaxelrodi)
4 x cardinal tetras (P. axelrodi)
1 x ghost shrimp (P. paludosus?)

I'm planning on adding 4 more cardinal tetras in a week or two. (The current ones have only been in there for a few days, and I don't want to shock the tank by adding too many things at once.) I'm also hoping to add a few (read: 5-7) marble hatchetfish at some point. And probably a handful of additional ghost shrimp eventually as well (although, I'm kind of enjoying having just the one in there atm). Also planning a bunch more plants as I can get my hands on them: arrowheads (above the water), more swords, etc.

My original plan was to get a few more of each of the tetra species to bring it up to two schools of 10-12. However, I also really love glowlight tetras and have been wondering if I might want to get a small school of them instead. I know it's often better to get larger groups of a few fish than just a few individuals of many different species. However, do you think groups of 8 are large enough? Or would I be better off going for 12?

I know I could probably just do three groups of 12 tetra varieties and not be overstocked, but I like the idea of keeping things relatively sparse for now. I'd rather err on the side of understocked than overstocked. Besides which, I enjoy watching my fish, but I don't really want the tank to be super "busy". So, keeping that in mind, two dozen tetras sounds like plenty to me, it's just a matter of whether I spread that number out over two types or three. Any thoughts or input would be appreciated. :)
 
I'd stick with just 2. More because they'll maintain better schools when there is a bigger size difference (2+ inch cardinal's v 1.5 inch black neons v 1.5-2 inc glowlights).
 
Okay, thanks. That makes sense. The cardinals are a bit smaller than the black neons for now and seem to be schooling with them. It'll be interesting to watch the dynamics as they grow though. I'll up my numbers to 12 of each for now.

If, in the future, I decide that I want more than my two dozen tetras... do you still think I'd be better to just increase the numbers of the ones I have? Or once I have 12 of each, would I be alright to start adding a third variety? (Just trying to get a feel for what the recommendations and restrictions are.)

Thanks so much! :)
 
I'm probably not the best person to ask, since I'd really prefer to have the minimum number of similar species per tank (better sense for behavior, plus a huge group of small fish that all look alike is awesome to watch).

Which might be why I'm sitting in a room with 8 tanks in view. a SW tank with a pair of clowns, a quarantine tank for bristlenose and hasbrosus (same tanks at the LFS), a 38 with endlers, clown killies and hasbrosus, a 90 with porthole livebearers, 2 male calico bristlenose, and an otocinclus herd, a 4 with vespa cats (quarantine), a 4 with a brown spike tail paradise (learned too late that they are VERY agile jumpers), a 5 with a betta, and a 27(?, hex tank, strange sizes) that houses glowfish and albino bristlenose. I think there's one tank in the entire house that has more than 3 species of fish in it, and that's partially because I've not been able to catch the stragglers to move them!
 
I have a lot of different species in my 55, but, I'm actually trying to work that down by eliminating two species of tetras from my 55. I don't really want to rehome them, but I definitely won't be replacing my orange von rios, glowlights, or neons. That'll leave me with rummy nose and cardinal tetras, and espei rasboras, along with RCS, a variety of snails, a BN, koi angelfish, and pair of electric blue rams.

I like a lot of variety, but noticed that too much variety actually detracted from my ability to enjoy my fish, so I'm letting time redact the least favorite fish.
 
48 x 21 x 22" is a cool size! If that's 55 gallons, my 48 x 12.5 x 21 that's advertised as a 55, must not be anywhere near 55g.

Just a single sponge filter for a 55g? That's not a lot of filtration by itself IMO.

IMO, for small tetras, I like groups of 10 or so. Larger ones, 5. I've got a mish-mash of finned critters in my "55g" and love it that way.
 
It's a riparium, which means the water isn't completely filling the tank to the top. Overall volume is closer to 100 gallons, with about half of it water and half land/air.
 
OrionGirl said:
It's a riparium, which means the water isn't completely filling the tank to the top. Overall volume is closer to 100 gallons, with about half of it water and half land/air.
Click to expand...

My LFS has one. It's pretty awesome to look at, but it's really wasted in that nothing is in the land part, just artificial decor and some what may be live mosses.
 
FreshyFresh: As OrionGirl says, the tank itself will hold much more than 55g, I've just only put 55g of water in it and left the rest as airspace to leave room for my floating and terrestrial/amphibious plants. Don't worry, your 55g is still a 55g. ;)

Also, regarding the filtration... Being a DSB (Deep Sand Bed) I get A LOT of biological filtration. Three inches of pool filter sand gives a lot of surface area for BB (beneficial bacteria) to colonize. I actually set it up based on information I found on these forums. :D DeeDeeK posted an amazing thread about how she made her FWDSBs. The info I found there recommended using a filter (or filters) that gave you about half the filtration you'd normally want for whatever volume of water you have.
I went with a sponge filter that's rated for up to 80g in the end because I was nervous about getting something too small/weak and I figured that manufacturers often overstate the capabilities of their filters.
So far things seem to be working out okay. (It's been about two months with the sponge filter. Before that I had a cheap internal filter rated for 40g that died on me after a few months.) But, don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on it and will add a small internal filter if things start getting wonky. :)

OrionGirl, et al.: Alright, I'll have to contemplate aesthetics a bit. Who knows, it may not matter in the end. I may decide that two dozen tetras = fully stocked. I'm just not sure yet. This is my first community tank... my first tank really! (Unless you count my 2.5g betta "tank".) So I'm still kind of figuring out what I want to do with it and what works and what doesn't.
Based on what you guys have said here though, it seems like whether I have two or three varieties of tetra (after I get my minimum 12 of each) is mostly based on aesthetics and personal preference, yeah? I'm just not sure what I'd prefer. I do like the idea of a big group of cardinals swimming around. But I also really love the look of glowlight tetras. Hmm... I'll have to think on it.

Thanks for the feedback! :goldfish:

ETA: Hydrophyte (I think that's the username) on the forums here has done some phenomenal ripariums. They're what made me want to do a riparium in the first place! I'm not going to end up with something that looks as awesome as all that, but I think it'll still be pretty nice. I can't wait 'til I can get the rest of my plants in! It's gonna be great!
 
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