Ok now on to part II first a couple more schoolers. First the barbs, barbs are less common than tetras and not all are suitable for the beginner. however some of the most commonly available types are, such as The tiger barbs, cherry barbs and rosy barbs. Cherry barbs are probably the most manageable as they are the smallest and very peaceful. they only grow to about 2" and are lovely little fish. The males are a bright cherry red and the females are a burnt auburn color... Tiger barbs are a bit bigger at 3", very lively and flashy these guys are very hardy but are terrible fin nippers so don't keep anything slow with long finnage. Angels, bettas and gouramis are a big no no with these little boogers. They also come in green, albino and glow-fish morphs.
Rosy barbs are pretty easy but a bit bigger at about 5" so at least 30 gallons is necessary. They are incredibly beautiful fish and come in a longfin variety. One of the first fish I kept as a new hobbyist were rosy and tiger barbs so they both hold a special place in my heart. They were in a ten gallon but I learned quickly enough and they came to live in my 55.
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| green morph tiger barb. |
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| Tiger barb 2" hardy but nippy |
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| rosy barb. lovely and peaceful. but a bit larger |
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| cherry barb. a tiny schooling fish reminiscent of tetras. |
Next are the danios, this group of fish is sometimes used interchangeably with minnows, though not all danios are minnows however. most of these guys are some of the smallest and hardiest fish in the hobby. They dont school as tightly as either barbs or tetras from my experience but they are lovely, playful, peaceful and for the most part are really cheap. Combine that with being some of the hardiest species in the hobby and it becomes apparent why they are so popular. There are also some species that are absolutely stunning. The popular zebra danio alone comes in longfin, leopard and glowing color morphs! I'm also going to throw the harlequin rasbora in here because it falls along the same lines and there aren't enough rasboras that are cheap, common and suitable for beginners to bother listing them separately....
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| Glo-fish morphs of Zebra danios. |
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| The Zebra danio under 2". hardy & tolerates cooler waters too! |
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| The leopard morph. very hard to find, they sell fast! but absolutely beautiful! |
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| Galaxy/celestial pearl. the rare and beautiful |
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| The harlequin rasbora. A bit more expensive but hardy, great colors and loads of personality! better schoolers than danios. (more like tetras) |
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| Giant danio, up to 4"! essentially a really big zebra danio. you'll need 30 for these guys. |
Well that about covers your schoolers.... almost. there is ONE more schooling group I should mention. Though this one is vastly different, these ones happen to be bottom feeders rather than mid-top level swimmers like the ones mentioned earlier on. They are the tiny, adorable mustachioed armored catfish called corydoras. Also known as "cories" or cory cats for short. Their playful antics, pudgy little bodies and erratic movements have charmed aquarists for years and they arent going anywhere. they do a great job of cleaning up after messes on the substrate too! here are a few of the species you're most likely to come across.
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| Corydoras Aeneus. the bronze cory. easily the cheapest and most common. |
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| Albino C.Aeneus |
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Corydoras Sterbai. a bit expensive at around $10 each but undoubtedly my absolute favorite. yellow fins&polka dots!! :D
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| C.Panda.... now why'd they call it that I wonder? |
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| Corydoras Adolfoi. another pretty one.... |
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| Peppered corydoras. |
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| The emerald cory. even though its technically not a cory. this is Brochis splendens. So better just call it the emerald catfish. This guy is twice as big as most corydoras at about 4" rather than the usual 2.5"' or less. but care is similar aside from needing more space. So ill put him here anyways :) |
And that about sums it up for schoolers! Next lets talk about some oddballs and centerpieces! See you in part III !!!
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