0morrokh

Well, my parents are letting me set up another 20gal. I will be moving all the fish in my 20 gal long to the new 20 gal, and then making the 20 long a sort of display tank with Endlers, tetras, and possibly a few catfish.
But I just can't decide what kind of tetra to get. The ones I am/was considering are:
Emperors
Blue Emperors (aka Kerri Tetras)
Rummy Noses
Lemons
Silver Tips
Black Phantoms

Emperors were rejected based on price and the fact that they live too long--parents don't want to be stuck with fish when I leave for college. :P
Lemons and Silver Tips are nice, but perhaps a little boring for me...I want to try a species that is maybe a bit more challenging or has more interesting behavior. (don't get me wrong, these are great tetras)
Rummy Noses I love, but everything I read says they absolutely must be kept in soft, acidic water. Now generally I don't listen to people who say fish can't adjust to a higher pH, but I have not read a single account of them being kept in a higher pH and my tapwater here is extremely hard and alkaline (pH around 8 )...so what do you guys think? Would it be worth trying them or are they really as delicate as people say they are?
So anyway Blue Emperors and Black Phantoms left...not sure I can get Blue Emperors, and anyway not sure they're my favorite as far as interesting behavior and such. Black Phantoms are pretty cool though...if I get a no go for Rummies I will probably end up getting Black Phantoms.

Well, what do you guys think? *sigh* why can't I just get all of them...

Tom

Why not a school of lemons and rummy noses? The lemons are really beautiful when they all school together. They are also probably the most calm tetra that I know of. They also look really neat when they are feeding.
Tom

0morrokh

I was thinking of doing something like that but unfortunately I don't have room for 2 shoals of tetras since I want to have some Endlers in there.

Heh that's funny, when I was saying my pH in the last post I put 8 and then ) but it turned it into a 8) --changed that.
Yeah so my ph is 8 and not "8)"

Tom

How many endlers were you wanting to get?
Tom

0morrokh

2-4 pair, not sure yet. But keep in mind that there would also be some fry (whatever excaped the tetras) which I may or may not keep.

Tom

How big do endlers grow?
Tom

Jim

I know they're not on you list, but you may want to consider a school of Serpae Tetra's... They're a riot, very pretty, very good schoolers, and definitly playful. I posted this already somewhere, but it's worth repeating:
I have a school of 10 Serpia Tetra's and the other evening they were all hanging out at the top of my bubble stream. 2 or 3 would dash into the bubbles, swim as hard as they could to the bottom, and ride the bubble stream back to the top. Then a couple more would do it, over and over. This went on for about an hour. It was the funniest thing I've ever seen.
Anyway, it's just a thought

0morrokh

Endlers are tiny, an inch or so max.

Thanks for the suggestion Jim. Serpaes are pretty, but I have heard they can be fin nippers unless kept in a very large group so I tend to shy away from them. I don't have room for a ton of them and I'm afraid they might harrass the Endlers.

Jim

yeah, mine behave, but they're 10 of them keeping each other busy. I'm not sure how they'd behave with Endlers...

wolfman21

glowlights are pretty neat to. Something maybe to consider in the future.

Jim

what's a glowlight?

wolfman21

Glowlight tetra, Hemigrammus erythrozonus, they have a red line down their body. They are really pretty cool looking. Here's the link describing them: http://www.fishlore.com/profiles_glowlight_tetra.htm

0morrokh

I like Glowlights too but I'm looking for something a bit more unusual.

Anyone have any thoughts on whether or not I should try Rummies?

wolfman21

rummy nosed tetras are so cool. I've seen them and they are really neat. They don't get that big either, which I don't know if you like. They are so cool to watch in larger schools (6 or more), so that may be cool to try.

Jim

my serpae tetra'ss are like a pack of tiny piranha when i feed them, I've never seen a fish move that fast! but other than that they're really peaceful. they mostly hang out swimming in the grassy stuff.