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I just received a used 15 gallon from a friend which contains 2 male Cherry Barbs, 3 Pristella Tetras, 1 Serpae Tetra, 3 Black Neons and 1 Harlequin Rasbora. She's had them in the tank like that for over 4 years. I know most of these fish should be in schools but what should i do? What else could i add to this? I was thinking i could maybe move some fish to my 29 gallon which has 5 Tiger Barbs, 4 Black Ruby Barbs, 2 Cherry Barbs, 1 SAE, 1 Bolivian Ram but i'm not sure. Please help...

I'd definitely move the Serpae Tetra to your 29g, and probably the cherry barbs too. If you do that, then you could add 5 more harlequin rasboras to the 15g, to make it a nice school.

-P

29 gallon : 5 Tiger Barbs, 4 Black Ruby Barbs, 2 Cherry Barbs, 1 SAE, 1 Bolivian Ram + 2 male Cherry Barbs & 1 Serpae Tetra. Maybe you can add more Serpae's.

15 gallon : 3 Pristella Tetras, 3 Black Neons & 1 Harlequin Rasbora. Add more of these fish to make them a school of at least 5.


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ill say...just more the cherries to the 29 and exchange the rest for a non-schooling fish... 15g aint that big for a schooling fish unless they r small.

I'd keep the harlies in the 15g for sure, maybe increase to 6, and add some more black neons to fill out that scool, I agree with moving the other fish to the 29g, I think it could handle them. The pristella tetras I'm not sure about, don't know what size they get. You could add panda cories and ottos to the 15g as well to fill out the bottom level and control waste and algae. If you use live plants or over filter it is ok to push stocking ratios a bit. Keep on top of water changes and underfeed. For the tiger barbs be sure to keep at least 5 at all times or they get nippy with other fish.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

If it's really been that way for 4years I'd just leave it be. Most of those fish probably have a total lifespan around 5years so they've just about lived out their lifespan already. About the time you get all the schools built up the older ones will probably start dying off leaving you with part of a school again. Of course if you like one of those species and want to establish a school permanently in that tank you could trade the others into the lfs and make one big school in the 15g. Then you'd still have a school when the older ones died.