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I just set up my 27 gallon hexagon tank. Would somebody recomend which Tetras would be best for a beginner, I was thinking Cardinal Tetras, but black and neon tetras look really nice as well. I also wanted to add some X-ray Glass fish, Upsidedown Catfish and some Damselfish. Any others recommended for a hexagon tank?

There's nothing in the tank so far, correct?

Cardinals can be hardy tetras, but a lot of people have had problems with them. Personally I would recommend a Hyphessobrycon species, such as lemon, flame, or rosy tetras. Black neons are also in the genus Hyphessobrycon, and are pretty tough as well. The more tetras you get the happier they are, so at least six or so is recommended. The glassfish (Parambassis ranga, right?) also need to be kept in sizeable schools. Since hexagonal tanks are tall but narrow, I'm not sure if I would add a school of fish which grow to three inches each. Maybe just focus on the tetras?

The catfish grow to about four inches, but should be all right as long as you provide plenty of hiding areas for them. Overhangs, wood, and caves are all welcome.

Damselfish are actually marine animals, if these are the ones you were looking at.

As for other fish, if you got the tetras and catfish there wouldn't be room for too much else. Maybe a small gourami or cichlid species, pencilfish, hatchetfish, or cherry barbs? Just throwing things out there.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

If it's a tall hexagon tank, I'd recommend something that won't dash about too much. Try Silver Tip Tetras, Hasemania nana or whatever they're called now (I used to know them as Hemigrammus nanus). you'll see them behave in interesting ways if you have tall reedy plants and other 'landmarks' in the aquarium - they'll adopt a position within sight of a 'landmark' of choice, then flash their fin tips at each other. They may like to shoal, but they also engage in a behaviour I've labelled 'part time territoriality' - they occupy a part of the water column and signal to others of their species not to cross the invisible boundary lines that they've drawn. Plan your aquarium with contrasting ight and dark foliage, and the resulting display that these fishes provide is quite something to behold.

Like Sirbooks above, I scratched my head when you mentioned 'Damselfishes', because as stated above, they're marine coral reef fishes, not freshwater! Perhaps you could point me to a web page illustrating the fishes you have in mind, just in case someone has decided to use the term 'Damselfish' in a wholly inappropriate way to refer to a freshwater fish (you'll discover that the fish trade is positively littered with bad name choices, including bogus scientific names that have no validity whatsoever - until the advent of the L-number system for Loricariid catfishes, quite a few of these were sold under a host of dubious names).

Another species that will provide a nice display against contrasting light and dark foliage is the Head And Tail Light Tetra - Hemigrammus ocellifer. A decent sized shoal of these makes an impressive sight if you plan your decor and lighting carefully, so as to accentuate different aspects of the fish's colour in different parts of the aquarium. Against a dark background, you'll see that these fishes have white rays in the dorsal and anal fins, which become quite conspicuous in fine specimens.

If your tank is tall, I'd go with the following stocking:

8 Silver Tips or 8 Head And Tail Lights
6 Corydoras habrosus catfishes (they're nice and small)

If you can find Ember Tetras, they'r even better for your setup because they stay tiny even as fully grown adults - just 4 cm max. If you find Ember Tetras, you could have 10 of those.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Thank you all for the advice. You are right, its not a Damselfish, but I still dont know what it is. Its definitely freshwater. I went back to that LFS, and asked, and never got an answer, one guy asked another guy and I guess nobody knew. Thats one of the things I have been wondering. On these sites, everyone mentions the 1-inch rule. However walk into any LFS, and none that I have ever been to adhere to that. In that tank they must have had 25 fish. There was like 8 labels on the tank of different fish, and workers in there didnt know which is which.

I think, I got as little carried away, I went to another LFS (which I now regret) and ended up with:
6 neon tetras (3 died already-I wonder why, I went back to that store and they all looked sickly in the tank) I just added 6 more from another store. So now I have 9 Total.
2 x-ray catfish (always hiding, I hardly see them)
1 hatchet silverfish (I want to add 2 more, I love this guy, he always stays at the top.
3 Lemon tetras
3 Serpae tetras
3 Pristella tetras
I realize these should be all kept in a school of at least 6, but the guy in the store said 3 are fine. I will add more lately although it may be too much for my 27-gallon hexagon.

I also ordered an upside-down catfish, which will be in a next week. Is that too many fish????

I realize these should be all kept in a school of at least 6, but the guy in the store said 3 are fine.

The guy in the store was wrong.

Time to introduce you to this little piece of mine]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/threads/30348.1.htm?14#[/link]. Also, a famous (or should that be infamous) piece of polemical writing that has some fans here on this Board ... [link=one of my longer editorial pieces .

Don't worry, these pieces aren't aimed personally at you. One of them was written a LONG time before you joined this happy throng. But the issues raised are relevant, and sadly apply all too often to those poor souls who were led starry-eyed into the bosom of certain big corporations (you know who you are, W**-M*** ...).

Take it from someone who has been there, done that, made the mistakes and experienced some interesting situations along the way.




Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

Yeah, I'd say that is too many fish. The nine neon tetras will be happy if they all manage to survive, but you have too many other schools of fish. Each one of the fish species you listed should be kept in a group. A nice catch-all number is six fish per. Honestly, I think you need to take the catfish (probably Kryptopterus minor) and two or three of the other characin groups back - the tetras or hatchetfish. If you like the hatchet (also a schooling fish), pick up some more of them and you'll be good to go. Basically, I think that either two or three schools of fish and the upside down catfish will be plenty for the aquarium.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."

Nice article Calilasseia, very well written and informative.
I am very new to his so I am sure I will make some mistakes. There is a lot of information out there, and much of it contradicts. The LFS I went to is privately owned and the owner has had that store for 26 years, I am not saying he cant be wrong, but he has to be doing something right. I just dont know anything about
it.

Would the groups survive in 3s??? 3 Lemon tetras
3 Serpae tetras
3 Pristella tetras
I cant take them back.
I now have 8 neon tetras, 2 from the original 6 are still alive.
What is the minimum number of Hatchetfish I can have?
With a hexagon tank, all other fish except for the hatchetfish stay at the bottom. I dont even the see the X-ray glassfish, are there any fish that swim in the middle. I realize that is too many fish already. I am just curious.