Best small fish

Im in the process now of decorating and cycling my new tank and so i was wondering whats the best small fish that i can succesfully keep in a school inside a ten gallon tank

I would think a small school of neon tetras would be good but im setting them up with my other freshwater tank that will be decorated like a beautiful saltwater tank (im gonna have blue gravel and lots of differnt shapes and colors of fake corals) so whats another good small fish, maybe platies, guppies,zebra danios,white clouds.......

Whats your opinion ?

If you are going to have blue gravel those neons will blend in VERY well. I have blue gravel and I have a hard time finding that little neon. You may want to consider contrasting colors just so they are more visible. :D Just my :twocents:

mollies and platys aren't the hardiest of fish- well at least i never had ANY luck with them. Neons like their pH really low- like 6.0-6.5, which can be difficult to maintain at times. Danios are pretty cool and cheap. Rummynose tetras are cool looking, as well as halequins. There's lemon, emperor, and bloodfins tetras, dwarf gouramies..... oh man so many possibilities!


I was never a person to get 10 of the same kind of fish... i got wierd stuff like big snails, shrimp, and different species of tetras ect to make it different. It's funny how 10 totally different looking tetras will school together anyways ;)

I agree with Christie.. bright, fake background stuff does a great job of taking away the natural beauty of the fish.

Have you ever seen a nature aquarium, Brandon? They are awesome. Really makes the neons (or better yet cardinal tetras) stand out.

Take a look at some of the pictures if you like http://www.mynatureaquariums.com/

Wow April, those are fabulous! I always enjoyed a tank that looked natural myself. I really like the driftwood and the big rocks- very unique! I'm always scared im going to put death rocks in my tank.

I can't wait until I have a home of my own one day... there will be snakes, fishtanks, bettas, and datsuns everywhere!
Oh yeah, and there might be room for the humans...

Yeah i have a natural tank, thats the one im cycling right now and adding fish too.

But i want a freshwater that looks like salt water regaurdless of whats in it or if it really stands out or not, thats not all the important to me, i just need some kind of life in there becuase a beautiful tank with no fish is well......pointless, so maybe ill just have neon tetras in both !

i have a zoo-med ocean sun bulb on a freshwater tank...definitely brightens things up, but doesn't 'glow' like saltwater tanks do.