Create Harmony and Diversity in Your Aquarium With the Best Community Tank Fish

The best community tank fish represent a variety of aquarium dwellers that prefer to spend a rather social lifespan. Community fish are curiously fond of interactions with different aquarium fish species. However, the essential character trait that marks thriving aquarium communities is the inhabitant’s ability to thrive peacefully in co-existence with their tank neighbors. They adapt well to each member’s lifestyle within the freshwater aquarium fish community without disrupting the natural balance.

In the absence of these abilities adding fish makes it unsuitable for them to survive in a community fish tank. As a beginner fish keeper, these parameters are often lost within the excitement of building your hobby’s foundation. Freshwater community aquariums are relatively low maintenance and easy habitats to maintain. Still, they need some research and guidance, especially if your first aquarium ensemble is also a freshwater community tank!

It is essential to understand the art of matching different peaceful freshwater fish within the community aquarium. Essentially, every single fish species has precise requirements within a habitat, including parameters such as water chemistry or temperature, dwelling levels, and food preferences. That means that all the fish within your community fish compatibility chart should not have widely divergently requirements in their ecosystem. Similarly, several other considerations go into building and maintaining a peaceful freshwater aquarium fish community.

In this article, we make that task a bit easier for you by compiling a list of freshwater community fish. We also mention some cool ideas for fish tanks but first, let us get the basics on community fish tanks and non-aggressive aquarium fish out of the way.

What is a Community Fish Tank?

A community aquarium is quite a wonder for fish keepers. It is thrilling to witness the diversity but also a sense of kinship among species of fish that might have never existed in the same space in a natural setting. There are more chances of your freshwater tropical community fish thriving in an entirely different location before they met each other in the home you built for them. The main goal of starting a freshwater community fish tank is to bring together compatible tropical fish under one roof. The medley of so many best community tank fish co-existing in harmony is a marvel for fish hobbyists. Moreover, the aquarium’s different colors are a visual delight that you won’t stop bragging about. Now there is a fair amount of non-schooling freshwater fish that prefer solitude, and keeping them together means experiencing the aggressive nippy fish issues. Still, there is a considerably larger number of passive fish or non-aggressive community fish, including neon tetras, barbs, zebra danios, and many more that are perfect additions for a community fish tank.

Why Are the Best Community Tank Fish So Desirable?

The best way to annotate a fish species as a community fish is to understand that these finny friends lead a relatively peaceful existence and generally get along with any other community fish tank mates. They are low maintenance making them a perfect starting point for a beginner fish keeper and some of the most interesting aquatic species in terms of their personalities, temperaments, and adaptive capabilities.

Watch this short video guide on the top 5 fish for a medium-sized community aquarium

11  Best Community Tank Fish That You Can Keep

#1 – Danios

If you ask us what the best small fish for an aquarium is? Danios are the perfect answer. Danios, also known as Zebrafish, are a group of freshwater small community fish. There are several reasons why they are also one of the most popular or the go-to fish species for more beginner fish keepers. These tiny community fish are bulletproof. Literally! Hence, danios also top the list when it comes to finding the most hardy community fish on the planet. They are crazy active and continuously move around in the fish tank, meaning if you want your child to get into the fish keeping hobby the same as you, these are the perfect aquatic species to gift them. Besides being an activity bomb, danios are ideal as the first candidate on the list of freshwater community fish because they are incredibly social beings. 

Danios are available in all colors and patterns you can imagine, which can make them fantastic if you hope to add a bit of color and diversity to your community fish tank. Moreover, you can purchase a number of zebra danios in one fish keeping haul because they come so cheap. They are perfectly non-aggressive community fish, and they come at a reasonable price point of around $2 for every danio.

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Highly social and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Danios

In their natural habitat, danios often co-exist with other community fish such as barbs and gourami. Other aquarium community fish such as rummy nose tetras, Dojo loaches and Rosy barbs, angelfish, guppies, mollies, rasboras, catfish, plecos, and platies make good candidates for beginning a freshwater aquarium fish community.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Danios are highly active and curious, moving around within the entirety of the community fish tank.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Fish food flakes
• Algae flakes
• Daphnia
• Bloodworms

Life Expectancy – 3 to 5.5 years

Tank Size Preference – 10 Gallons

Care Needed – Low maintenance, small community fish.

#2 – Swordtails

Swordtails are another popular candidate in our list of best community tank fish. They are known as one of the most peaceful and non-aggressive community fish, but the highlight of keeping swordtails is entirely different. These small community fish species are relatively similar to platyfish or molly fish in terms of appearance. However, a single unique feature makes them easy to tell apart from other similar looking non-aggressive aquarium fish- the sword on their tails. Well, only the male fish have swords on their tails, but the females are equally impressive-looking and peaceful in terms of temperament- don’t take the ladies lightly!

Swordtails are highly active and colorful, making them a perfect addition to your new aquarium community. Due to their incredibly friendly personalities, there will never be a static moment in your community fish tank. The only disparity here is that swordtails are avid breeders. The only way to prevent a tank concentrated with these small community fish is to keep only the males or the females. Since swordtails are a very hardy community fish, they can be paired with several different freshwater non-aggressive fish and can be kept in various aquarium ecosystems. An important fact to note here is that these tiny community fish prefer to live in packs, but they are a non-schooling freshwater fish species.

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Highly social and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Swordtails

Swordtails, in general, enjoy the company and live a rather social life. These best small community fish thrive well when kept with other alike passive fish, including platies, mollies, angelfish, and cory catfish. It is important to note that typically male swordtails can be aggressive towards males of other species. Hence, if you fail to keep a larger tank and give them space, you might need to add your male swordtails to the fin nipping fish list.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Swordtail fish are relatively active community fish, but you will see them dwelling in the top and middle levels of the community aquarium most of the time.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Fish food flakes
• Algae flakes
• Daphnia
• Bloodworms
• Brine shrimp

Life Expectancy – 5 years

Tank Size Preference – 29 Gallons

Care Needed – Low maintenance, small community fish.

#3 – Bristle nose Plecos

Bristle nose pleco fish stand at the heart of the best community fish tank ideas. Unlike most pleco fish species, bristle nose is a relatively small community fish growing up to a tiny size of 4 to 5 inches, one of the primary reasons behind their hype as the best community tank fishes. In fact, when you understand the unique nature and fantastic personality of this community fish species, it is easy to love them. First, bristle nose plecos have a cool appearance, mimicking the ancient feel of the long-gone dinosaurs.

These finny friends are one of the friendliest fish species on the planet, making them perfect additions as peaceful or non-aggressive community fish to your new aquarium. Most expert fish keepers will agree with the sentiment that without a bristle nose pleco, your community fish tank will be rather incomplete! Moreover, if you want a peaceful community fish and want to make sure that your aquarium substrate remains squeaky clean, bristle nose plecos are the best answer for your personal aquatic cleaning crew. Due to their small size, these community fish do well in small community fish tanks, but a size too small like a 3-gallon tank is just cruel. No fish deserves a home that chibi! These finny friends are vibrant and can be found in almost any color imaginable, making them an interesting community fish to keep.

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Less to moderately social and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Bristle nose plecos

Bristle nose plecos are truly versatile fish because they can be paired with any peaceful freshwater aquarium fish. The fact that bristle nose plecos have a bony shell over their bodies that resists any injury, even from nippy fish, will make you more inclined to get them. Besides being a hardy community fish, bristle nose plecos are very humble; but you might not see them socializing too much. But hey, fish who mind their own business is a treasure to keep! You can easily pair this excellent community fish with neon tetras, platies, and guppies. Yes, bristle nose plecos have protection to prevent injury from all members within the fin nipping fish list. Still, it is best to keep them away from aggressive fishes such as bettas and African cichlids to avoid stress or other health-related issues.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Bristle nose plecos are one of those community fish types that will probably never venture to the mid or top levels of the freshwater community tanks. These interesting community fish prefer to remain at the bottom level.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Preferably herbivorous

• Sinking fish food flakes
• Live algae
• Algae Wafers
• Blanches vegetables including carrots, zucchini, peas, and cucumbers
• Bloodworms

Life Expectancy – 5 years

Tank Size Preference – 25 Gallons

Care Needed – Low maintenance, small community fish.

#4 – Barbs

When you think of barbs, you think of an unthinkable platter of sub-varieties to choose from between patterns, colors, size, and personalities. Barbs are a group of small community fish known for their activities within the fish tank as well as for their charming personalities. These community fish are mostly infamous for freshwater community tanks because they are structured to handle the other overexcited fish species rather well. Now it is important to remember that barbs are not non-schooling freshwater fish, meaning they do better when kept in a group of at least four to five members.

It is also important to note that certain barb fish species do not qualify to be considered the best community tank fish. Species such as tiger barbs show behaviors that make them notorious enough to put them into the fin nipping fish list. However, other species such as Denison barbs do wonderfully well as freshwater aquarium community fish. Similar species are well known to remain passive in the community fish tank.

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Highly social and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Barbs

Some fish keepers claim that barbs such as the tiger barbs can cause issues not seen in a properly passive fish. But barbs are a large group of fishes of tons of variety, color, patterns, and size. The key to building a successful freshwater community fish tank is to do a bit of research on fishes that are compatible with the other already existing peaceful freshwater aquarium fish in the habitat. Barbs community fish species such as plecos, platies, red tail shark, cory catfish, mollies, swordtails, and tetra fish form the perfect members to build a harmonious existence within your small community fish tank.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium– Most of the best freshwater community fish belonging to the barb family are often seen lurking in the fish tank’s top and middle levels. As we mentioned before, barbs are crazy active and hardy community fish. Once they are familiar with their new home, they will be exploring and venturing all around in the community fish tank.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Fish food flakes
• Bloodworms
• Live brine shrimp
• Shrimp pellets

Life Expectancy – 5 years

Tank Size Preference – 25 Gallons for smaller barbs including cherry and gold barbs and 30 to 50-gallon tanks for larger barbs including Denison barbs, rosy and ruby barbs.

Care Needed – Intermediate maintenance small community fish.

#5 – Corydoras

If you are a newbie to fish keeping, maybe a catfish would share more familiarity with a random guy who makes a fishy profile page to talk to you, and when you meet in person, it’s not even a guy; it’s a goat! Kidding. Not really. Well, for experts who are reasonably comfortable with their hobby, Corydoras or a cory catfish is a marvelous wonder as one of the best community tank fish.

While you might believe that being a bottom feeder, these unique community fish might stay rather inactive, Corydoras, are highly active. They are frequently on the lookout for scavenging places and items at the bottom of the community aquarium. You might see them in one place at one time, and the next, they are off somewhere else for food hunting. Hence, in terms of temperament, the cory catfish can easily be considered as passive fish, but that is definitely not the case when it comes to activity in the habitat. There are multiple reasons why Corydoras are good community fish; they are always excellent at keeping the aquarium substrate clean. Moreover, contrary to the common opinion, aquarium cory catfish are considerably tiny, meaning you will not be worried about the care and maintenance that these small community fish require. 

Another essential pointer to note here is that some Corydoras prefer to live in groups of 4 or 5. Hence, it is vital to do a bit of research on the type of cory catfish you are hoping to keep in the community fish tank. If you keep one, at least keep them in a pair, a single Corydora might get very lonely. Now, that’s just sad to even think about.

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Highly adaptable and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Corydoras

Cory catfish are very accepting of other passive fish or peaceful community aquarium fish. If you don’t want to keep too many non-schooling freshwater fish in the tank, Corydoras blend well with schooling varieties such as neon tetras, guppies, and more. You can also pair this communal fish with somewhat controversial species such as dwarf cichlids. One of the reasons why corys pair so well with aggressive nippy fish like cichlids is their tiny size. Since these small community fish do not alarm the cichlids of the imminent presence of any predators around, they soon make friends with each other.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Corydoras are permanently bottom-dwelling community fish. They spend all their lifespan at the bottom of the community aquarium, and it is highly unlikely that they will venture upwards.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Fish food flakes
• Sinking fish food pellets
• Algae flakes and granules
• Shrimp pellets

Life Expectancy – 5 to 27 years

Tank Size Preference – 20 Gallons 

Care Needed – Extremely easy maintenance small community fish.

#6 – Rasboras

Rasboras are one of those fishes that will pop up everywhere and anywhere when you search for community fish tank ideas, and for a good reason. These extremely small community fish go well with almost any other peaceful community fish. Now, if you are looking for non-schooling freshwater fish, then perhaps rasboras aren’t the right choice for you. However, if you want to keep the schooling community fish, these tiny finny friends are the perfect answer. Rasboras have are extremely passive fish with lovely temperaments. They are available in several colors and patterns, making them perfect if you want a communal fish to add more color and quirk to your community aquarium.

Rasboras are also the best small fish for an aquarium, and only some varieties tend to grow up to 4 inches while most typically don’t get bigger than 2 inches. It is important to remember that rasboras are substrate egg scattering community fish. Meaning you need to maintain a relatively thick foliage of plants and aquarium substrate where these tiny fish can hide their eggs, or else no matter how peaceful your other good community fish are, they will eat those eggs. Out of so many varieties, the harlequin rasboras are the favorites of all fish keepers. Not only are they a bunch of hardy community fish, but they are simply gorgeous to look at. 

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Highly adaptable and peaceful community fish with other species of the same size and temperament.

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Rasboras

Due to their small size, it is essential to consider what other community fishes you add to the fish tank. Bigger fish species might find small community fish like the rasboras rather delectable. Keeping rasboras with the same size species is the most foolproof method of building a harmonious freshwater aquarium fish community. Fishes including danios, guppies, barbs, platies, chocolate gourami, tetras, kuhli loach, and Corydoras are perfectly compatible tropical fish for our rasboras.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Rasboras typically prefer to remain in the top of the middle zones of the community fish tank.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous (micro predators)

• Small fish food flakes
• Fish food tropical granules
• Shrimp pellets
• Daphnia
• Larvae of insects

Life Expectancy – 5 to 8 years

Tank Size Preference – 10 Gallons 

Care Needed – Easy maintenance small community fish.

#7 – Tetras

If you are looking for foolproof and simply good tropical fish combinations, tetras are one of those fish species that take the default spot on the list of best fish for a community tank. Tetras are also a big staple in the fish keeping community, with the fish being the very first finny friend’s beginner fish keepers meet. Much like most community fish on our list, tetras offer you a delightful number of choices in terms of colors, patterns, and even sizes. Now, if you have only kept non-schooling freshwater fish until now, you are missing out on the joy of caring for a tetra fish. Despite being a small community fish, tetras have lovely personalities, which is even more profound and wonderful to watch when they are grouped into schools.

Since the family of these tiny but best small fish for aquariums is colossally huge, choosing the right varieties for your fish tank can be quite a task. If you already have other aquarium community fish, select the tetras variety that is more suitable for them. Some of our favorites when it comes to tetra fish include cardinal tetras, neon tetras, bloodfin tetras, and last but the most amusing, the rummy nose tetras. There is so much choice that you can start several fish tanks with different varieties of these best community tank fish, and each unit will still look strikingly different. Most tetras are extremely easy to keep and maintain, making for a good community fish for beginner fish keepers. 

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart –Hardy community fish and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Tetras

Instead of going for large peaceful community fish for tetras, the best take is to find smaller companions considering how tiny these finny friends are. Pairing your tetras with small community fish can prevent the risk of nippy fish behavior from the larger counterparts and reduces stress. Some of the best communal fish to pair with your tetras would include friendly tropical fish such as harlequin rasboras, zebra danios, hatchet fish, guppies, dwarf gourami, zebra loach, Corydoras, clown pleco, and bristle nose pleco. 

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Tetras are often seen hanging around in the top or the middle zones of the freshwater community aquarium.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Small fish food flakes
• Bloodworms
• Daphnia
• Larvae of insects

Life Expectancy – 8 years

Tank Size Preference – 10 Gallons 

Care Needed – Easy maintenance small community fish.

#8 – Guppy fish

Among all other types of community fish, guppies stand at the echelon of popularity among fish keepers. They are perhaps also the most peaceful and passive fish in this list of freshwater community fish. Well, maybe the Corydoras take the crown, but guppies come immediately next. Despite being a highly active species, guppies will never cause any problems with the other inhabitants in the community aquarium. There are several reasons why guppies are such a staple in the hobby. First, there is an incredibly fantastic amount of variety when it comes to this small community fish with colors and patterns that will absolutely bolster your set up’s aesthetics. 

Although most guppies prefer to remain in groups, wiggling their colorful tail fins to impress fellow females, these interesting community fish are also non-schooling freshwater fish. You will rarely see them forming schools, which might only happen when the guppies are stressed or expect imminent danger. Guppies are super active, and you will find them swimming around in the freshwater community fish tank all day round. Guppies are perhaps the go-to-choice when it comes to easy fish tank ideas as they are incredibly low maintenance and exceptionally hardy community fish. If you were just getting into the hobby, you don’t need to gather fancy lights or equipment to keep your guppies happy and active. These humble fish thrive well in a simple and stable ecosystem. Moreover, since guppies are live-bearing fish, if you hope to breed some more finny friends to expand your family, it is easy to do that with these small community fish.

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart –Hardy community fish and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Guppies

Interestingly enough, the best types of community fish to keep your guppies company is well-more guppies. Most fish keepers love keeping multiple varieties of guppies in an exclusive community aquarium due to the colossally large amount of colors and patterns that these tiny finnies exhibit. If you are keeping both male and female guppies, it is best to use the ratio 2:1 for males and females, respectively. Other best community tank fish that goes well with the humble guppies include platies, mollies, gourami, Corydoras, swordtails, and tetras. 

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Like much other communal fish, guppies spend most of their lifespan venturing in the community fish tanks’ top and middle portions.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Small fish food flakes
• Bloodworms
• Brine shrimp or frozen shrimp
• Larvae of insects

Life Expectancy – 8 years

Tank Size Preference – 5 to 10 Gallons 

Care Needed – Easy maintenance small community fish.

#9 – Angelfish

You might be surprised to see angelfish here on the list of best community tank fish, but once you understand the mystery behind these quite interesting aquarium fish, you will be glad to have them here. Most novice fish keepers often get nervous with the idea of keeping angelfish in their community aquarium since they do belong to the cichlid family. Cichlids are not the most peaceful aquarium fish in the hobby, but the consensus about angelfish is unfair because these are lovely additions as good community fish in your set up. Now, you might have noticed that the angelfish is a slightly large peaceful aquarium fish compared to the others on our list. That might be another reason that will hinder you from getting them in the tank. It is essential to understand that these finny friends are passive fish and only show signs of irritation or aggression when the males and females pair off to breed. 

These creatures are undoubtedly some of the most elegant and majestic types of community fish in the hobby with their slow movements and beautiful long fins. The best approach in our box of community fish tank ideas is to keep a group of angelfish to make the aquarium subject and surround them with other small community fish. You need to pay special attention to the types of community fish tank mates you keep as for them, long fins on the angelfish are often mistaken as food. 

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart –Interesting and peaceful community fish with other fishes of the same size and temperament.

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Angelfish

With particular types of community fish, including the angelfish, you have to worry about both scenarios – them bullying their tank neighbors and also the possibility of them getting bullied by other tank mates. Keeping angelfish with fishes such as dwarf gourami, discus, plecos, and Corydoras is a good take on maintaining a harmonious and large peaceful freshwater aquarium fish tank.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Angelfish prefer to spend their time venturing about in the freshwater community aquarium’s middle zones.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Small fish food flakes
• Tubifex Worms
• Dried glass worms
• krill
• Brine shrimp or frozen shrimp
• Larvae of insects

Life Expectancy – 10 years

Tank Size Preference– 29 to 55 Gallons 

Care Needed – Relatively large and non-aggressive community fish

#10 – Mollies

During your fish keeping hobby, mollies might be the first among so many other types of community fish that you will be introduced to. Mollies score a well-deserved place in the best community fish list due to several different reasons. These tiny finny friends are not only the most hardy community fish that will keep you company for a long time, but they also bolster the total aesthetics of your setup into a colorful, playful, but elegant freshwater community fish tank. Molly fish are so well known for their wonderfully calm temperaments or for being peaceful aquarium fish.

Despite the passive fish nature, mollies are quite active in the fish tank, displaying exciting personalities. In short, these tiny friends are the best aqua charmers you will ever come across. Another essential trait of mollies is that they belong to the group of live-bearing fishes. It is always amazing to see little baby mollies swimming around. Adorable, isn’t it? Due to the easy breeding process, it is relatively easy for you to care for the newborns in the tank. They are small but extraordinarily strong and independent. 

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Extremely friendly communal fish and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Mollies

Mollies can be paired with almost any small fish variety, and that is the beauty of their personalities to a fish keeper. The only considerations to need to ensure is pairing them with aggressive or large peaceful freshwater aquarium fish. They are active but known to mind their own business. Cherry barbs, danios, rasboras, tetras, dwarf gourami, loaches, and corydoras make perfect companions for mollies in a community fish tank.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Mollies follow along with most types of community fish and spend their lifespan in the top or mid-levels of the community aquarium.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Small fish food flakes
• Algae
• Vegetables including spinach, zucchini, and lettuce
• Bloodworms
• Brine shrimp or frozen shrimp

Life Expectancy – 5 years

Tank Size Preference – 10 Gallons 

Care Needed –Small and non-aggressive community fish

#11 – Platies

Platies share extraordinary similarity to the molly fish, and much like their counterparts, are one of the ideal community fish species thinkable. They are available in a large variety of colors and patterns, adding life to your freshwater fish communities. They are a staple in the hobby for both beginner and expert fish keepers. These finny friends are non-schooling freshwater fish but do prefer spending their time with other members of a group. They are considered active and love having fish hiding places in between plants and leaves to play around. Much like the mollies, platies too are live-bearing fish, which makes them even easier to maintain. 

These community fish are not aggressive to other inhabitants within the tank, but if you get the male and female ratio wrong, that causes worry. You might experience issues with the male platies dominating the females, which can cause them stress. With minimal care, you quickly breed a lot of platy fry swimming around in the fish tank in no time. Now, if your goal is platy breeding, you are pretty much set and ready.

Level in The Community Fish Compatibility Chart – Extremely friendly small communal fish and peaceful community fish

Best Community Fish Tank Mates for Platies

Platies go along with any other similar sized small community fish without causing any issues in the tank. Now while you might not see any nippy fish behaviors with the platies, it is best to avoid pairing them with larger fish. Considering that chibi size, it is not hard for the community giants to think of them as dessert. Tetras, gourami, Corydoras, barbs, and characins are some of the other peaceful community fish that you can introduce in a tank filled with platies.

Dwelling Levels in The Community Aquarium – Platies are considerably active non-aggressive community fish. Still, they keep themselves to the middle zones of the community tank for most of the time.

Community Fish Feeding Preferences – Omnivorous

• Small fish food flakes
• Algae (spirulina)
• Vegetables including spinach, cucumber, and squash
• Bloodworms
• Brine shrimp or frozen shrimp

Life Expectancy –3 to 5 years

Tank Size Preference – 10 Gallons 

Care Needed – Small and non-aggressive community fish

Clear up some basic on starting a new freshwater community fish tank

Solving the Dilemma of The Community Fish Compatibility Chart

·         Right Size Equals to The Most Peaceful Freshwater Aquarium Fish Tank

The size of your aquarium fish is always a factor in ensuring harmony with aquarium communities. A traditional parameter that most fish keepers stick by says that if one fish can easily fit into the mouth of another fish, it is probably most likely going to end up there. All fishes, including the community fish, are opportunistic creatures, making them even bigger gluttons. If a large fish in your freshwater community fish tank feels slightly hungry and their mind locks onto the tiny neighbors, there is no telling if you will see your small community fish next time or ever again. This begs the consideration of always considering the size of the prospective freshwater community fish you get. Pair fishes with similar-sized fishes; this way, you are avoiding any scenarios of stress or one fish gobbling up other roommates.

·         Aquarium Size Matters for A Community Fish Tank

It is inevitable for fights and stressful scenarios to happen when you live in a room full of people, where there is zero existence of personal space. Similarly, even the best community tank fish might feel stressed if they don’t have enough room to breathe or well swim around and do their personal finny little things. A crowded community fish tank attracts disaster in more than one way you can imagine leading to quarrels among the otherwise passive fish. A good take on keeping a calm and cool freshwater community fish is to stock the aquarium one inch of the size of an adult community fish per gallon of the tank’s total capacity. It is essential to understand that the idea is simple, but specific considerations make it completely foolproof. For instance, a 29-gallon community aquarium is not necessarily a good house for 29 small or large peaceful aquarium fish. You must take in the fact that your finny friends will grow, not to mention the aquarium substrate, plants, and other fish tank equipment also take up some space. You have to be even more careful if you are keeping certain types of community fish that are relatively more territorial or boisterous than the others.

·         Breeding Makes Even the Friendliest Tropical Fish Moody

All parents are protective of their babies, and our little finny friends are no different. Even the best community tank fish will try to claim certain regions of the tank during the breeding phase, pushing other neighbors to reduce their personal grounds. When that happens, expert fish keepers rely on their observations of the parent community fishes, and if things seem a bit tense, the best way is to move the parents into a separate breeding tank.

Best Community Tank Fish- FAQs

What is the best group of community fish for a 10-gallon tank? Pearl danios, dwarf barbs, neon tetras, guppies, betta fish, platies, and mollies are the best community tank fish you can introduce in the small aquarium. Stocking your 10-gallon tank with peaceful freshwater aquarium fish needs to be done after a good amount of research. Considering the space is small, and territorial fights are not an impossible scenario. 

What is the best temperature for a tropical community fish tank? Temperature fluctuations affect the metabolism as well as the life expectancy of the tropical community fish. A temperature range of 75 to 80 degrees Fahrenheit is considered the ideal range for tropical community fishes. With a tropical fish community tank, you will inevitably be doing a bit more research. Investigate the ideal temperature ranges for all the compatible tropical fish you hope to keep. Doing that will help you match those with similar requirements and avoid those candidates with widely different temperature requirements.

What are the best community fish to keep with ghost catfish? Ghostfish are fantastically eye-catching with their skeleton-like bodies. They are schooling fish, meaning their unique personalities pop out even more, when they hang around with other friends. The best community fish tank mates for an interesting creature such as the ghost fish are surprisingly simple freshwater aquarium fish, including the mollies, pearl danios, and swordtails that make perfect companions for your ghost catfish.

What is the best way to introduce new fish to a community tank? The protocol for adding a new fish to your community fish tank is like any other aquarium set up. The first step is to take the sealed bag in which you got the communal fish from the store and let the bag float on the freshwater community aquarium’s surface. Once the bag is floating on the top for at least ten minutes, open it up, and with a small cup, add a bit of water from the aquarium to the bag. Seal the bag once again and let it stay there floating for another 10 minutes. Repeat the second step until your bag is full of aquarium water. Once that is done, use a fish net to transfer the new community fish into the tank. It is essential to avoid adding the water from the fish bag into the community fish tank. 

Investigate Your Prospective Community Fish Before You Invest in One

A freshwater community aquarium is a relatively simple set up to care for and maintain. However, it does ask for prior investigation on the types of community fish you hope to keep. Determining their personalities, water parameters, size, feeding requirements, preferred zones in the community fish tank, etc., will help you decode the dilemma of what freshwater fish can live together. Most peaceful aquarium fish are also hardy community fish. Still, it is essential to look at the community fish compatibility chart before walking into the pet store and getting a new neighbor for your finny friends.

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