Schooling Fish for Sale UK

Schooling fish need numbers: at least eight of one species, ideally ten to fifteen, in a cycled tank of 60 litres or more. Most species here cost about £2-£5 each — cardinal and neon tetras, harlequin rasboras, rummy-nose tetras and zebra danios for a heated community tank; chili rasboras, ember tetras and celestial pearl danios for a nano; white cloud minnows for an unheated tank.

This page brings together the shoaling and schooling species that move as one — the fish that give a community tank its sense of life and motion. Everything listed is live stock held in our own system, dispatched with a licensed live-animal courier under our live arrival guarantee.

Tetras, rasboras, danios, barbs and small rainbowfish are all shoaling fish that need numbers to feel safe and show their colour. A tight school of a dozen fish is one of the most beautiful sights in the hobby — and impossible to achieve with just a handful. The best schooling fish for a UK community aquarium, with the group size each needs: cardinal and neon tetras (8+), ember tetras (10+), harlequin rasboras (8+), chili and phoenix rasboras (10+ in a nano), rummy-nose tetras (8+, the tightest schoolers of all), zebra and celestial pearl danios (8+), cherry barbs (6+), white cloud mountain minnows (8+, unheated tanks), corydoras catfish (6+ of one species on the bottom), and for larger tanks congo tetras, denison barbs and boesemani rainbowfish (6 to 8+).

Read the species care guides linked below before ordering. The one rule that unites this whole page: buy in groups. Shoaling fish kept in twos and threes hide, fade and can turn nippy; kept in proper numbers they relax and shine.