hi all again,

It's been a while since the terrible days I've had with my old fish.
Bought an old dirty aquarium and need to change the water
Now they found their home, I'm happier.

Currently I have 2 rainbow and 5 painted glass tetra (PGT) fish with one snail in my 35 gallon tank. I am thinking of expanding the population in the tank either by adding more PGTs or new kinds of fish and any suggestions are more than welcome!

Though I love the current ones, I also want fish that swims close to the surface, or at least around the middle. And, the new fish should not eat my plants either. That's also one important thing to consider. Thanks for all suggestions in advance ;)

You need bottom feeders. Any of the Corys would do fine. Corys are very social so try and get at least 5. Two good surface feeders are Hatchetfish and Leaf Splashers. Battas also tend to stay nears the surface and the females don't fight. Congo tetras stay near the surface and are in constant movement.

I'm glad things have worked out. Well done!

Tetras are schooling fish. Schooling fish should generally be kept in groups of 6+. 5 is probably okay but it would be best to build up your school of rainbow tetras.

Also what do your painted glass tetras look like? Is it a natural variety of tetra or are they fish that has been injected with dye?

Firstly... You don't NEED bottom feeders. They're nice to have but you don't NEED them. 5 Corys would nice though, I suggest the Panda Cory since they stay smaller than most and they're popular.

You should get Dwarf Gouramis or Honey/Honey-Flame Gouramis. These guys explore everywhere but they're labyrinth fish like Bettas so they stay on top too. You should only get two females... The males tend to be a little aggressive.

Also female bettas DO fight... in fact some females are even more aggressive than some male bettas. Keeping a single female betta in a community tank is like keeping a male betta in a community tank, you just need to know it's personality. Some bettas go postal on anything even if it doesn't look like another betta. As for keeping multiple female bettas you need to keep them in a group of 7 or more because the alpha female spreads aggression to the rest of the females instead of just bashing one other female and killing her. This is called a sorority. To keep a sorority you HAVE to keep your water pristine, because some of the fish may have small wounds that will become worse if you don't have good water parameters. I don't suggest keeping female bettas because you need to have so many, with the other fish and with perfect water params.. it will be tough to keep up with the tank.

Sorry for the long post. But if you add 5 Corys, and 2 Dwarf Gouramis, you'll have a very nice community tank without problems.

Edit: I agree with Snail you should make the rainbow tetra school bigger than 2... unless they school with the painted glass tetras?

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Angelfish do well with my tetras. They swim at all levels and even interact with me when I pass by their tank. When they laid eggs though they started getting pretty aggressive. I have never kept Painted Glass tetras but if they are fin nippers don't add the angelfish.

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75 gallon:
8 Black skirt tetras
5 Red minor Tetras
5 neon tetras
2 Angelfish
1 8" Hi Fin Spotted Pleco
6 cory cats (emerald, spotted, albino)
3 amazon puffers

2.5 gallon:
Male Betta!

150 gallon saltwater:
In the works!