What Are the Most Peaceful Community Fish for a Home Aquarium?

-- By Carol

A community aquarium can only thrive well with peaceful fish. Intolerant, assertive, and territorial fish species can quickly wreak havoc in a community tank.

Some can even be downright dangerous. If you’re setting up a diverse tank, you need to look for peaceful, schooling freshwater fish.

And, you’re in the right place! Here’s a list of some of the most peace-loving community fish for your home aquarium.

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What Are the Most Peaceful Community Fish for a Home Aquarium?

The most peaceful community fish for a home aquarium include Marbled Hatchetfish, Cory Catfish, and a few Tetra varieties.

These are the most popular community fish that don’t bother their neighbors. Peaceful species usually like traveling in schools or move as little as possible.

Keeping a peaceful fish community is infinitely easier than separately petting aggressive species. They are easy to care for and bring a diverse array of colors to the tank.

However, even when these fish are peaceful, they still need to be kept under optimal tank conditions.

Let’s have a look at what each of these peaceful fish needs to survive well!

Marbled Hatchetfish

Marbled Hatchetfish are shy swimmers. They are so peaceful and unbothered that they probably won’t hurt a fly. They have a globular-shaped lower body, with spotted patterns and scales.

They spend most of their life at the water surface and doesn’t disturb their tank mates.

They might just catch floating insects or leaves for snacks while remaining at the surface. They are also timid by nature. However, this makes it extremely important to choose peace-loving tank mates. Adding Tiger barbs to the tank will stress out Marbled Hatchetfish.

The best way to keep them happy is by surrounding them with their own species. As a schooling fish, introduce them in groups of 5 or more. This way, they display much more interesting antics in the aquarium and feel secure.

Marbled hatchetfish love acidic, soft water. Since they inhabit the top water layer, keep the current slow, and gentle. A fast current can disrupt their peace.

Your aquarium should ideally be 20 gallons or more if you’re planning to pet these species. They’re known for making big out-of-water leaps so make sure the tank has a lid.

In fact, they’re extremely notorious jumpers that leap pretty far out of the tank. Since they’re wild-caught, keep them in a quarantine tank before introducing them to the aquarium.

Maintain a pH between 5.5 and 7 and keep the temperature at 75-80 degrees F.

Hatchetfish are egg-layers, so you will have to remove the adult fish once they drop the eggs. Feed them live worms and dried-freeze foods and maintain low pH using peat moss. They also have sensitive immune systems, so it’s best to slowly acclimatize them to the tank.

Avoid introducing them to a newly cycled aquarium. With the right tank conditions and peaceful mates, Marbled hatchet fish are super easy to care for.

Cory Catfish

Catfish are generally considered a peaceful community. Cory Catfish are small and pale-colored with transparent fins and tails.

They have sturdy bodies, which protect them from overly aggressive tank mates. However, cory catfish on its own seldom disturbs its tank mates.

If you’re a beginner, look for tiny corydoras that adapt well to smaller tanks. As a tropical fish, they require warmer water, between 70 and 78 degrees F.

Maintain good filtration and regularly check the tank for nitrate levels as toxin buildup can cause stress. They can also suffer from barbell infections so while they are easy to take care of, keep the tank super-clean.

Maintain a neutral pH of 7-7.8 and add soft sediments to the tank. They may have tough bodies; however, sharp gravel can lead to cuts. Therefore, keep the water current slow and add soft sediments like sand and rounded gravel.

Cories pair well with swordtails and guppies that are extremely peaceful fish. They also live well with other types of catfish, snails, and shrimp. If you plan to keep larger shoals, the ideal tank size is 15 gallons or more.

Cories don’t need high oxygen levels to survive. Therefore, avoid heavy plants as they can spike up oxygen and break the water flow.

Decorate the aquarium with amazon swords, penny warts, crypts, and dwarf hair grass. They also love snacks like algae wafers and shrimp pellets, so add these to their diet. All in all, Cory Catfish is a great, peaceful candidate for a community tank.

Black Skirt Tetras

Tetras are hardy, tranquil species that rarely get aggressive. They’re perfect for a new tank as they have strong immune systems. Black Skirt Tetras have beautiful fins and shimmering bodies. In a dark tank, they look absolutely stunning.

They can tolerate different water conditions from 5-10 dGH. As an undemanding species, introduce them in schools of 5 or more.

Don’t mix Bettas or Angelfish with them as they might be aggressive around them. Black skirt tetras like to stay in the top and middle levels of the tank.

Keep them in an aquarium of 20 gallons or more as they’re active swimmers. Black skirt tetras are also not that picky with food.

As long you’re feeding them vitamin-enriched fish food, they will live happily. They do well with similar-sized small tank mates like catfish and gouramis. All in all, Black skirt tetras are delightful and pleasant picks for a community tank!

Glowlight Tetra

Another peaceful find is the Glowlight Tetra. Glowing Tetras are small, colorful, and look breathtaking in a heavily planted tank. They are also extremely adaptive to changing water conditions.

Since they’re schooling fish, always introduce them in groups of 10 or more. Their size may be too small for large tank mates.

Even when they become adults, they only reach up to an inch and a half in length. Therefore, avoid large cichlids and barbs as they might hunt the small tetra. Unlike neo tetras, these species prefer very acidic blackwater.

Choose a dark substrate and introduce live plants to absorb excess light. Keep in mind that the Glowlight Tetra won’t show its colors in bright lighting. Keep the water temperature at 74-82 Degree F at a pH of 5.8-7.5. Their ideal tank mates are cory catfish, tetras, and barbs.

Feed them live foods frequently and dried foods occasionally. Showing off beautiful iridescent red colors, Glowlight Tetra are real keepers for community tanks!

Sparkling Gouramis

Gouramis live well with guppies, honey gourami, and cory catfish as well. They’re extremely fascinating to look at as their bodies have shimmery patterns. The fish don’t grow more than 1.7 inches, which makes it a nano fish in the tank.

Perfect for a smaller aquarium, Sparkling gouramis live well in 10-gallon tanks. Always introduce them in pairs or a small harem as they feel confident and happier.

Make sure to cover your tank properly as they’re big jumpers. Keep the tank heavily planted as they need high levels of oxygen and natural habitat.

Some good accessories are upside-down terracotta pots, coconut caves, and long-rooted floating plants. Gouramis tend to scare off easily, so they’ll love any and every hiding place.

Sparkling gouramis are labyrinth fish. This means they need to stay on the water’s surface to breathe air.

For this reason, keep the water currents low, so they can swim up easily. They hate being swept away as their natural habitat is extremely peaceful.

Sparkling gouramis are always the last to get the food. Therefore, pair them only with smaller, peaceful tank mates.

Keep them with smaller fish like kuhli loaches and mosquito rasboras. Avoid any large fish as it can stress them out quickly.

Maintain water temperatures at 77-83 Degrees C and make sure the pH level of the water is 6-7.5.

Mollies

Mollies are popular livebearers for a home aquarium. They have dark-colored bodies with copper shimmer.

They live well with most fish species and are adaptive to different water conditions. Mollies have unique personalities and display interesting behavior in schools.

They’re beautiful, easy to care for, and can live well up to 5 years. If you’re looking for a long-lasting, stable pet, then this is it.

Black mollies are slightly larger than platies and guppies. They can reach up to a size of 4.5 inches.

This means that the fish species needs to be housed in a longer aquarium. The ideal tank size is around 20-30 gallons for decent swimming space.

Keep the water temperature at 72-78 Degrees F and maintain a pH level of 6.7-8.5. Since they’re mid-level swimmers, add taller plants like Alubius nana for good hiding spots.

Keep the tank well-heated with moderate lighting as Mollies are tropical fish. Their ideal tank fish are Corydoras catfish, Rosy barbs, Platies, Dwarf Gourami, and Harlequin Rasboras. Avoid large, aggressive tank mates like Angelfish and Tiger barbs as their presence can cause severe stress.

They also prefer eating from the edge of the aquarium.

All the above-listed fish species are extremely calm and peaceful to pets. As long as your tank is well-maintained, these species will last you for a long time!

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