Fish and other animals add movement to an aquarium while cleaning fish that have a taste for algae can help keep the aquarium clean. For planted, avoid herbivorous fish or aggressive diggers, as it is important to be aware when adjusting the CO2 injection, as excessive levels can asphyxiate the fish. Bearing this in mind, the choice of fish is a matter of personal choice. From an aquascaping point of view, schools of fish are a good complement to aquascapes.

Best Schooling Fish:

• Drunk nose tetras
• Harlequin Rasboras
• Neon tetras / cardinal
• Tetra Bloodfin
• Lemon Tetra
• Glass Catfish
• Amber Tetra
• Corydoras pygmaeus

Fish to avoid in community/planted areas

• Silver Dollars
• Goldfish, also known as Telescopes, Orandas and Comets
• Tetra Buenos Aires 
• Large Cichlids or African Cichlids 
• Plecostomus, or even ancistrus in small aquariums
• Loaches 
• Pacus

Resistant plants 

If you want to keep plants with fish that have an appetite for more fragile plants, try harder and unappetizing plants:

• Java Fern (Microsorum pteropus)
• The Large Leaf Varieties of Anubias

Immersed larger plants so the leaves stay out of the water also works.

• Echinodorus are a good example

The choice of fish

Fish give movement and life to our Aquascapes. While the choice of fish is largely a personal preference, avoiding herbivorous fish and fish that stir or burrow into the substrate makes our job easier.

Some fish are more shy and may prefer shady aquariums, while other species swim confidently in open water with lots of light. Some fish may occupy the upper levels of the aquarium, while others rarely rise above the substrate zone. Having a mixture of fish that occupy these natural areas completes the effect of the natural environment that we try to imitate.

We have Having the perspective effect in mind too, fish that match the scale of the landscapes we create in the aquarium will improve the aesthetics of the aquarium. Andespecially effective for creating the scaling effect. Smaller fish in large schools can make aquariums look bigger than they are.

The school of fish gives a great impact on the aquarium presentation. Harlequin Rasboras, Drunk Nose Tetras, Cardina Tetras, etc... are good examples of fish that swim in schools.

In this aquascape (authored by Josh Sim), the aquatic landscape gives us the feeling of a rainforest. an underwater forest where harlequin rasboras can be found naturally flying overhead. Both the fish and many of the plants come from the same region - Southeast Asia. Here the fish colors are subtle and complement the aquatic landscape. Choosing cardinal tetras with shades of blue would be a more brazen choice that provides a stark contrast to the green and browns of the scape. It is up to the aquascaper to choose the tone he wants his aquascape to express.