Community Tank vs. Single Species... Which Do You Prefer? (small, look, five)

[WhipperSnapper 88]

I have a community tank with a variety of different species, but I was looking at some of my fish and was thinking that it sure would be pretty to see five or six of those fish together and have nothing else in the tank.


Which do you prefer and why?

[North Beach Person]

I always preferred not so much a single species tank but a biotope one with species from a specific habitat (or close to it).


It would be helpful to know what 5 or 6 fish you're talking about. A tank with 5 or 6 Discus would be different than one with the same number of Neons.

[foxywench]

for me I like to have a specimen and then a lage number of 1, mabe 2 species of smaller but flashy fish...
ie a couple of beautiful discus then a BIG school of neons...
I like having the veriety, but I also like how smaller fish look in larger groups...
I think having too many singles makes a ank look jumbled and messy but having only a single species can sometimes look a little boring.