I was wondering if anyone has kept Northern Studfish and Blackstripe Topminnows in a tank together. I have a 65g with established studfish, a few shiners and darters. I am contemplating moving a couple of blackstripes into the tank. I am worried the much larger northerns may be very aggressive to the smaller blackstripes. Any input is appreciated. Thanks.

I've not kept them with Topminnows, but I found N. studs to be peaceful in my experience.  Certainly didn't give shiners or darters a hard time.

My studfish are not aggressive either, but I'm concerned that introducing a smaller fundulus may change that.

Specifically, I kept mine with Southern redbelly dace and Redline darters.  Both considerably smaller than the studfish.  The most aggressive--and I use that term lightly--was a few Warpaint shiners in the tank as well.  I would feel comfortable keeping them together, or at least trying it.  But again, I haven't even kept Blackstripes before so I'll let those with experience chime in.

I have done both at the same time.  If they are roughly the same size, I think you're ok.  I've found Studfish to get aggressive once they are large, and even seen them chase and nip at shiners.

I think you will have some issues. Studfish are some tough buggers. I think they get along OK with other species that don't fill the topwater niche, but I expect that they will bully other smaller topminnows.

 

 When I used to ship fish quite often I had  several instances where only one studfish per bag arrived alive. That was in a stressful environment and darkness, and still the dominant fish felt the need to bully the others. Went to shipping them individually.

Thanks for the input. I will hold off on doing that. I have one male and 3 female studfish in a 65g that I've had about a year. They have done well with small shiners and darters. I have 1 male and 2 female blackstripes in a 29 with blacknose face and darters. They are all happy.

Dace not face