Can you mix species to create a shoal/school? For example, I've just setup a 10g tank, and I'd like corys and tetras. Both are social, I think 3 corys should keep be happy together, but could I mix the species? Say one panda, one leopard, and one something else? Or how about with the tetras - 3-4 neons and 3-4 black skirts or serpae? Or should I just go with 3 of the same species cory and 5-7 of the same species tetra?
mix species to create a "shoal/school"?
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Schooling fish only school with others of their kind, mixing species would not leave you with enough fish of any one kind for a shcool. In a larger tank, you could have several schools, but in a smaller tank stick with one kind. I'd go with a dwarf cory of some sort, the pandas are my favorite. Three of them should do alright. Then, I'd go with a school of five or so smaller fish, Neons (but you'd have to be very diligent about tank maintenance and water quality), cherry barbs, white clouds or the like. You could do danios of some sort too... (instead of the tetra). Black and Gold skirts are the same tetra, just one is albino, so you could mix them. (but they get a tad large for a 10g IMO, more because they are stocky and not thin). That would be a nice set-up though.
Emiyil
Emiyil
They all like to school with their own species and cories are especially racist when it comes to color differences. In desperation, mixed cories will school somewhat. As for tetras, most will only school with their own species. Cardinal tetras and rummy noses are needy fish, they are known to school with eachother and I assume they would with neons and black neons if those two species would accept them. They are school-a-holics. I have a school of 7 rummy nose and 10 cardinals. They still school together in a big crazy interspecies school. Also my 3 otos school with my 2 siamese algae eaters and will sometimes school with the cardinal and rummynose. But don't let my fish fool you, one species is best for a school. Six neons is wayy better than 3 neons and 3 serpae both for the fish and for you visually. Most tetras can only be trully apreciated in a fairly large shoal.
if you want alot of diffrent fish but school in one group, try tetras, i gott neon and glowlights and they love schooling with eachothers, but i like glowlights best their more big and smarter then neons.
Don't mix the cories. Even though different species might interact to some extent, they are not as happy if they don't have their own kind. Once, I had a leopard, albino, and skunk, and they didn't really interact at all. However, when I got two more leopards, the leopards were much happier and they interacted quite a bit.