Congo Tetra schooling

Congo Schooling behaviour

As much as I love my Amazon biotopes, the Congo tetra is my all time favourite! BIG BOLD and BEAUTIFUL....! These glorious, gorgeous fish will amaze the most jaded fishkeeper with their irridescent hues of silver,blue,gold, green and yellows, white fins edged crisply in black...I always keep a species tank, aiming for an even ratio of male to female. Have had most configurations in my 84 gal long, honestly they seem happy either way. Currently I run 10 males ONLY in this sixfoot tank. They are displaying to each other sunrise and sunset, hanging out peacefully inbetween, no fighting or serious sparring. Just pretty pretty boys getting prettier by the session. The largest specimens are glorious, and engage in traditional male/female courting behaviour. I will add females as soon as my LFS stocks them. But so far these 10 males are the prettiest, most intresting, yet relaxing school I'v seen. And if your set-up allows for this: turn off all artificial lightsources at dawn, and let the rising sun into the tank at an angle, naturally waking the Congo's with slanting rays of daybreak....This sunlight slicing through the water will make a shimmer about the Congos unmatched by ANY manmade light, and they will react with intense, flashy, courtship. A sight to make you late for work!
 
With most tetras, Congos included, the ratio of male to female only matters when you're trying to breed them. I would get more asap as they are a schooling fish and will look and feel much better once they are in a school. IMO, 6 is a small school, and 10 is way better.
 
Ok, now my plan is to have 8-10 total. I guess you'd all say go for 10. If I get 10 then I will probably want 3 to be female. If I get less then maybe only 2 female. I do want plenty of other fish besides this species in my tank. Females take up slightly less room so that helps. I am a little interested in attempting to breed them, not sure if I will try or not.
 
Could you rehome the tinfoil barb? That would free up space and they do better in groups anyway. 8-10 congos sounds great/
 
females tend to be hard to find. i started with 6 males and happened to find 2 females more than 6 months later. i went ahead and got the females even though they were tiney (under 2"). the males have been extremely peaceful towards the females and the ladies just joined the group with no issues whatsoever. my males are HUGE; total length (with tail extensions) is over 3.5" and body height (from base of dorsal fin to bottom of belly at the widest part) is at least 1". the females are growing nicely and this past weekend i noticed the males sparring a lot and some were displaying to the females though the girls didnt seem to care a whole lot
 
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