minimum schooling size?
- Thread starter tbone
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The more the merrier. In the wild, fish school in the hundreds, even thousands or more. So in an aquarium, it's impossible to duplicate these conditions. The more of a schooling fish you have, the more likely they will be comfortable and will be happier and display more of their typical behaviour.
IME it seems like some fish are just dumb and refuse to school :duh: LOL, probably for the reason that winterwind suggested. However, in general it seems like 6 is pretty good, I think it helps when there is enough of them to catch each others eye and to encourage the schooling.
Another thing that will make a big difference is tank size, a group of 6 fish can't school very well in a 10 gallon tank, just because there isn't a ton of room for them. In a bigger tank they have more room to move around and are more prone to follow each other because the distance between them may be feet (in a bigger tank), as opposed to inches (in a smaller tank)
Another thing that will make a big difference is tank size, a group of 6 fish can't school very well in a 10 gallon tank, just because there isn't a ton of room for them. In a bigger tank they have more room to move around and are more prone to follow each other because the distance between them may be feet (in a bigger tank), as opposed to inches (in a smaller tank)
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Yea, I put 6 cardinals in a 10 gallon and they didn't school. They only school when they have really large tanks that they can swim distances in. And then you need a lot. They also will school more if the tank has a big threatening fish, but of course not dangerous. Big fishes can scare them into schooling.
Fishes school only when they feel threatened, when they feel safe they'll do their own thing. With only a few fishes, they never get the sense of security of being able to school for safety, leading to stress.
The other reason why alot of people recommend a school larger than 5 or 6 is because alot of the schooling fishes also establish a pecking order, a dominant fish will bully the others to make sure they know he's the top fish, this can result in the constant bullying of the weaker ones to the point of death. With a school of 6 or more, the internal aggression is spread out enough that its not life threatening.
The other reason why alot of people recommend a school larger than 5 or 6 is because alot of the schooling fishes also establish a pecking order, a dominant fish will bully the others to make sure they know he's the top fish, this can result in the constant bullying of the weaker ones to the point of death. With a school of 6 or more, the internal aggression is spread out enough that its not life threatening.
WinterWind said:
The ones that sees a big predatory fish coming at them
I've heard rummy nose tetras are very tight schoolers, though I don't have any experience with them.
glass catfishes school pretty tightly though they don't move much.
pygmy cories and panda cories are great schoolers for the smaller tanks and clown loaches are excellent schoolers but you better have a huge tank for them.
You will be better off with as many fish of the same speices that you can reasonably fit in the tank without overstocking. And as holly has said, tank size will play a part, you dont realise how stressed fish are in little tanks until you see them in a big tank, Holy will find that out soon, as she has just upgraded to an 180g.
Seaman
Shrimp gumbo, shrimp salad etc...
I've had good luck with serpae tetras, and harlequin raspboraas schooling tightly in a 29g. I had 10 of each, at different times of course.