My schooling fish won't school

ghart999

AC Members
Nov 28, 2006
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Just started my tank with bio-spira and 9 glolite tetras and 7 zebra danios. They don't school together at all. They are all very active and seem to be havuing a good time together, but they are all spread out and seem to do their own thing. They have been in the tank together for 4 days now. Any thoughts?
 
It's not that uncommon in an aquarium for schooling fish to scatter. Essentially speaking they are comfortable in their environment and don't see the need to school together.
 
Yea, the behaviour of schooling is due to a safety-in-numbers mentality.

If your fish are feeling comfortable and unafraid then they'll do their own thing. Its a good sign, however look out for 'stragglers', fish that sit alone in one spot for a while, they could be harbouring a disease or a sickness. (Watch breathing patterns, if they are short quick bursts of breaths then there might be something wrong.)
 
they won't school unless they have to, such as when they are stressed. you'll notice when your doing your weekly water changes that they'll hang out at the opposite end of where your doing your work and they huddle together.
 
I agree with the above comments.
I'll also add that I've rarely seen danios actually school, they're always kind of scattered and doing their own thing.
I had one that followed the corycats around while the others would be sitting with clown loaches.
 
The only fish I know to school all the time are all predators.. and maybe fish like cories, but even then they only loosely do it sometimes (and with me, they're mostly together in pairs)

Tetras only school in pictures in fish magazines and in pictures on aquarium products, it took me quite a bit of money to figure that one out..
 
In my 29 my Neons school after a feeding and water changes. In my 55, my Pristellas and Lemons will actually school together after a water change and sometimes a feeding.
 
When I first turn on my tank lights or when I'm doing a water change my black skirts will all huddle quite close to each other. I agree with the statements above =D Yay schooling
 
I found that it has very much to do with whether your fish feel comfortable or uneasy. My 18 neon tetras were not schooling at all when they were in with the Guppies. Once I threw them in my community tank with rainbows, tiger barbs, black skirt tetras, kribs and rams - they stay schooled most of the time.

In the past few weeks, they've started to settle down a bit and school less.
 
Thanks all. I guess when I add in my bigger fish in a few weeks they might start to school.
 
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