new additions wiithout my consent

[p0tluck]

Might also be a good time to talk with the roomie and explain that adding fish on a whim isn't a great idea. Candy Cane tetras aren't a big deal, other than the potential pathogen, but what if they bring home an oscar next time? Or a saltwater fish (I know people who have had it happen).

lol well my lfs knows what i have, and my lfs dont have saltwater , i see your point though but yes i talked to her and said if you're gonna get fish please call at least and ask if its okay that way i can know if they are compatible.

 

[Tifftastic]

im going to rehome the beunos aires also they are a holes lol , they dont touch my rainbow but they swim around everone else and body bump them, and wehen i got them i was new they were my 2 first fish i was told wouldnt get over 2 inches :| the general rule of thumb for schooling is 3+ but do better at 6, my rainbows are 4+, theres some miis conceptions when it comes to certain schooling fishes 3 is the low number, but they school tighter and feel safer with 6 or more, there are exceptions like with say barbs where you have to keep 10+ because of the aggression , when ii went to columbus ohio to aquarium adventure i learned this.

I'm studying schooling as part of my PhD and I have to say that while this information is along the lines of correct, it is unfortunately out of date. New research has shifted our knowledge of schooling vs shoaling vs aggregating to be much more susceptible to subtle nuances of behaviour of individuals. Some individuals of tightly schooling species don't like to be around other fish while others do. This will shift the average nearest neighbour distance, making the shoal look less tight if you just have a few individuals. Additionally, not all barbs are aggressive. If you're saying tiger barbs, yes, having 10+ is better, preferably eleven, as it will reduce aggression more peaceful tank mates. However, if you have a tank of just tiger barbs, you'll see good schooling at a level of 6ish and of course will get tighter with more. But if you are talking about cherry barbs, they'll never shoal, they'll aggregate however. If you're talking about roseline barbs, they are good schoolers and not very aggressive, so you don't need 10 to keep them happy, but they would school very tightly at that population level. Those are just a few of the hundreds of barb species, so there is going to be a lot of variety based on species specific behaviour, let alone the behaviour of the individual.
Three is the suggested minimum due to hierarchy and the little micro aggression that comes with shoaling species. However, three does not a school make. If you have three bold/antisocial fish they will not school and will be all over the place as each will be the leader and none will have the desire to follow as they aren't as social. They may go and inspect one another, but will not school. The positive of this is that since they are antisocial, they will not stress. Now, if you have 2 highly social/shy fish, they will stick to each other and may never school with the other more bold fish. The positive, they will not stress. Now, if you have two bold fish and one shy, the shy will want to be with the other fish. But the other fish being bold and not social will not want the company of the third fish. This shy fish will become stressed because it relies on the other fish, which want nothing to do with it. This is why three is not a good minimum. The odds are not in favour of getting a good balance of personalities (yes, fish are considered to have personalities, something I can go more into if you want). Which is why it is better to have more. Six is a good minimum as it increases your odds of favourable personalities. However, more is better. If you think of the sizes of shoals of fish in the wild (up in the hundreds to thousands), how is three a good representation of that?