Schooling fish not schooling

[sfreitag]

I have 7 neon tetras in my tank. I read that they are "schooling" fish. Mine dont seem to swim together much at all, they are always in different parts of the aquarium doing there own thing. Is that normal behavior for that kind of fish?

Thanks!

 

[Doormatt]

How big is your tank? They're not a tight schooling fish, so I doubt you'll see any appreicable schooling in a smaller tank.

 

[Xielos]

Well, schooling is used a group defense mechanism. Safety in numbers and all that. If theres nothing for them to be scared about, then theres no reason for them to school.

 

[tomm10]

Xielos is right. Schooling fish school when they feel threatened or anxious about their surroundings. You'll usually find that fish will school when they are first introduced to the tank until they get used to it. then they'll scatter. They may school again whenever you clean the tank or rearrange plants and decorations.

 

[Holly9937]

what size tank?

 

[reignman40]

I agree with everyone. In smaller tanks I have noticed fish don't school as tightly and they seem to scatter more. They do also tend to school tighter when they feel uncomfortable or threatened. However I think the main issue here is probably tank size. In larger tanks they may not school tight when they are comfortable but usually still stay relatively close to the rest of the pack.

 

[sfreitag]

Its a 55gal. For the most part they are pretty scattered but now that I think about it, they do tend to group together when Im cleaning the tank. Thanks for the info all! :dance2:

 

[Leopardess]

If you had a very large tank and/or a very large school, they'd be more apt to school than just hang out, even if they're not terribly afraid. But, as other's have pointed, this doesn't apply to you. Be happy that they're not schooling - they're settled in

 

[Holly9937]

It might be worthwhile to get some more if you have the room, I think a tank full of them would be very pretty!! I have 10 in my 180g and they still only school randomly, even though there are a few fish a good deal bigger than them, I think they know they aren't a threat and all go about their own business

 

[FreddytheFish]

if you got a semi-aggresive fish, such as an angel or rainbow shark, they would be more likely to school, por protection reasons.