Why won't my rasboras school?

P

pzuzu

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Sep 23, 2005
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Hello...

I currently have 8 harlequin rasboras in a 55g tank and they refuse to school. Why? The reason I got them was because everytime I go into a fish store they always seem to be one of the best schooling fish. But yet in my tank they don't school, except for the day I do a water change, which is once a week. I figured they only school then out of stress, you know? Safety in numbers sorta thing. But the rest of the time they just hang out in different spots of the tank, rarely ever together. I keep them in a fully planted tank.

Any suggestions or information on this would be appreciated.

Thanks!
Fernando
 
Fish that feel safe don't school. Congratulations! Your fish feel fine :).

Sometimes, the presence of some big fish brings them to school. That's enough stress ;).
 
So basically throw a mean fish in there and I can get them to school??!! LOL...I'll get right on that...

But seriously, the only reason I got them was cuz I wanted them swimming together. Hmmm...so they're living the good life, eh? I guess that's nice to know. But still...any suggestions? Is there a fish that won't eat them but make 'em think they're gonna get eaten?? HA! Poor little guys.

Damnit! I wanted to see them school all the time...that's the best thing about little fish in a big tank!!!! GGGRRRR.... At least now I know why they school so pretty at the fish stores.
 
I know how you feel. My Danios don't school either. They are fun to watch on their own, but I too was hoping they would school. I hope that when I eventually add more fish they will decide to stick together more instead of all 6 of them staking out their own sections of the tank. It is pretty darn funny though that the biggest one, the bully, has staked it's claim and it is the thermometer...yes, my little fishy has claimed the thermometer and chasing anyone off who comes near it. It is very, very funny =)
 
EXACTLY....... they don't school because they are not frightened. Do you really want them to be frightened all the time?

REMEMBER....stress can weaken their immune system, and make them more prone to disease and untimely death.

We can't make all God's creatures perform for us all the time. This is not a circus.
 
This is the same reply I posted on another thread about schooling. One tip an LFS told me was to put 1 semi-agressive fish with the schoolers. This will make them stick together more, not necessarily stress them out.
 
Two things: Schooling fish need open spaces in which to school. if you are very heavily planted this may be an ussue. Try an SAE- it will be big enough to force schooling but will not harm them at all and will eat algae.
 
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