bloodfin tetra schooling with black phantoms

[rubysoho]

i found this interesting, maybe you will too.

well, the guy at my lfs talked me into getting a bloodfin about two weeks ago. he said it would make my black phantoms feel safer since i had just moved all my zebra danios into another tank (which directly caused the phantoms to hide more in my over growth of plants and not come for the food for some reason...). his reasoning was that since the bloodfin was an active fish, always swimming in the open, then it would make the phantoms feel like it was safe to swim around.

well, i should have researched the fish first... of course he is a schooling fish, and so for a while all he did was hide. now, surprisingly, he has started schooling with my phantoms! so not only are they still shy and not coming for the food, but so is the bloodfin. i guess it isn't too unusual because they are all tetras, but still, i wouldn't think that would happen.

I think i am going to do some switching around so that the danios are back with the phantoms. that way everyone is eating right again... weird fishies.

also, is it normal for the bloodfins to wiggle their fins. Mine seems to get up close to the other phantoms and then proceeds to shake his fins. kinda funny to watch. sometimes he wiggles his whole body. then the phantoms flick their fins back at him. nobody seems to be taking any bites, and i am watching all fins closely for any nibbles.

 

[TankGirl]

I have noticed that my black phantom males are extremely shy and hide quite a bit, no matter how many of them there are, and the females are the ones out and about. The bloodfin is going to want to be with other bloodfins, for certain, and the fin shaking behavior is almost definitely posturing - since his desire to school and interact with other tetras is overwhelming, even if the phantoms could care less. I doubt any actual injuries will result, but I have noticed that my phantoms can be a little scrappy, so to speak.

 

[rubysoho]

well, actually my black phantoms have kind of adopted my bloodfin into their group. i have 3 females and 1 male, and i have no idea about the sex of the bloodfin. i decided to put some of my danios back into the tank (without overcrowding it though) and after a few hours, everyone was out and swimming again. i guess it is some sort of "comfort" for them.

oh, something really cool. yesterday two of my tetras (the male and one female) where slowly swimming circles together and flashing their fins. the female would position herself horizontally in the water above the male and would then flick her fins at him. it was a lot of fun to watch