two ?'s about tetras and schooling

[JohnPaul]

Hi everyone, two quick questions about the need/desirability of tetra-type fish schooling.

1. Will different species of tetra school together, or does each species set up its own school? i.e. if I had 6 neons and 6 lemons, would the 12 all be together, or would I have two six packs swimming around?

1a. A related question to the above is this: for tetras like neons and cardinals that need a school (6+ or 8+) to feel "safe," could I mix them in order to achieve that? So, for example, if I got 2 each of neons, cardinals, lemons, and bloodfins (just picking ones by random here), would they all be happy together and get that safe feeling? Or would I have 4 pairs of very unhappy fish?

2. Are there any tetra species, appropriate to a 29 gal community tank (that currently has 7 zebra danios and 3 cory cats), that would be happy alone or with only 2 or 3? Or is the need for 6+ fish schools a need common to all tetra species?

Thanks in advance for sharing your wisdom!

 

[Feynman]

I haven't kept every type of tetra fish, but in my experience they tend to not actually reproduce true schooling behavior that you might find in the wild. Instead they seem to shoal... I think thats the right word. Still however, if you introduce a predator species or something they see as a danger its likely you will see the schooling behavior.

As far as if they school with other species of tetra, my thought is that they don't. Species seem to identify their own much better then others. This could especially be true of tetras where their bright colors are probably the main source of identification, making it hard to stay closly knit with other species.

Of course, I could be wrong.

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

The only fish I've seen truely "School" are rummynose tetras, nice tight school. so the rest of this is using the term to mean "grouping while swimming"

Neons and glowlights will school together, that one I know.. if they are about the same size and shape then they seem to school together, so phantoms, serpaes, flames, X-ray could school together, there is no guarantee. If you are looking for a nice school, then rummynose seem to do it best, Neons and glowlights are occasional (probably when they feel threatened, and there is a fine line between creating this and actually putting them in danger (RIP 21 Neons to some very happy Congos)

So shapeand moreso size seem to get them schooling.

so in your example you'ld have 2 sets of 4 that are unhappy, then as they grow you'ld have 4 pairs of unhappy fish.

As for your second question, yes there are some tetras that do well in pairs, I have 2 blackskirts that have grown to be quite large (about 2") and are quite happy as a pair. (please don't buy fruitloop/popsicle/coloured variants such as white skirt tetras since they are died they tend to live shorter lives from what I've heard, but I haven't bought one since it seems cruel to inject dyes into fish)

Other ones that seem to do well are Diamond Tetras, But the jury is still out on that one since mine are sticking with the head and taillights.. Serpaes if kept in a "pack" of less then 6 can be very bad for fin nipping, I had ordered 4 and the guy put another 2 in the bag for free just to make them more peaceful...

Hope it helps a bit.

 

[Menagerie]

Some good advice here! I will just add that my 5 serpaes and 2 head and tail light tetras never even shoaled together. Both of those types are wide-bodied tetras. I also had some more stream-lined silver tip tetras. They were fun, but would not interact with the wide-bodied tetras

 

[Wizzard~Of~Ozz]

I've found with my Cochus that it's very very rare that they shoal, I've only see them do it when the 2 4' Powerglo's go out and they only have a single flora to swim in, they also agressively attack the side of the tank when the lights go out trying to get to the light on my desk, I've come to the conclusion they are just afraid of the dark.

Odd that I've seen rummy's school, but they are the only "streamlined" ones that I've seen do it consistantly.

The serpaes here seem to be loaners, they stick together some times, but often spread out across the tank. probably would stick with flames or red phantoms since they are of similar colouration/shape. but this would be an occasional thing aswell..

 

[Frisckey1]

Schooling

#1) No, "similar" tetra won't "school" together unless forced.

In that same breath, I'll tell you most schooling fish won't school in an aquarium. In nature, schooling is a protective behavior. reflex, if you will. Your tetra will school together if there is a significant threat in the tank to force the schooling behavior. But that's a stress factor we must eliminate from our "artificial" environments. The more loosely your schoolers shoal, the happier and more relaxed they are. That's actually a good sign.

The reason they tell you to keep schoolers in groups is for stress factors. Should they feel threatened (by your hand in tank, by another fish, by anything) - they'll seek out their own kind and stick close to one another. They often feed off each others responses and instincts to judge safety levels. Without these other family members, they may feel unnecessarily stressed because they cannot be "comforted" by a fellow tetra.

I have heard the rummy's tightly school far more often...not sure why they are so different from most other tetra - but its interesting to say the least.