Non Shoaling Tetras

[dayzofspeed]

I always thought that neon tetras were a shoaling fish. i have ten in my tank and once i am sure i've got rid of the whitespot i was thinking of another 10 or 20 to create an impressive shoal, problem is mine dont shoal together they are all dotted about the tank in ones and twos. would the increase in numbers get them to shoal more, otherwise i will have to increase the shoal size in a different fish.......... any advice guys/gals

 

[ZoddyZod]

what other fish do you have in there? If you have some larger fish (but not one that will eat them) then this may persuade them to shoal as it is their natural defense mechanism.

 

[james_fish]

I've found a lot of small Tetra's not to shoal, possibly because they feel secure in the tank and see it as not necessary.

However, I recently added 8 Buenos Aires Tetra's to one of my tanks and they shoal fantastically!

James.

 

[dayzofspeed]

right, so basically i need to scare them a little, i have stocked my tank with what i have researched as non aggressive fish, mostly tetras head & tail, lemons also copper harlequin rasboras and zebra danios, i also have some dwarf neon rainbows 2 at the moment as i am still waiting for my trusted lfs to get more so i can add another 4. I prefer tetras but dont want anything that would seriously upset the peaceful community i have at the moment, it's taken quite a while and a couple of disasters to get the peaceful balance that i seem to have finally achieved, thanks for the fast response guys

 

[Jamepsss]

Rummynose tetras are the best schooling tetras I've had. I've got 2 fully grown and 8 small ones and the 8 small ones follow the adults everywhere. It looks like kids following the parents.

 

[dayzofspeed]

thanks for the info, i like rummys too but at the moment they seem to have become quite expensive in my area for some reason, i have no idea why

 

[moochy13]

I've found a lot of small Tetra's not to shoal, possibly because they feel secure in the tank and see it as not necessary.

However, I recently added 8 Buenos Aires Tetra's to one of my tanks and they shoal fantastically!

James.

i agree, i added 5 to my tank and they're the best shoaling fish i have, amongst red eye and emporer tetras and cherry barbs.

 

[dayzofspeed]

aren't buenos aires a little too aggressive ?

 

[meguro]

here are some vids of similar species in the wild (not my vids)

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzKa7d-Ha7Q&feature=channel

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4DaP8HQyBU - skip to 0:40 and mute the sound if u like

http/www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7KK1imwh28&feature=channel - parts 4:16-4:32, 7:41-7:45 and 7:54-end

 

[moochy13]

aren't buenos aires a little too aggressive ?

ive not had mine long, but have had no problems yet. they are the biggest tetra i have. the only hassle they give is towards eachother, which i guess is natural pecking order behaviour. i have also read on here its possible they eat plants, but again, ive not seen mine take even the slightest interest in one yet.

 

[dayzofspeed]

ok......plant eaters are a no no in my tank

 

[Biulu]

I notice you have a lot of peaceful shoaling fish. I guess if you would add gouramis or angels (your neons are not too small, I hope) then you would get more shoaling. It is true what people say: once the fish feel secure, the shoaling becomes much more loose. I have the same with my cherry barbs.

Another reason for the 'break up' of the shoal is the size. If you have the same fish, but different sizes, then they will break up in smaller groups that are the same size. The reason for this is, that they try to distract a possible predator by having fish look the same, so he can't focus on one that he can catch.

 

[dayzofspeed]

maybe gouramis would be a possibility, as for angels i have kept them before and were one of my disasters that i dont wish to repeat, even though they are attractive fish i found the ones i had became more aggressive with age, could you reccommend any particular gourami, i was thinking maybe dwarf, but i've heard of some virus affecting gouramis at the moment

 

[AmazonFTW]

maybe gouramis would be a possibility, as for angels i have kept them before and were one of my disasters that i dont wish to repeat, even though they are attractive fish i found the ones i had became more aggressive with age, could you reccommend any particular gourami, i was thinking maybe dwarf, but i've heard of some virus affecting gouramis at the moment

At the moment gouramies do have a virus, especially dwarf gouramies. Also they will probably NOT make them shoal. I have 2 Angels and 2 Cryptoheros Cutteri in my tank with 25 Silvertip tetras - the tetras couldn't care less, infact they just spawn infront of the male Cutteri's mouth so he gets some nice protein. So yeah, I wouldn't add a big fish, you'll just have to try another species that are small and peaceful. The best I've found are Black Phantom Tetras, my 7 are always together. Also a good shoaling fish for the top are hatchets, they are very wary so you can count on them to shoal. I know someone above said Emperor Tetras but mine don't shoal at all - however they did shoal in the shop but they were in a tank with big, very fast barbs and so probably felt very insecure bearing in mind there were only 5 amoungst the many barbs. Yes, you can't go wrong with rummy-nose so I'm told and from what I've seen this is very much the case. How about Cardinal Tetras they seem to shoal pretty nicely and will stick with your neons. In short you could get -
More neons (may not shoal)
Cardinals (may not shoal, but more likely than just neons)
Black Phantoms or really any other 'diamonds-shaped' tetra (quite likely to shoal)
Rummy-nose (no personal experience but from what I've read and seen probably will shoal)
Big Fish to scare them (by personal experience I would say this idea fails but I reckon it could work if you get something faster moving, of course your tank would have to be a fair size for the fish)
Hatchets (just to add a different shape and a shoal to the upper section)
Danios (these to me work great in shoals but I feel mean keeping them in a small space and would say a minimum 2ft tank to allow them to dart about)
Anything you like! (It's your choice so go with what you like and don't let other people influence what you want!)

Good Luck!
AmazonFTW

 

[Biulu]

As long as shoaling fish feel secure enough, they will not shoal, or only loosely. You need something to impress them. So maybe adding barbs as Amazon said, or also fast swimming danios (like pearls) would be an option for you. And yes, my pearls shoaled...

If you want a gourami, I would go with honey, banded, 3-spot or pearl gouramis. Dwarfs have been inbred a lot and are prone to diseases. Stress makes them especially vulnerable. I lost a dwarf gourami to this sickness.