So-called Top/mid/bottom Dwellers

[sillypony]

Are these labels really supposed to be as firmly set as people make them out to be? Not that I have a huge amount of experience, but it seems to me that the fish pretty much go where they please, and only the bottom dwellers really follow these patterns.

Actually, my betta and my danios (so called upper, and mid-upper dwellers) LOVE to play in the caves. at least 75ish percent of the time, the top of my tank is empty, and the bottom quite full.

Is this a common trend, for individuals to tend to break these 'rules'?

LeeAnna

 

[Dorkhedeos]

Well, a lot of the surface fish stay on the top, most of the bottom dwellers stay on the bottom. Any other fish usually go wherever they feel like going.

 

[dwarfgourami]

I think sillypony has a good point- the labels are more to do with general tendence and feeding habits than with set behaviour. My corys spend a lot of time dancing around the middle and upper layers, particularly when randy, the bristlenose sits on the glass wherever it pleases him, the livebearers go all over the tank and eat from the substrate. A very few species seem to stick more to the book: my pseudomugils really do tend to ignore food once it sinks.

 

[mbhw]

Also, if you have a small tank (55 gallons or less), they tend to go wherever they want.

 

[Dorkhedeos]

My corys spend a lot of time dancing around the middle and upper layers

That is actually very odd for corys to be on the upper level for a while. My corys go there like once in a while, but not for extended periods of time. I dont think corys have swim bladders so i cant really see them going to the top unless something is wrong.

 

[dwarfgourami]

My corys spend a lot of time dancing around the middle and upper layers

That is actually very odd for corys to be on the upper level for a while. My corys go there like once in a while, but not for extended periods of time. I dont think corys have swim bladders so i cant really see them going to the top unless something is wrong.

I don't mean hanging around the surface- that would be worrying, but just dancing around the whole of the tank. Particularly at spawning time of course. And of course they shoot up to get air now and again, it aids their digestion.
Surely they must have swimbladders or how would they be able to do the T formation?

 

[Luketendo]

My fish go where they please. My Pearl Gourami is rarely at the top, just for air sometimes. My tetras and cherry barbs are along the bottom or the middle and my loach is usually along the bottom but he comes out in the mornings.