So, who is going to teach my baby embers to school? :)

[MammaBearinTN]

I bought eleven teeny tiny ember tetras and put them in my tank several hours ago. They hid for a while, but are now swimming freely.

Will they start to school when they're a little older? There's not much to fear in the tank, since their only tank mates are 3 small corys. (I wanted six, but that's all the store had.)

Another thing...I've never had fish this small. If I'm supposed to see parasites or disease on them, that ain't happening!

 

[Neleono]

Not sure about looking at the tetras for disease (I just take a few min per day looking at all of them closely to look for problems but I only have 6 so its a lot easier. However as long as your water parameters are very good and your fish aren't under stress they will generally be ok) but my neon will sometimes be in a school and other times spread out. Right now, they are swimming around the tank, away from each other but on occasion, two, three, or more will form a little group and swim around together. Other times all of them will be in a school. Usually at night time as the lights start to go down, they will go back into a little school and be like that the rest of the night but then slowly spread back out once it turns morning. Gist of the story is... at least for me, my tetras like to do their own thing and will only school when they feel like it. However, being that I only have 6 and only a 29 gallon tank with no other fish that would be a threat to them, they likely don't feel the need to school. But with a larger amount of tetras, in a bigger tank, with a possible larger fish they feel threatened by, they will school. Simple put; safety in numbers. It sounds like you have a pretty calm tank so there's no need for your tetras to school super tightly. That being said, if they really have only been in the tank for a few hours, it might be a while (Even days) for them to adjust. I'm not an expert, but that is just my experience and knowledge. I'm exited to see what other people are going to say as I have wondered about that myself.

 

[CassCats]

If theyre spread out, they're comfortable and feeling secure.
They will only school tight if something is spooking them.

 

[Retired Viking]

My ember tetras tend to stay together but they do go out on their own and do not seem afraid of the neon, glow light tetras or cory in the tank. I only have 5 now but plan to add more in the future. I have noticed they like to spend time around tall plants so last year I made a small forest of Anacharis at one end of my 55 gallon tetra tank and usually see 2-3 embers spending their time there. I replaced the anacharis with other tall plants this year and they stilll seem to like it there. I read that they come from an area where there are more plants in the water. Embers have become my favorite tetra.

 

[Manon]

My 8 embers only group closely together for about half an hour after a water change. Otherwise they hang out loosely all over the tank. They sleep in separate places too. The pygmy cory's are more of a gang than the embers

 

[Guyb93]

Do all tetra school the same or do certain tetra school more closely than others naturally?my Colombian tetra don’t school as such I have 8 and they can be spread 5ft apart in a chain I guess always close to one but to spread to say schooling even when they feel threatened they dont school closely they all frantically dart about in a meaningful way like it’s choreographed

 

[Essjay]

To make sure we are all taking about the same thing -

Schooling is where fish of the same species swim together in a co-ordinated manner.
It should not be confused with shoaling, which means fish that live in groups of hundreds or thousands in the wild and become stressed if there aren't enough of them.

Very few freshwater fish school except when they feel threatened and they usually huddle together rather than swim in a co-orinated manner. I understand rummy nose tetras come close, and the serpae tetras I once had swam round the tank in vertical V formation terrorising the other fish. other than that I don't know of any schooling fresh water fish.

 

[Guyb93]

Good info I always thought schooling and shoaling were just different terminology

 

[Retired Viking]

Here are some pictures of my embers hanging out in the tall plants. 3 of the five were there and the other two were close by.

 

[Slaphppy7]

Do all tetra school the same or do certain tetra school more closely than others naturally?my Colombian tetra don’t school as such I have 8 and they can be spread 5ft apart in a chain I guess always close to one but to spread to say schooling even when they feel threatened they dont school closely they all frantically dart about in a meaningful way like it’s choreographed

As mentioned above, rummys are the BEST schooling tetra...and the more you have, the better to see this behavior.

OP, give them time....mine DO school together, but not all of the time

 

[GuppyBreeder180604]

Me. I will teach them.

 

[MammaBearinTN]

Me. I will teach them.

LOL