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I watched the funniest thing today. I've got several oto's. Two of them have coloring that's very similar to black neon tetras. They were schooling with the tetras. I watched them for about 10 minutes and they swam back and forth the length of the tank with the tetras!

Has anyone else seen different types of fish schooling together?

James

cardnials and neons, but that b/c they were in a limited environement, and they found eachother close enough to school with.

In a large display tank at work, we have about 50 Rummynose Tetras and 20 Otos. At any given moment, usually about half of the Otos are schooling with the Rummynoses.

It's pretty normal behavior among Otos, IME.

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Ive seen schooling behaviour cross-species in loads of fish, generally most species prefer their own company, but ive seen schooling of just about any species of fish as long as they school naturally. Mind you ive even seen dwarf puffers school, and theyre supposed to be solitary. Ive had rainbows, barbs,and tetras all school together. Ive had angels and discus school together , and even cories have teamed up with other fish for short periods. Its not as unusual as you might think.

I think the reasons to do so are a bit of a mystery, but in nature it has to be of advantage against predation to school with any species of fish if it stops you getting picked off. Sometimes I think some fish assume the others must be going in one direction for a reason and they join up just to see what happens. Boring old life in a tank.

Ive seen siamese flyers queue up like theyre waiting for a bus, my amano shrimp sometimes form small pyramids for no apparent reason, ive a rainbowfish that actually moves plants for no reason, and im sure one of my angels watches television regularly. Fish get a bit weird in enclosed spaces sometimes. MY bubbles! LOL.

Well, ok , its not funny, its probably stereotypical behaviour. Oh well.



Last edited by longhairedgit at 07-Oct-2005 22:30

Mind you ive even seen dwarf puffers school, and theyre supposed to be solitary.

Similar to their cousins, the Triggerfish. I was watching a documentary filmed on a Pacific reef, and was suprised to see a school (yes, school) of about 150 Triggers swim by, because in captivity they are noramally considered to be aggressive, solitary fish.

I guess they are similar to Bucktooth Tetras, also a schooling fish, in that they always appear to be under some sort of stress in captivity (enough stress that generally makes them too agitated to tolerate their own kind).

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Depends on which species of trigger: actively pelagic specimens are generally more apt to congregate, and in fact, many species specialize in an actively communal lifestyle. Longsnout species such as pics and reefies are rarely, at least to my knowledge, highly social.


EDIT: Spelling

Last edited by Cup_of_Lifenoodles at 07-Oct-2005 23:34

I had tiger barbs once and my clown loaches started following them around it was funny

"and im sure one of my angels watches television regularly" LOL

i bought 5 otto's a while back, while i lost 4 of them one survived, i bought another 5 a while back all still alive, but i will very rarely see them all together. The oldest one is always on his own at the other end of the tank... and the other 5 hanging around together, he's probably a dork or something lol

I have a bronze cory that thinks he is an acara. He won't school with the other bronzes but stays with the acaras, even eats with them at the top of the tank. At first I thought he was sick, always swimming mid level in the tank but he has been with the acaras for almost a year now.

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If at first you DO succeed, try not to look astonished.

About the triggerfish, yeah, it does depend on the species. Like Jon said, the pelagic, plankton-eating triggers can be quite social. Also though, triggerfish really aren't nearly as aggressive in the wild as they are in fish tanks. They can become territorial when food is involved and while they're selecting their nightly hideaway, but triggers appear to be much more peaceful in their wild reef habitats. When they're kept in fish tanks which are rarely more than a couple hundred gallons, of course the triggers will become intolerant of other inhabitants. They have almost no space and are sometimes subjected to poor water quality. I'd be irritable in those conditions as well.

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And when he gets to Heaven, to Saint Peter he will tell: "One more Marine reporting, Sir! I've served my time in Hell."