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i have a 29 gal with two angels, two blue rams, a leporadis, banjo cat, three ottos, and a problem.

i have 6 lamp eye tetras for my school. the problem is they don't school, they are almost always on oposite sides of the tank (and no offense to lamp eye fans) but they are ugly when not schooled.

its been maybe a week and a half and i have a 14 day garentee. so the question is do i get two more and hope they school or do i return and get a differant more school e tetra.


also i know this is a fish forum but i'm very exited that my mom button quail just hatched 4 babies. SOOOOOOOOOO cute

The vast majority of tetras will not school in captivity once they feel comfortable with the tank. It is normal, and there is no way to force them to school. Adding a fish they perceive as a predator will help temporarily, but once they learn that the fish only looks dangerous they will stop schooling again.

In very large tanks it is possible to get them to school permanently, but not in a 29 gallon. At work we have a 150 gallon display tank with a school of 35 rummynose tetras, and they contantly school. There are also large discus in the tank which encourage them to school.




Last edited by Cory Addict at 21-Aug-2005 22:47

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I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Maybe you can swap them with some Rummynose Tetra's. Mine are always together & they are quite beautiful.


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Lamp eye tetras???? Got a taxonomic name for these critters???


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

You have a Leporinus? That thing is going to get pretty nasty once it grows out a little (I'm assuming it is small right now), so maybe it will fulfill your predator requirement to get your tetras to school. It could easily kill all of your current fish, I've heard a little too much about their "compatability issues".

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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."

That 'leporadis' could be a nunber of possibilities Sirbooks, but if it is a Leporinus species of some sort, then that is going to grow big AND nasty. Oh yes, compatibility issues will abound if that fish IS a Leporinus. Not least because even the 'small' ones hit 8-10 inches, and L. frederici tops out at a whopping 20 inches. They're tough enough to live alongside big SA/CA Cichlids including the bruisers such as Jags and Nandopsis species, which means they'll make short work of small Characins.

A photo of this fish would help sort out the ID queries.

And, a photo of these 'lamp eye tetras' would also help. Nearest thing I can think of to a fish that would be called a 'lamp eye tetra' is Hemigrammus ocellifer, but that's known over here in the UK as a "Head And Tail Light Fish" because it has iridescence over the eye and a similarly coloured iridescent spot on the caudal peduncle.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002

lamp eye tetras are better known as red-eye tetras...there is a profile on this site here. Is this the fish you are talking about?

They are really nippy IME...and when I had them they didn't school much either. So I guess it is normal for there species.

Swap em for a few Cardinal Tetras, Rummynose Tetras, or Glowlight Tetras though...they usually school a little tighter

Last edited by Tetra Fan at 22-Aug-2005 13:21

I have found that the way the tank is aquascaped will affect schooling behavior. If you have tall plants that aren't dense, the fish will tend to scatter in their. If you have all low hight plants, rocks and/or wood the fish will school around these objects and make it much more interesting to watch.

My Scapes

leporadis is tiny now but my lfs guy said he would get no bigger than 6-8 inch. also the tetra is a head and tail light.
but if he gets too tough then i can just toss him in with my aggresive tank.

won't the glowlights and cardnels be eatin by the angels

Last edited by snake09j at 22-Aug-2005 22:18