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I have just purchased 6 Zebras and put them in my 15gal which had been sitting empty for a while (but fully cycled). I expected they would school but they seem to just hang about alone in different places around the tank and when one comes across another, a chase usually breaks out. Is this normal behaviour? Are they more likely to school when other species are present? The tank is heavily planted and has no other fish in it.

They school more when they think that they are in danger. So if your's are alone in a well planted tank, they're not going to school alot & if you've just purchased them, just give them time to settle.


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I have had danios for about five years. They do tend to chase one another aroung the tank, other fish you have might have get chased too, but are otherwise harmless. They do not stay as close to one another as some of the other fish I have had. It is normal danio behavior. In a larger group - say twelve or more, I think that they would be more inclined to school, but with six like you have (I have seven), they just swim all over the tank doing their own thing.

They need some kind of threat to stay in school. A larger or more aggressive fish usually does the trick. My cat can also make my danios form up, they see him as a threat for some reason...

In my 25 gallon I have 5 danios, 6 tiger barbs, 1 kribensis cichlid, 1 SAE and 4 otos. The krib is the threat, though the danios still roam all over until they feel threatened by her, or the SAE, it's his size, he's a really sweet non-aggressive fish. The barbs are so focused on one another most of the time, they don't bother anyone but the krib, she just gets annoyed every now and then.

A dwarf cichlid like the krib or the bolivian ram is a good fish to put in with them, give the tank and fish time to settle before adding anything new though.

"If you're afraid you'll make a mistake, you won't make anything."
-Family Circus

I have three tiger barbs in quarantine (which I rescued from a friend whose tank sprung a leak!) and I was planning on putting them in with the Danios in a couple of weeks or so. Looking forward to seeing how they behave after that!

Any suggestions for other fish I could add to this tank (other than bottom feeders as I have ceramic substrate which is unsuitable for them)?

Luvmykrib,

I had considered a Bolivian ram as a centrepiece fish but I read that they like to dig and as my substrate is ceramic I don't think it would be suitable.