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There are quite a few nice rasboras, too -- and new ones still hit the stores occasionally -- but we were talking about TETRAS. If you wanna ask people about their favorite rasboras (or their favorite cyprinids in general), why not do it in the Cyprinid Section?

Schooling is a protective action and if fish feel safe & comfortable in your tank for the most part they won't really school.

IME my belted barbs are the best schoolers.

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There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Rummynose Tetras and Bloodfin Tetras are VERY tight schoolers IMO. Especially in larger groups of 10 or so. But not in too large of groups.

Thanks for the info and the links TigerAngel. I'll read about those fish in the morning!

I don't plan to put only tetras in the tank, no. I just want a school of something, and the tetras are colorful, and from what I understand, peaceful. After the school,(or maybe before) I plan to fill out the tank with other fish. I'm just asking about the tetras because I'm in the "tetra" forum

-Dennis

[span class="edited"][Edited by Beefshank 2004-07-13 07:23][/span]

Only tetras, Beef?

Shoal = a group of fish.
eg: a herd is a group of cattle/horses.
a pack is a group of dogs etc.

It is going to depend on what else you are going to have in that tank. Neons are great shoaling fish and colourful, but if you put any angelfish in that tank, then it could be bye-bye Neons. Barbs are also colourful. Exspecially a shoal of Tiger Barbs. They will not bother the corys, and not prom to diease like the Neon Tetras.= NTD. Rummy nose Tetras are also colourful, as well as Glowlights Tetras.
http://www.angelfire.com/az3/tropicalaquarium/glowlight.htm

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/tet-rumm.htm

http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/Fishindx/tigbarb.htm

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/profiles/profile20.html

[span class="edited"][Edited by TigerAngel 2004-07-13 01:36][/span]

Do certain tetras school more than others? If so, which school "the best", which I guess would mean the tightest.

I am doing the planning for a 60ish gallon tank, and all I know is going in it is emerald cories. I saw neon tetras schooling, and thought it looked cool. Cardinal tetras seem more colorful, but do they school as well?

I just know I would like to have a big colorful school in this tank, and am looking for advice.

One more thing, what is "shoaling"? It sounds like when people talk about it, it refers to a looser school, is that what it is?

thanks in advance,

-Dennis

Wow, the LFS in my area don't pressure me to buying anything. They only ask if they can be of any help and leave me alone. Probably because the LFS in my area has a whole lot of customers everyday so they don't need to pressure their customers. That means the fishes are usually healthy and active.

Usually when I encoutner anyone trying to pressure me into buying anything or constantly following me around the store I always leave and don't buy anything. I hate it when they do that. So I rather go somewhere else and get what I need.

As for Neon Tetras I currently have 11 of them in my tank. Just to tell you when they get confortable in their surroundings they don't school much. Except when they feel frightened they all come together.

Well goodluck with your search. Have a good one.

Ok, it's been almost a month and a half since I started this thread, and the my "60ish" aquarium that I was going to buy is now an actual 60 gal, and it is fishless cycling as we speak!

I've read all the posts here, and there is lots of good advice! There are also lots of tetras! I still haven't decided for sure what to get. I like neons, cardinals, rummynose, bloodfins, lemon,...lots of them! I'm gonna go to the various LFS soon, and see what they have in stock.

One thing I've noticed about the non-chain LFS is that they all seem to try REALLY hard to talk me into buying what they have a lot of, regardless of what I tell them I want! It's really pretty funny, because they generally are NOT great salesmen. I told the owner at the store I bought the tank at that I wanted to fishless cycle, he said, "You don't NEED to do that, I sell you fish to cycle tank." Then I told him I want some tetras, which he stocks practically NONE of, and he says, "You don't NEED Tetra, you get cichlid." His one and only sales technique seems to be to tell me what I don't need! lol. When the tank showed up, and I noticed that it only had one shelf in the stand, I asked, "Does it only come with one shelf?" and he responded," Yes, just one. One good, you don't NEED more." LOL! He doesn't know what I'm gonna put on the shelves!

Anyway, I'm gonna look around for tetras, and Rasboras, and see what I can find. I will let you know what I see.

-Dennis

well, neon and cardinal (practicly identical) are nice and brings out the colour in an aquarium. (put them in shouls of 4-5). there are also bleeding heart tetras, emperor tetras, and one of my favorite, red nosed tetras.

Get a few Rummynose Tetra & you'll have a schooling & colourfull fish.



http://www.flickr.com/photos/corydoras/
Member of the Malta Aquarist Society - 1970.
http://www.maltaaquarist.com

harlequin rasboras are great schoolers, but they are rasboras not tetras

harlequin rasboras i saw some of these all packed tighly in a corner!

harlequin rasboras are tight schoolers. not colourful as such, cos tehy're silver and black, but they're very....striking. I think thats the best word. (?)

Thanks for the ideas!

I really like the cardinal's coloring, but I will be going to look at the rummynose tetras before I decide anything. I can always use more advice, and will keep you informed of what I do.

-Dennis

Yeah, they can. It's just that, being wild-caught rather than raised in those damn fish farms, they are almost always clear of it when they arrive in the stores. Also, they really do seem somewhat more resistant to it than Neons.

If I'm correct, I think Cardinals CAN come down with NTD though...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.

I can vouch for the fact that Cardinals school very nicely even if they don't feel threatened -- and they lack the atrocious problem with Neon Disease that store-bought Neons now have. Nor are they particularly delicate -- I'd put them about in the middle of the delicacy scale where tetras are concerned, which means that with even a moderate amount of attention to water conditions they'll do very well.

I have LOTS of LFS even without counting petco/petsmart. So I will have lots of choices I assume. I don't have the list because I'm not ready to get them. I'm just looking for ideas, and what the stores have will change.

Rummynoses could be good, but they aren't as colorful. But I will read up on them. As I said, I'm just looking for ideas.

With a tank as large as that, you can get 15 Rummynose tetras easy and with a school as large as that, they shcool BEUATIFULLY. Other than that, you need to realize that Neons and Cardinals are two EXTREMELY tiny fish that are e to disease and sudden death by swallowing as committed by other, larger fish. My personal recommendation would be Rummynoses also, but it will depend on what's available in your LFS's...if you actually come back with a list of the schoolig fish that are available in your LFS, then we can narrow down who would school the tightest for you...

PM/email/msg me if you have any questions/comments regarding me or my knowledge or if you want me to read a thread.