Schooling fish

[newkid]

Just a general question i recently set up a 40gallon planted tank and stocked it with bout 20 cardinal and blood fin tetras and there not schooling seem like since i dont have a fish in the tank that poses a threat or that there afraid of the kinda just do there own thing can anyone give me some advice on what i might can do to get them to school up

[niko]

Nothing.

Once cardinals get used to the tank they forget to school. Any kind of threat will bunch them up for a short time and later they get comfortable again. Smaller tanks aggravate this issue.

Blood fin tetras are not schoolers anyway.

Best schooling fish:

- Rummynose
Easily found. Issues: A few different kinds - Some not very bright red mugs. The "Sunset" variation is completely stunning and does not lose the red face even if stressed. You will never find it either - super nice and rare too because importers like to import cheap - 25c extra per fish is too much for them so they get the regular kind. Rummynoses do not school very tight in small tanks. Need a large group to see nice schooling behaviour (>50, 6' long tank)

- Ember tetras
Very nice tiny fish. Not too easy to find. Maybe too small for your taste. Fins always spread, fish looking always perky, even if sick. Very hardy. Color is out of this world.

You maybe sold a fish that looks like the true ember but it's not. It's impossible to tell them apart when stressed. They just look much more paler than the real ember. The true ember glows like molten copper when it feels good. VERY beautiful fish. Even deeper than this orange:
http://www.aquaticquotient.com/gallery/files/5/1/3/9/h_amandae.jpg


- Moenkhausia costae.
Good luck finding these. Coloration considered too mundane to import and sell. I have a big tank full of them - the video is mine. Sit down before you watch it:
YouTube - ‪Aquascaping: Moenkhausia costae in a 6 ft. freshwater aquarium.‬‏

- Green neon tetra
Super tight schools all the time even in tiny tanks (leery of anything they see/feel - get in a school in a flash). Never loses the glowng blue color even at night. Good luck finding them. If you do make sure they have been with the seller more than a week. Die like flies in full color for no reason. If hardy - hardy as hell. Come in green or blue.
YouTube - ‪Paracheidon Simulans‬‏


- Fake school
All kinds of FW gobies you can find like to stay close to rocks or wood. If you have a tank in which the rocks/wood are only in the middle the gobies never leave this "island". The effect is super cool - empty surroundings, just sand and lots of activity on, under, around the rocks. Only there. Simulated schooling behavior. VERY nice. IF you can find gobies that is. Cool, but not unusual coloration:
YouTube - ‪Stiphodon atropurpureus‬‏

Frank at Franksaquarium carries gobbies. Think before calling his prices too high. Fish are quarantined and Frank is a normal guy - that' says a lot if you know what I mean.
http://www.franksaquarium.com/goby.htm

--Nikolay

[newkid]

thanks for that those are some great looking tanks and better looking fish

[Adroit]

I have both ember tetras and green neon tetras and whole-heartedly agree with niko.
Both school very well, but the ember tetras will swim out in the open for you to see. The green neons I have would bolt to the corner of the tank if I come close. I have really good experience with both and haven't lost any to disease or parasite, at least contrary to cardinal tetras.

You might want to consider chili rasboras too. If your tank has little to no surface movement, then these fish will stay at the top and twitch back and forth.

[cichlidtim]

niko deff knows his stuff!!

[Deltad]

I have about 30 green neon tetra and yea, they school all right!!

[newkid]

where do you get the green neons i went to my lfs yesterday and they had no idea where to even begin looking

[Michael Scarn]

I have never seen green neons in person. I have only seen them on Aquabid, and on here when someone was doing a group buy. I think the seller was in Houston, but I could be wrong.

[newkid]

o ok kool could anyone tell me what type of goby that is in the last video inside th little bowl (the blue guys)

[alta678]

PM Niko. He can tell you. He can also tell you the scientific name of the green neons.

[niko]

http://www.franksaquarium.com/goby.htm

Nowhere else.

Finding that blue variation will be a problem although Frank has that exact same species listed.

--Nikolay

[niko]

A nice picture showing Green Neon Tetras. They are more blue or fluorescent purple really, not green.

That is EXACTLY how they look in a tank. In real life you can't really see details - the fish look more like glowing streaks of blue colors. Exactly like on this picture. Day or night - they do not lose that glowing coloration:

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3411/3436601506_81d2a26965.jpg

[BBrianMo1]

i swear when i was picking up filters last week at petsmart, they even had green neons!

[Michael]

I haven't kept any of the fish Niko lists, but I am pretty happy with my silvertip tetras. I have a group of 24 in a 40 gallon tank. The females stay together almost all the time. The males split off from the school to establish temporary territories and spar with one another--very entertaining. When one of the large pearl gouramis in the tank gets very close, especially overhead, the silvertips will school tightly. The silvetips do not seem to become accustomed to the gouramis, but the gouramis are timid and spend a lot of time concealed in the plants. If they were out in the open all the time, the silvertips might ignore them.

[newkid]

ok i have to get some green neons i loked on aquabid couldnt find any

[niko]

Michael's silvertip tetras in his tank:
https://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/DFWAquaticPlantClubMeetingPart1Inside#562295009055 2811826
https://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/DFWAquaticPlantClubMeetingPart1Inside#562295009254 5656514
https://picasaweb.google.com/ddasega/DFWAquaticPlantClubMeetingPart1Inside#562295007485 1461970

They indeed stayed together every time I looked at them. I thought that's because too many people were moving around the tank.

Good to know they school well (maybe if there is something to scare them a little).

[Michael]

Yes, they were suffering a little social anxiety that day, LOL. Normally they are not quite that tight, but close. It is amazing that you caught 21 of the 24 in that first photo.