I have an exception to the rule. I have a rummy-quin. I got a group of rummynose and only one survived. He now believes he's a harlequin and actually schools with them. He rarely leaves the pack and was adopted by them. It's quite cool, actually.
I love the way my Bronze Corys group together. I only have 5, but they seem so much happier in the group. It's tempting to give them their own tank, so they might have some breeding success.
I have 66 Harlequins in a tank that school very tightly. I Have never seen any fish that school better than Harlequins in captivity except for baby red belly piranhas. The trick is to give schooling fish a very large aquarium, most schooling fish will school good/better. Nice video!
It's interesting how people will expect a behavior a fish has in the wild with all of the space, triggers and necessity for that behavior to translate to a small glass box. You did a good job and hopefully it will help some people get their minds around it
My female betta sorority sometime swim lined up one behide another going the same way. I dont know what it is called so I called it the betta cha cha dance. lol
christine lanphere My girls used to do that (once they figured out the pecking order)...so cute! 😂 Also neat, since you could have fish of all colors acting in a schoolish fashion!
Hi Rachel, I love your channel. Its all about fish and plants and other underwater creatures. You always explain everything in details which is lots of fun to watch. I wanna thank you so much for finding enough time to make these amazing and educational videos !!! :)
This is such an addicting hobby. I’ve got three tanks now after two months. I’m already looking to put up a customer shelf with three ten gallon aquarium for a different school of nano fish and shrimp in each
English really has few synonyms. There are tons of words that people consider synonyms but that have subtle differences in tone or meaning with proper usage. A great example would be "moist" and "damp". Essentially, they both mean "slightly wet". But you will never hear a baker brag about how damp his cake is.
At certains of the day, usually mid morning, most of my mixed community fish; giant danios, white clouds, rosy minnows, black neon tetras and Siamese algae eaters, shoal together in the middle of the tank. It is quite something.The rest of the time they are scattered all over the tank in species groups or on their own.
Fun fact!!! In my LFS the Black neon tetras perfectly school with the Gold Tetras. And I think that's absolutely beautiful! (This shouldn't be used as an example though!! This is a rare occurrence)
Excellent presentation on the difference between "Schooling verses Shoaling" to many times it is just used interchangeably but as you explained so well there are slight differences that are behavior driven from avoiding predation or feeding themselves ect... *** Walter owner of United Tanks of America
Great topic! I had a sense of how things went but you really cleared up the subject...I love your unrushed, straightforward (very informed) delivery. :) I enjoy observing my 'unintentional species tank' of Ottos...I think there's maybe 35 to 40something in there, but I'm never sure because they spend their daytimes mostly hanging out in the vegetation...or on the heater, there's a little group that loves the heater, including my 'original' three fish. Occasionally a little group might go out for a midday graze, or one feels the need to get the crazies out by doing a few loops & racing for the surface, but in general the real stuff seems to be going on at night. When their light comes on in the morning...mad dashes to the plant life all over! And. that's how I know that's there's a truckload of Ottos in there, lol. Does what they do fall under shoaling, or do they just not have enough tank size/unplanted space/optimal conditions to move in a more coordinated fashion? If they're river fish, does that naturally encourage a fairly tight schooling behavior, or do they just hang out....& how much of that is influenced by then being an algae eater/armored catfish type? don't mean to write this Russian novel, but a few musings brought on by watching these fellows after this vid. Once I found out (from your otto video!) that the slightly spazzy behaviour is happiness not stress I feel a lot better about the state of their general wellbeing...clearly 10 gallons is not exactly optimal, but I tweak it daily, they have a mature planting now & I use water exclusively from my RO water system...the water sparkles & the plant life is crazy. Obviously I never have to clean algae in my tank, but I feel kinda bad that I have to offer mostly algae-eater tabs v/s fresh zucchini (which they loved as fry/youngsters)--even in a few hours a single piece will cloud the tank! I do belly-roundness checks & they're ok, but I can't help but think that a more varied diet would be healthier, as with most critters. Any tips for feeding veggie-eaters in a little tank? I honestly feel no need for any other species...these guys are kooky & a little mysterious, & we seem to get along fine. :) I keep meaning to do a little canvassing regarding a localish market for homegrown Ottos--guess I'll get there eventually! 🐠🐠🐠
Rachel O'leary Oh, & I have a topic plea that is hot in my situation...copepods. OMG. It might not be so bad if I had predators, but I've heard that shrimp will attack Ottos. :( I have a ton & it's super unsightly on my black sand, not to mention that i feel they annoy the Ottos by swarming around even the brand new food...should I just keep suctioning them up or do i need to find a little Otto-friendly predator?
+Rachel O'leary. You won't believe this, maybe a week into the soylent green they were looking better...last 2 evenings i tried the super green (the 'vegan' option) & noticed the uptick in an already improved appetite. Woke up this morning & nearly spit out my coffee...some of my homegrown otos are spawning!!! Now I know it's KY but they're either half or entire siblings...how bad is the inbreeding effect in catfish?
I added a group of 10 ember tetras to my 55 gallon tank containing 29 M. kubotai expressly because the two species are approximately the same size, shape, and intensity of coloration, and what's funny is that the ember tetras try to school with the kubotai, but the kubotai get scared and swim away. The especially happens when the light dims in the evening and the colors are less distinguishable.
I used to keep Zebra Danios and they weren't what I expected. They never moved together as a group. Instead they spent most of their time chasing each other. They also picked on each other A LOT, although they didn't seem to bother my other fish. At first it seemed harmless enough, until I started noticing some pretty nasty wounds. Then the other Danios would all gang up on the injured one. In fact, I lost several Zebra Danios from injuries inflicted by other Zebra Danios and/or secondary infection. I've also kept Giant Danios (I still have three). They're also active, but not frantically hyperactive like my Zebra Danios. Likewise, while they do chase each other around, they don't hurt each other, and often rest together as a group. PS) I've successfully kept Giant Danios with both Neon and Glowlight Tetras. In my experience they seem to completely ignore the smaller fish. I've also kept Giant Danios with an aggressive Blue Gourami. Interestingly, the gourami, which had bullied smaller fish, was well mannered with the Giant Danios (roughly it's own size).
Big fan of our 125 gallon all barb tank. 3 types of Dawkinsia barbs, clown barbs, and Odessa barbs. Each species has at least 9 represented in the tank, so they exhibit lots of natural behaviors.
What I find to be interesting and contrary to your advice (which I follow as gospel) is that when I had 6 M. devario because that's all that were available, they swam around my 55 gallon tank as a school, but when I finally got 29, they all seemed to become very comfortable in the tank and stopped schooling.
I'm lucky enough to have a large tank that can fit several schools/shoals Favorite schooler is my penguin tetras great top level fish (bonus my SAE, otos, Madagascar rainbows shoal with them) closely followed by my lamb chops rasbora. Favorite shoaler is cory cats! Best is they happily shoal in mix species groups!
My fave, so far, are the kubotai. Or maybe the chili rasbora. But nothing beats the pygmaeus when they are in sync. Perhaps it is just a school of fish that's cool! I do love the kubotai which is why I usually top off an order..." and I'll take 5 kubotai!" And grow the schools. When they hit the light just right and you see that blue iridescence it's almost magical. And in the dark with moon lighting it is! They are in the tank with some pygmaeus and you can catch the "cory pack" hanging out with the kubotai. There's about 20 kubotai and 8 corys. It is fun to watch. Eventually the cory's split out and head back closer to the bottom. Yep sometimes work just doesn't get done!
It's pretty amazing how quickly they kick out the sick guy. One day I noticed a cardinal tetra off on his own and, uh-oh, that's not good. Sure enough the next day he was dead. He showed no signs of anything except not swimming with the group.
This is a wonderful video! Thank you for detailing the differences. I have been considering getting some bororas, but after seeing them as a sloppier shoaler, I'm second guessing. I have a Fluval spec V that I want to stock with a single species of something super tiny, but I want a tight school. Do you have any recommendations? Great video as always!!
EatRyanBread Micropanchax macrophthalmu (Lampeye killifish) are a tight schooling fish that will also shoal with other fish, can be kept with around 4 minimum to a school but do even better in larger schools. Beautiful peaceful little fish with their reflective bright blue eyes and only grow to 3cm. I started off with 4 but now have 12, plan on getting more and having a 50g tank full of just them.... And maybe even a school of Pseudepiplatys annulatus (Clown Killifish)
Rachel O'leary Doesnt it just!! Ever since I bought Aplocheilus lineatus early last year opened up my world to killifish, never knew how many stunning subspecies there was. Here in the UK it's hard to get hold of most killi's locally but having a good relationship with my LFS I've managed to twist his arm to order me the clown killi's in a few months time. Can't wait, nano fish on a large scale..
I think it's funny that one of my Emerald Eye Rasboras (named Tiny) schools with my Rummy Nose Tetras instead of his own kind. He's the healthiest of my Rasboras too. 👀🙃
Thanks for great videos :) [In 50 gallon tank] ..when the 7 Congo Tetras (will be getting more because they are awesome and beautiful!!!) were very small, they schooled for fun with the 2 small Emerald Corycats every evening and playing in the bubbles...I have lots of those, since they are very popular with my "water babies"/ fishes! I also have 3 Bumblebee Catfish in this tank. who kinda just mind their own business; come out to eat then hide away again. . Now the Corys are on their own, just the two of them, schooling every evening still, because it seems that the Tetras ( growing up, I think ) are more interested in one another and not doing any schooling.
Great examples. I'm currently in the (slow) process of setting up a 45gal display tank with a large school of Ember Tetras in mind. If was nice to have an idea of what to expect/hope for.
What schooling fish would you recommend for a 29g, 31.5inch aquarium? I've tried cardinal tetras, but they ended up shoaling. And I also found their behavior extremely boring. Do you have any recommendations? Other fish in the tank are: 8 Amano Shrimp, 8 Kuhli Loaches,8 Corydoras, 1 Clown Pleco, and 2 Apistogramma Agassizii. There are tons of plants and about a 20 inch open space in the middle.
I have 5 harlequin rasboras in a 29 gallon. I want to upgrade and get more. I love watching them school. My flying fox sometimes schools with them. Maybe not officially schos but tries to swim along with their school
Hi Rachel.. this whats up. I love neon tetras. Ive a 60l (15 gallon) wide black water tank. So how many tetras can I put in to my tank. Right now there are 5 Amanos ruling in there. Thank you very much for your infos. 😊
love my pygmy cories, and my hasbrosus cories they will school or shoal with eachother sometimes, i have 5 pygmy and 8 hasbrosus in my 15 gallon fluval flex + some cherry shrimp. fun tank to watch.
+Ronald Last it's more our vernacular, I think. I am sloppy with my word choice too when describing behavior. I was just thinking about it last night so figured, why not make a video
If you'd be setting up a 40g breeder for Central and South American fish, how many tetras do you think could be safely stocked? With probably about 6 or 8 cories, a bristlenose pleco, and two pairs of blue rams. I wanted to do three species, was thinking 10 neons, 10 bloodfins, and 10 serpaes or black neons. You think that stocking is too modest? This would be a tank with live plants, some driftwood, and maybe some rock formations.
What is your favorite schooling or shoaling fish and why? Subscribe: ruclips.net/user/msjinkzd My website: msjinkzd.com/stocklist/ My facebook: facebook.com/msjinkzd/ Buy me a coffee: msjinkzd.com/about_msjinkzd/support-our-site/
Rachel O'leary Pseudepiplatys annulatus and Micropanchax macrophthalmu just stunning little schooling fish in a heavily planted tank, the more there is, the more stunning they look.
Rachel O'leary They look so cool under a dim or blue light (even under bright lights) their bodies blend in to the background while their eyes stand out a mile, I love watching mine with all these tiny blue dots in sync going around the tank. I'll do a video once I've taken all my Platies to my LFS.
I always compare shoaling fish to kids on a playground; they're all together but it's chaos where as schooling is closer to a group of runners. I had 5 male guppies that used to shoal together, I'm not sure if they were playing, fighting, or what, then I had one lone female platy that would also get in on the action as well.
How do you feel about the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 on a 10gallon aquarium? Also, what plants would work in a 10 gallon with that light with Flourish and Flourish Excel?
thanks for the great knowledge, but one question in a large enough tank with enough fish could you have multiple species of fish in one school together?
One of my Otos when rouge and started hanging out with the ADF in my tank. Sometimes the betta chases him and the frogs will smack the betta so I think that has something to do with it.
I want a mid dwelling schooler to live in my 20 gallon planted tank with honey gouramis, otocinclus, and corys. Considering a lot if tetras, as well as maybe cherry barbs. What would you get?
New fish to my want list...indian hatchets! Also interesting you used the word quorum to describe their groupings. I did a little research on bacteria and quorum sensing, they actually produce a compound that signals to other bacteria. I wonder if the fish are doing something similar? A specific hormone or something that is subtly unique to each species, some kind of electrical signal, or even just the faintest difference in how each species is moving the water with their fins? I'm sure there's got to be something. Those blind cave tetras may have already given the answer I just haven't done my research. Also your thoughts on the patterns got me wondering about fish vision. I wonder what fish see compared to us.
Help! I have a 36g bowfront cycling. Will move my old school 4 year old big black skirts and 8 neons from my bigger tank to it. planning on getting a bristlenose to it as well. My black skirts maybe have another year or so life left in them. Wanted to add small fish to it and then add more when the black skirts are gone. What small fish besides neons can I add for now that work with the black skirts and how many? Can I also add mystery snails? Overkill? It's a heavily planted tank btw.
+Prys ArtRiots there are so many choices, really depends on what color and activity you want. Browse the species spotlights and see what tickles your fancy
So would Exodon Paxodorus (idk if i spelled that right) which are Bucktooth Tetras, largely be considered a schooling fish, rather than a shoaling fish?
hi rachel, love your channel :) i also love your polypterus, i have 2 myself and information is minimal so i would love it if you did a species sunday on them bad boys :D
I was thinking of getting 2 schools for my 75 gallon community tank. Would 9 odessa barbs school directionally, and what about green neon tetras? Was thinking minimum of 15, but 25 tetras would be better, right?
So I'm finishing up a 280 gallon plywood tank to move what I have in my 120 into it. I want to go from 4 silver dollars to 7-8. Without really any predators or other fish (other than some clown loach), I suspect that they wont really school right?
I see, thanks Rachel! I'll bump it from 4-7 and then watch their behavior. If they are kind of schooling then great, if not, then I might add another 1-2 but I think I don't want to go any more than that as to not overcrowd the aquarium.
I like silver dollars....used to to raise two of them and was awesome to see them get bigger and bigger. I wish to create a school tank one day and do have silver dollars in mind. I also like cichlids but that will not work with silver dollars ....
Hi Rachel, I love you videos. Just a quick question, are your sure that these are Harlequins? They look like Rasbora Hengeli. Smaller black triangle! I could be wrong, I have been before LOL :-)
Cheers Rachel, actually the Hengeli have a little more copper iridescence in thinking about it and being young makes sense. I only just discovered your channel and I am loving catching up on hours of wonderfully presented information. Keep up the Fishy Magic. Thanks from Melbourne, Australia :-)
Schooling = soldiers marching together in the same direction.
Schoaling = people in a shopping mall, just all there hanging out.
shoaling*
I have 21 harlequin rasboras in my 40 gallon and they are absolutely stunning in a large group. Super rewarding fish to keep
I want to thank you for making subtitles available so I can enjoy your videos! I am a beginner so I watch all of your videos to learn. thanks again!
I have an exception to the rule. I have a rummy-quin. I got a group of rummynose and only one survived. He now believes he's a harlequin and actually schools with them. He rarely leaves the pack and was adopted by them. It's quite cool, actually.
Erin Carlson Schooling fish that can't find their own species will sometimes try to school with another but it's more stressful on the fish
I love the way my Bronze Corys group together. I only have 5, but they seem so much happier in the group. It's tempting to give them their own tank, so they might have some breeding success.
I have 66 Harlequins in a tank that school very tightly. I Have never seen any fish that school better than Harlequins in captivity except for baby red belly piranhas. The trick is to give schooling fish a very large aquarium, most schooling fish will school good/better. Nice video!
So shoalers basically flunked out of school for not lining up properly... ;)
The best way to describe it is schoolers fly in formation. Shoalers simply fly together.
Basically
It's interesting how people will expect a behavior a fish has in the wild with all of the space, triggers and necessity for that behavior to translate to a small glass box. You did a good job and hopefully it will help some people get their minds around it
thanks! I appreciate that
My female betta sorority sometime swim lined up one behide another going the same way. I dont know what it is called so I called it the betta cha cha dance. lol
+christine lanphere I like that!
christine lanphere My girls used to do that (once they figured out the pecking order)...so cute! 😂 Also neat, since you could have fish of all colors acting in a schoolish fashion!
Just leave at Cha Cha dance xD since betta are territorial hehe
Leave it at *
*cha cha real smooth*
Hi Rachel, I love your channel. Its all about fish and plants and other underwater creatures. You always explain everything in details which is lots of fun to watch. I wanna thank you so much for finding enough time to make these amazing and educational videos !!! :)
+marky0306 thank you for saying you enjoy!
Continuing to just eat up your content. You knowledgeable, relatable & cool. Love it!
Thanks JT!
Rachel, you are such a wonderful speaker/teacher, really enjoyed this video,keep up the excellent work.Thank you learned so much..
+jemetta cooper thank you :)
Finally now I know why one of my neons has been secluded! No one really had a good answer for me
Best video topic ever I could never understand the difference no matter how much I read or researched. You made it simple! Thank you
+Christopher Broadwater glad it helped!
Let me just say I appreciate the volume. :) I work around noisy boilers and air ducts all night and like to listen to videos.
This is such an addicting hobby. I’ve got three tanks now after two months. I’m already looking to put up a customer shelf with three ten gallon aquarium for a different school of nano fish and shrimp in each
Really informative and probably the most interested I've been when watching a fish channel !
+john patterson thanks john!
thank you for clearing this up. as a non native english speaker i thought they were synonyms.
movingWater same here.. i thought they're the same thing LOL.
English really has few synonyms. There are tons of words that people consider synonyms but that have subtle differences in tone or meaning with proper usage. A great example would be "moist" and "damp". Essentially, they both mean "slightly wet". But you will never hear a baker brag about how damp his cake is.
At certains of the day, usually mid morning, most of my mixed community fish; giant danios, white clouds, rosy minnows, black neon tetras and Siamese algae eaters, shoal together in the middle of the tank. It is quite something.The rest of the time they are scattered all over the tank in species groups or on their own.
I'm always amazed by your videos and appreciate how much I've learned.
Fun fact!!!
In my LFS the Black neon tetras perfectly school with the Gold Tetras. And I think that's absolutely beautiful!
(This shouldn't be used as an example though!! This is a rare occurrence)
I could listen to Rachel talk fish all day, on the ball! Subbed btw
very informative! thanks for clarifying i think this is something most people dont fully understand, i definitely didn't. Thanks!
although i am keeping shrimp tank only i still watch your videos, very informative.
+Pablo Descalso thank you
I was just wondering about this!! Thanks for the video
Great topic and great explanation. Love the videos. I always feel I can learn something from you.
Excellent presentation on the difference between "Schooling verses Shoaling" to many times it is just used interchangeably but as you explained so well there are slight differences that are behavior driven from avoiding predation or feeding themselves ect... *** Walter owner of United Tanks of America
Thank you so much, you clarified this difference PERFECTLY!
Awesome info, I never really consider things like this before getting fish!
Great helpful video. Love your channel. Thanks Rachel.
Great topic! I had a sense of how things went but you really cleared up the subject...I love your unrushed, straightforward (very informed) delivery. :)
I enjoy observing my 'unintentional species tank' of Ottos...I think there's maybe 35 to 40something in there, but I'm never sure because they spend their daytimes mostly hanging out in the vegetation...or on the heater, there's a little group that loves the heater, including my 'original' three fish. Occasionally a little group might go out for a midday graze, or one feels the need to get the crazies out by doing a few loops & racing for the surface, but in general the real stuff seems to be going on at night. When their light comes on in the morning...mad dashes to the plant life all over! And. that's how I know that's there's a truckload of Ottos in there, lol. Does what they do fall under shoaling, or do they just not have enough tank size/unplanted space/optimal conditions to move in a more coordinated fashion? If they're river fish, does that naturally encourage a fairly tight schooling behavior, or do they just hang out....& how much of that is influenced by then being an algae eater/armored catfish type? don't mean to write this Russian novel, but a few musings brought on by watching these fellows after this vid. Once I found out (from your otto video!) that the slightly spazzy behaviour is happiness not stress I feel a lot better about the state of their general wellbeing...clearly 10 gallons is not exactly optimal, but I tweak it daily, they have a mature planting now & I use water exclusively from my RO water system...the water sparkles & the plant life is crazy. Obviously I never have to clean algae in my tank, but I feel kinda bad that I have to offer mostly algae-eater tabs v/s fresh zucchini (which they loved as fry/youngsters)--even in a few hours a single piece will cloud the tank! I do belly-roundness checks & they're ok, but I can't help but think that a more varied diet would be healthier, as with most critters. Any tips for feeding veggie-eaters in a little tank?
I honestly feel no need for any other species...these guys are kooky & a little mysterious, & we seem to get along fine. :) I keep meaning to do a little canvassing regarding a localish market for homegrown Ottos--guess I'll get there eventually! 🐠🐠🐠
+grey roses repashy soilent green, it is a gel food and is great for grazers
Rachel O'leary ooh, thanks! I'd love to give them a bit more excitement. :)
Rachel O'leary Oh, & I have a topic plea that is hot in my situation...copepods. OMG. It might not be so bad if I had predators, but I've heard that shrimp will attack Ottos. :( I have a ton & it's super unsightly on my black sand, not to mention that i feel they annoy the Ottos by swarming around even the brand new food...should I just keep suctioning them up or do i need to find a little Otto-friendly predator?
+Rachel O'leary. You won't believe this, maybe a week into the soylent green they were looking better...last 2 evenings i tried the super green (the 'vegan' option) & noticed the uptick in an already improved appetite. Woke up this morning & nearly spit out my coffee...some of my homegrown otos are spawning!!! Now I know it's KY but they're either half or entire siblings...how bad is the inbreeding effect in catfish?
+grey roses I wouldn't worry. But HURRAY!!!!
I added a group of 10 ember tetras to my 55 gallon tank containing 29 M. kubotai expressly because the two species are approximately the same size, shape, and intensity of coloration, and what's funny is that the ember tetras try to school with the kubotai, but the kubotai get scared and swim away. The especially happens when the light dims in the evening and the colors are less distinguishable.
Great job with this video Rachel.
it's really fascinating to me how they know/differentiate their kind to school together :-)
+Tonguç Endem to me as well! Fish are so neat
I used to keep Zebra Danios and they weren't what I expected. They never moved together as a group. Instead they spent most of their time chasing each other. They also picked on each other A LOT, although they didn't seem to bother my other fish. At first it seemed harmless enough, until I started noticing some pretty nasty wounds. Then the other Danios would all gang up on the injured one. In fact, I lost several Zebra Danios from injuries inflicted by other Zebra Danios and/or secondary infection.
I've also kept Giant Danios (I still have three). They're also active, but not frantically hyperactive like my Zebra Danios. Likewise, while they do chase each other around, they don't hurt each other, and often rest together as a group.
PS) I've successfully kept Giant Danios with both Neon and Glowlight Tetras. In my experience they seem to completely ignore the smaller fish. I've also kept Giant Danios with an aggressive Blue Gourami. Interestingly, the gourami, which had bullied smaller fish, was well mannered with the Giant Danios (roughly it's own size).
Excellent. I'm a beginner aquascaper, and I was wondering about the ember tetras. Thanks!
Big fan of our 125 gallon all barb tank. 3 types of Dawkinsia barbs, clown barbs, and Odessa barbs. Each species has at least 9 represented in the tank, so they exhibit lots of natural behaviors.
What I find to be interesting and contrary to your advice (which I follow as gospel) is that when I had 6 M. devario because that's all that were available, they swam around my 55 gallon tank as a school, but when I finally got 29, they all seemed to become very comfortable in the tank and stopped schooling.
Rachel scares the shit out of me with the way she pronounces some things but I just can't stop watching. Love the videos.
i am pretty terrifying
Very informative. Thanks rachel!
Completely random, but your hair is gorgeous
+Siyon thanks!
I'm lucky enough to have a large tank that can fit several schools/shoals
Favorite schooler is my penguin tetras great top level fish (bonus my SAE, otos, Madagascar rainbows shoal with them) closely followed by my lamb chops rasbora.
Favorite shoaler is cory cats! Best is they happily shoal in mix species groups!
My fave, so far, are the kubotai. Or maybe the chili rasbora. But nothing beats the pygmaeus when they are in sync. Perhaps it is just a school of fish that's cool! I do love the kubotai which is why I usually top off an order..." and I'll take 5 kubotai!" And grow the schools. When they hit the light just right and you see that blue iridescence it's almost magical. And in the dark with moon lighting it is!
They are in the tank with some pygmaeus and you can catch the "cory pack" hanging out with the kubotai. There's about 20 kubotai and 8 corys. It is fun to watch. Eventually the cory's split out and head back closer to the bottom. Yep sometimes work just doesn't get done!
It's pretty amazing how quickly they kick out the sick guy. One day I noticed a cardinal tetra off on his own and, uh-oh, that's not good. Sure enough the next day he was dead. He showed no signs of anything except not swimming with the group.
Rachel, I really appreciate and love all your videos! I'm getting a tank this weekend and want some schooling fish. i was thinking green rasboras
This is a wonderful video! Thank you for detailing the differences. I have been considering getting some bororas, but after seeing them as a sloppier shoaler, I'm second guessing. I have a Fluval spec V that I want to stock with a single species of something super tiny, but I want a tight school. Do you have any recommendations? Great video as always!!
+EatRyanBread you can manipulate their behavior a bit in the spec by angling the output to create a channel
EatRyanBread Micropanchax macrophthalmu (Lampeye killifish) are a tight schooling fish that will also shoal with other fish, can be kept with around 4 minimum to a school but do even better in larger schools. Beautiful peaceful little fish with their reflective bright blue eyes and only grow to 3cm.
I started off with 4 but now have 12, plan on getting more and having a 50g tank full of just them.... And maybe even a school of Pseudepiplatys annulatus (Clown Killifish)
+Donna sounds awesome
Rachel O'leary Doesnt it just!! Ever since I bought Aplocheilus lineatus early last year opened up my world to killifish, never knew how many stunning subspecies there was.
Here in the UK it's hard to get hold of most killi's locally but having a good relationship with my LFS I've managed to twist his arm to order me the clown killi's in a few months time. Can't wait, nano fish on a large scale..
I did recall seeing them in your Spec V setup and they were clustered nicely. How many do you have in that tank?? And thanks for the reply!!
I think it's funny that one of my Emerald Eye Rasboras (named Tiny) schools with my Rummy Nose Tetras instead of his own kind. He's the healthiest of my Rasboras too. 👀🙃
Really clear explanation, thanks!
Thanks for great videos :) [In 50 gallon tank] ..when the 7 Congo Tetras (will be getting more because they are awesome and beautiful!!!) were very small, they schooled for fun with the 2 small Emerald Corycats every evening and playing in the bubbles...I have lots of those, since they are very popular with my "water babies"/ fishes! I also have 3 Bumblebee Catfish in this tank. who kinda just mind their own business; come out to eat then hide away again. . Now the Corys are on their own, just the two of them, schooling every evening still, because it seems that the Tetras ( growing up, I think ) are more interested in one another and not doing any schooling.
“You are technically correct, the best kind of correct.”
I am sure yall can see the meme that goes with that line.
Words do have meaning! Nice job
Two of the best schooling fish in my experience are Rummynose Tetras and Silvertip Tetras.
Agreed. My Silvertips are so pretty but also violent, sometimes with fatal pecking order fights.
Extremely informative, thank you!
Great examples. I'm currently in the (slow) process of setting up a 45gal display tank with a large school of Ember Tetras in mind. If was nice to have an idea of what to expect/hope for.
What schooling fish would you recommend for a 29g, 31.5inch aquarium? I've tried cardinal tetras, but they ended up shoaling. And I also found their behavior extremely boring. Do you have any recommendations?
Other fish in the tank are: 8 Amano Shrimp, 8 Kuhli Loaches,8 Corydoras, 1 Clown Pleco, and 2 Apistogramma Agassizii. There are tons of plants and about a 20 inch open space in the middle.
OMW! Sounds like you have more than enough fishies in that tank! Just saying...no offense xx
Excellent video honey great job as always keep on tanking
I have 5 harlequin rasboras in a 29 gallon. I want to upgrade and get more. I love watching them school. My flying fox sometimes schools with them. Maybe not officially schos but tries to swim along with their school
Hi Rachel.. this whats up. I love neon tetras. Ive a 60l (15 gallon) wide black water tank. So how many tetras can I put in to my tank. Right now there are 5 Amanos ruling in there. Thank you very much for your infos. 😊
great video.always looking for tight schoolers. jelly beans, school or shoal ?
love my pygmy cories, and my hasbrosus cories they will school or shoal with eachother sometimes, i have 5 pygmy and 8 hasbrosus in my 15 gallon fluval flex + some cherry shrimp. fun tank to watch.
doomhowser Sounds awesome :)
Thanks for schooling me on this one.
Imagine not knowing this after all these years... probably because I'm a sloppy reader...
+Ronald Last it's more our vernacular, I think. I am sloppy with my word choice too when describing behavior. I was just thinking about it last night so figured, why not make a video
I love it when my neons shoal -- like little blue and red gems moving through my tank. :)
Very nice topic Rachel 🤗🤗🤗😻
this is what comes out of me being unable to sleep on Monday nights- I think too much! ha!
very original video !!!!! which is good!!!...... as i find everyone just copies each other every month :D
+Isometric Aquariums I try not to watch too many channels as I don't want that to happen. Appreciate it!
could make a case that u are the best aquarium fish channel now. great content every time.
+Isometric Aquariums wow, that is high praise. Thanks
This channel and Dustin's Fish Tanks are my 2 go to fish channels. Great info, to the point, and entertaining. Rachel, you are doing a great job.
+James W thank
If you'd be setting up a 40g breeder for Central and South American fish, how many tetras do you think could be safely stocked? With probably about 6 or 8 cories, a bristlenose pleco, and two pairs of blue rams. I wanted to do three species, was thinking 10 neons, 10 bloodfins, and 10 serpaes or black neons. You think that stocking is too modest? This would be a tank with live plants, some driftwood, and maybe some rock formations.
Seems fine. I would add a few shrimp as well just for fun.
Great video, thanks. P.S. love the haircut. ;)
Hi Rachel...great channel. How many Lambchop Rasbora or Chili Rasbora do you recommend for a 33 gallon tank ( 25" x 18" X 18"). Thanks.
species tank? Chilis i would do 30 if a species tank. Lambchop (espei) more like 20ish. Again- if mixing with other fish, it would vary.
Learned something new, thanks!
My tiger barbs would school when I go near the tank. They are always begging for food 😅😅😅
Informative as always 👍🏻
As always great vid and content!
What is your favorite schooling or shoaling fish and why?
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Rachel O'leary Cardinal & SerpaeTetras are my current favorites as far as schooling is concerned.
Rachel O'leary Pseudepiplatys annulatus and Micropanchax macrophthalmu just stunning little schooling fish in a heavily planted tank, the more there is, the more stunning they look.
+Donna I adore clown killies. Haven't kept the other, maybe I will have to
Rachel O'leary They look so cool under a dim or blue light (even under bright lights) their bodies blend in to the background while their eyes stand out a mile, I love watching mine with all these tiny blue dots in sync going around the tank.
I'll do a video once I've taken all my Platies to my LFS.
Rachel O'leary mine are dwarf neon rainbow fish they are just The best
Hey Rachel, was think of a school of 10 to 15 harlequins and then 3 or 4 dwarf south America cichlids in an Aquascape... Thoughts
I always compare shoaling fish to kids on a playground; they're all together but it's chaos where as schooling is closer to a group of runners.
I had 5 male guppies that used to shoal together, I'm not sure if they were playing, fighting, or what, then I had one lone female platy that would also get in on the action as well.
great analogy!
How do you feel about the Finnex Planted+ 24/7 on a 10gallon aquarium? Also, what plants would work in a 10 gallon with that light with Flourish and Flourish Excel?
Really interesting, thank you 👍🏻
thanks Rachel
So, a shoal would be my betta with the guppies all swimming together like they usually do?
good work and info thank you for video...
thanks for the great knowledge, but one question in a large enough tank with enough fish could you have multiple species of fish in one school together?
+a peters absolutely
Love your videos!
One of my Otos when rouge and started hanging out with the ADF in my tank. Sometimes the betta chases him and the frogs will smack the betta so I think that has something to do with it.
very interesting. Like the new do, Rach
+Vancat2 thanks penny!
I want a mid dwelling schooler to live in my 20 gallon planted tank with honey gouramis, otocinclus, and corys. Considering a lot if tetras, as well as maybe cherry barbs. What would you get?
Check out rasboras. There are some that are more hard core mid tank than others.
New fish to my want list...indian hatchets! Also interesting you used the word quorum to describe their groupings. I did a little research on bacteria and quorum sensing, they actually produce a compound that signals to other bacteria. I wonder if the fish are doing something similar? A specific hormone or something that is subtly unique to each species, some kind of electrical signal, or even just the faintest difference in how each species is moving the water with their fins? I'm sure there's got to be something. Those blind cave tetras may have already given the answer I just haven't done my research. Also your thoughts on the patterns got me wondering about fish vision. I wonder what fish see compared to us.
+cswaing lateral line probably plays a big role
Help! I have a 36g bowfront cycling. Will move my old school 4 year old big black skirts and 8 neons from my bigger tank to it. planning on getting a bristlenose to it as well. My black skirts maybe have another year or so life left in them. Wanted to add small fish to it and then add more when the black skirts are gone. What small fish besides neons can I add for now that work with the black skirts and how many? Can I also add mystery snails? Overkill?
It's a heavily planted tank btw.
😓
+Prys ArtRiots there are so many choices, really depends on what color and activity you want. Browse the species spotlights and see what tickles your fancy
Thanks for the video. Any idea when the ember tetras will be for sale? Ive been looking to buy some for awhile.
+Blockhead V.I.P probably next week. They look great, I just want them to fire up a but more
very informative video.
just love you and your vides!!!!
Thanks for the thorough, intelligent channel!!
great content, thanks for sharing
So would Exodon Paxodorus (idk if i spelled that right) which are Bucktooth Tetras, largely be considered a schooling fish, rather than a shoaling fish?
Concise, thanks!
My oto cats don't school or shoal they chill for a bit 😁 Thanks for another great video Rachel!
hi rachel, love your channel :) i also love your polypterus, i have 2 myself and information is minimal so i would love it if you did a species sunday on them bad boys :D
I did! ruclips.net/video/G-8AdM8YpKU/видео.html
usefull video as always. thx
I was thinking of getting 2 schools for my 75 gallon community tank. Would 9 odessa barbs school directionally, and what about green neon tetras? Was thinking minimum of 15, but 25 tetras would be better, right?
If you can I would do 20 tetras. The odessa more congregate then school. They do actively engage with each other
So I'm finishing up a 280 gallon plywood tank to move what I have in my 120 into it. I want to go from 4 silver dollars to 7-8. Without really any predators or other fish (other than some clown loach), I suspect that they wont really school right?
if they are in good numbers, they will school without predators. Its in their nature.
I see, thanks Rachel! I'll bump it from 4-7 and then watch their behavior. If they are kind of schooling then great, if not, then I might add another 1-2 but I think I don't want to go any more than that as to not overcrowd the aquarium.
I like silver dollars....used to to raise two of them and was awesome to see them get bigger and bigger. I wish to create a school tank one day and do have silver dollars in mind. I also like cichlids but that will not work with silver dollars ....
Very interesting.
Hi Rachel, I love you videos. Just a quick question, are your sure that these are Harlequins? They look like Rasbora Hengeli. Smaller black triangle! I could be wrong, I have been before LOL :-)
+Josh Frederick they are harlies, just small still
Cheers Rachel, actually the Hengeli have a little more copper iridescence in thinking about it and being young makes sense. I only just discovered your channel and I am loving catching up on hours of wonderfully presented information. Keep up the Fishy Magic. Thanks from Melbourne, Australia :-)
+Josh Frederick welcome and thanks for the kind words