Fish Not Shoaling

[Chri$]

i have four black widow tetras in my 15g, i thought these were shoaling fish, they just seem to go about there own buissness in their own part of the tank??

 

[Ethos]

Maybe because they're not a shoal?
If you want a shoaling fish, maybe perhaps it'd be good to get a shoal for it?
I'd get atleast 4 more.
What else is in the tank?

 

[Chri$]

obviously, i am stupid most of the time.
2 platys, 1 speckled molly.

 

[Weaver]

To tell you the truth,Id seven of these of which 4 are still living and Ive never really seen them shoal at any time other than very loosely.Now there are only 4 they dont shoal at all.
But thats just my experience and no doubt others will have a different story
The other thing to say is that a lot of fish shoal as a defense mechanism and perhaps they dont feel uneasy at all in your tank?

 

[bogwood]

I have 6 Glowlight Tetras... they 'kind of' shoal (not enough of them really)... but are just as happy mooching about in 2s or 3s...

 

[Chri$]

cheers guys, i was told by a friend that they would shoal, shows just how much he know's.

 

[monkeyman]

Apparently fish dont shoal in tanks...

 

[@ombomb]

Apparently fish dont shoal in tanks...

My cardinal tetra do.

I think it's fair to say they don't show completely natural behaviour in tanks though.

 

[jailawes]

I've got 4 black widow tetras to that aren't shoaling, even though the LFS said i needed 4 to keep them happy, at the moment they each stay there different corners of the tank, and occassionally chase each other around. While ive got 10 neon tetras that all shoal, so dunno about the black widows!

 

[morgan]

I have 10 Cardinal Tetras and they don't shoal much. They are in a 65 ukgal tank (with other fish). I take it as a sign that they are happy and don't feel threatened.

 

[monkeyman]

Apparently fish dont shoal in tanks...

My cardinal tetra do.

I think it's fair to say they don't show completely natural behaviour in tanks though.

Cool

I have 10 Cardinal Tetras and they don't shoal much. They are in a 65 ukgal tank (with other fish). I take it as a sign that they are happy and don't feel threatened.

Well, id say thats spot on...

 

[bunjiweb]

Fish will not shoal if they are too relaxed, i.e. they don't feel threatened enough to represent their terratory. This is generally the case in alot of tanks, certainly people always complain about their neons not shoaling "like they do in the shop" If you had more fish in the tank, especially some that were faster than the black widows then you would probably find that they would have a greater tendancy to shoal.

As also said the size of the shoal also plays a great part. You would do fine to get another 3 or 4 more without overstocking the tank.

Ben