Gold Tetra

[Benauld]

First of all my apologies if you have already read this! It is a bit of an over-lap with a post I made in the beginners section, but it didn't receive much of a response there, so I thought I'd ask here too...

I have observed some interesting behaviour with my Gold Tetra (Hemigrammus rodwayi). I currently have five of them in my 130L tank. Two of which will rise into the water column from the vegetation, and appear to mirror each other - holding their bodies at a 45 degree angle to one another, one below and slightly to the side of the other, whilst simultaneously shaking their tails.

A little bit like this, when viewed head-on:

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They then move up and down the tank doing this...

Does anybody know what this behaviour is?

 

[The-Wolf]

I noticed this behaviour when I had them.
It would appear that the fish are displaying to each other for
dominance and/or breeding rights.

 

[Benauld]

Thanks for the reply,

Well, they look pretty much the same size and seem pretty evenly matched. I hope they settle down soon - I don't want any bullying in my tank!

 

[Biulu]

My serpae tetras show a similar behaviour once in a while. To me it looks like estabishing the picking order withn the shoal.