Keepers Of Large Groups Of Single Species Fish.

[Aqua Andy]

Hi,

I'm interested to know who keeps the largest groups of a single species of fish and the differences noticed in their behavior when keeping them in large groups.

ie 30 Neon Tetra or 6 Bristlenose Plec's etc


Andrew

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

As far as keeping large numbers of various species to name a few, i have 24neon tetras, 25guppys and 20platys...the next largest is otos of which i have 6.

 

[Tolak]

I keep large groups, 100+ at times of angels together, some smaller groups of adults as well. Once in a while I keep a smaller group of juviniles together.

Smaller groups of angels are more skittish during maintainance than larger groups. They are more comfortable in larger groups. Older fish are more cautious than younger fish. A large group of mixed age fish, adults & juvies, acts the same as a large group of juvies. A large group of adults is more cautious.

They all eat like pigs, with the exception of pairs that have a tank to themselves. Once they settle in to their tank, pairs seem to take their time a little more, I think they realize there is no competition for food.

The younger they are, the less they care about tank maintainance. As they mature, they will go towards the end of the tank where you aren't. Small groups of half a dozen or less adults will hide the second you start messing with the inside of their tank. Once you have around 15 together they feel more secure when you start fooling with their territory. They will hang out around gravel vacs & syphon hoses.

It seems they don't realize where food comes from until they get to around pea body size. After that, they know where it comes from, act hungry always, & will follow anyone from one end of the tank to the other. They also figure out real quick that the dog doesn't feed them, and totally ignore him as he walks by the lower tanks.

Tolak

 

[OohFeeshy]

I'm not 100% convinced they're all the same species, but I have 11 Striped Khulis alltogether, I'd get more if I didn't have the swordtails, cories and danios. And theres a black khuli that hangs around with them, too.

 

[Weaver]

Ive enough cardinals in my main tank to elect a new pope
Most of the time they shoal together but sometimes a few break off to go exploring on their own or in small groups.
I also keep a school of about 2 dozen glowlights who are less of a tight knit group

 

[wuvmybetta]

I keep a group of 8 frontosa and I honestly don't know what they'd do without each other. It makes me sad to hear of folks who keep one front in a community tank.

I also have a trio of L200 plecs in a tank, alone. I believe they prefer it that way.

In one of my tanks I have a pair of kribs, they spawned a few months back and all of their kids haven't moved out yet, it's quite interesting to watch them in such a large group of 40+, they're very cute.

 

[lljdma06]

I've kept 24 cardinal tetras, and they tend to move together, which was cool to watch.

Right now, I have 9 harlequins, but I plan on putting over 20 in my new aquarium when I move back in May. It'll be interesting to see what they do in such large numbers.

Like Wuv, I have also kept quite a few kribs, and watching a group of 40+ half-grown kribs moving around is quite cool.

 

[mikev]

I'm not 100% convinced they're all the same species, but I have 11 Striped Khulis alltogether, I'd get more if I didn't have the swordtails, cories and danios. And theres a black khuli that hangs around with them, too.

Heh-heh. Same idea here: 9 striped and 6 black. Striped here are certainly not all the same species, and black are not really black (very dark red or brown), but they don't seem to mind each other.

 

[-cAtFiSh-]

i would say these are large groups but i have 8 neon tetras and 8 harlequin rasboras. the tetras dont tend to school very much at all, but prefer to chase each other round the tank. the harlequins are always schooling as far as i can tell.

 

[Bre_B]

I have 8 female bettas, and i notice they are less active and seem depressed in a lower number group. thats all i noticed, i never really had them single for too long.

 

[wuvmybetta]

^ I am absolutely astonished at myself for not even thinking of the bettas!

Betta sibling tanks Hundreds of fighters in a closed enviroment, it's an amazing thing. They never fail to amaze me and even though they have the hearts of lions they somehow have a brotherly love. I can pull an innocent, non-aggressive male from the tank, put him in his own closed enviroment and quickly he becomes territorial and challenging towards a neighbor, it's adorable. But, I like to keep them together as long as possible.

My smaragdina tank is packed with siblings and they get along and interact very well. They're somewhat skittish and they school together a lot, it's quite beautiful, so are they.

 

[Briarmoor]

Since adding more neons, I notice they are all over the tank whereas the 4 that were alone before just stayed in a little group and were more cautious. I also notice them dart at each other now. They come over to the glass when I roll the chair over from the computer to look at them. Very cute. B)