Kind of a random question about schooling tetras

[bassbonediva]

So, I trying to finialize the stocking list for my 55gal betta sorority/community.

So far I have:
9x female bettas (maybe...if I can find two more I love)
5x neon tetras
5x cardinal tetras
6x kuhli loaches (3x striped 3x black)
5x otos
6x albino cories
2x German blue rams

I know the neons and cardinals will school together because they're similar in size/shape/color. However, I was also thinking of adding a school of 5 Von Rio/flame tetras. I love the look of them and think they would just add a little more pizazz to the tank. Will they school with the neons/cardinals or will they form their own "gang"? This is more a curiousity question than anything. I'm more than likely going to get the Von Rios/flames regardless, but I'm just curious as to how many separate schools I'll have.

 

[lauraf]

I have five von rios - they are the only tetras in my tank. They don't school together a lot, actually, and my LFS mentioned that they aren't necessarily known to be tightly schooling fish. Not sure if maybe having other tetras in the tank will cause them to act differently?

 

[littletankbigworld]

I think it just depends. Sometimes they do, sometimes they don't. I know you want a more definite answer, so sorry! I do love the look of flame tetras and think they would look awesome in your tank.

 

[Doomhed]

So, I trying to finialize the stocking list for my 55gal betta sorority/community

didn't you lose a bunch of bettas that you put in a tank over 18 inches deep?

I though you learned that lesson the hard way, now you are going to kill some more of the fish you claim to love so much. High pressure = dead bettas. Their swim bladders are too delicate for a deep tank!

 

[Newman]

lol, I think she has made precautions to lower the depth in some way.
I don't remember if she ever mentioned it on this forum though..
She certainly did not ignore your advice =/

 

[bassbonediva]

No, Doom, I didn't ignore you completely. The tank you were mentioning (my 46gal) was actually 24" deep (about 23" with the substrate in there). This 55gal is 21" deep and I have a 2" substrate bed (the deepest I felt I could safely go since half of it is sand). So, my tank is now 19" deep. I know, 1" deeper than you recommended, but I didn't feel comfortably with a more than 2" sand bed, even with MTS in there. (Oh, and I lost all those females in December to ick that was brought in by an USD cat I bought at Walmart, not from swim bladder issues...I only ever lost two girls from swim bladder issues and one wasn't even in the 46gal). OH, and on top of having the deeper substrate bed to lower the tank depth, I also don't fill it all the way and leave at least an inch between the water level and the rim of the tank, so that helps decrease the depth even more. I tried to get a shallower tank (45gL that was 18" deep with no substrate), but it leaked in every seam and wasn't worth fixing so I gave it back to the people who gave it to me.

laura, LOVE your profile pic!

littletank, "sometimes they do and sometimes they don't" is a good enough answer for me. I wasn't necessarily look for a "definitive" answer, just an "in general" is fine.

Newman, you're right...I don't think I've really mentioned my new sorority tank on here except maybe once briefly. My bad! But thanks for sticking up for me!

 

[littletankbigworld]

Yeah. In a similar instance, I've heard of blood tetras and bleeding heart tetras schooling together since they are both larger tetras. Mine do not, but some people have reported that their fish didn't school together at first, but then did after a year or so.