Shoal - A group of fish loosely gathered together but with variable distance between individuals and moving in various directions and/or oriented in various positions.
[edit] Shoaling
Like all small tetras, glowlights (Hemigrammus erythrozonus) are happiest, most active, and most aesthetically pleasing when in a shoal. A minimum aquarium length of 60 cm will make them more comfortable when swimming.
Shoaling tetras and Brochis are ideal. Dwarf cichlids and smaller labyrinth fish (Gouramis etc) are also suitably gentile. Larger, acclimatized fish will do well in a medium to large community set-up.
Shoals of fox fish, sgt. majors, finger fish, black tip sharks, blue-green trumpet fish and various 'single' angel and puffer species are all around you and over your head.
A shoaling fish by nature, it must be kept in groups of at least six but preferably more. It likes to "hide" among plant thickets, coming out to swim in the open; it remains in the lower half of the aquarium, often close to the substrate.
A shoal or group of fish should consist of at the very least six or more individuals but the more the merrier.
Care:Shoalfish, keep 6 or more fish in a densely planted tank, preferably with floating plants to reduce the light, and with a dark soil. Some free swimming space should be made available in the front of the tank.
Allow shoaling fish to do just that. Keep them in groups rather than as individuals.
I have a shoal of 5. They are top swimmers in my 24" deep tank. They seem very easy to keep, are very active, and I would recommend them highly.
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This fish shoals near the surface in search of food. They are carnivorous and like a diet of meat and live foods, but can also be adapted to eat pelleted foods.
Keep this shoaling fish as a group, with more females than males. They can be kept with rock dwelling cichlids, for which the usual rocky decor should be supplied - but leave plenty of room in the upper levels.
Adult female Shoal of Brichardi Subadult Subadult
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Schooling and shoaling fish
Sometimes, one fish truly is not enough. These are my favorite fish, and my down-falling.
I will loosely define schooling as fish who stick pretty closely together most of the time.
Numbers: This is a shoaling fish and should be kept in Groups of at least 6
Minimum tank size: 20 gallons
Tank setup: Does well in a planted tank with a large open shoaling area.
- The Hawaiian Islands - Three species of Acropora were studied on the French Frigate Shoals and A. valida spawned in 1989 right after a new moon. A. humilis was observed to spawn during the moons first quarter. A.
Comparative effects of water-column nitrate enrichment on eelgrass Zostera marina, shoalgrass Halodule wrightii, and widgeongrass Ruppia maritima. Burkholder, JoAnn M.; Glasgow, Howard B., Jr.; Cooke, Jacob E. Dep. Bot., North Carolina State Univ.
SB: A shoaling fish that must be keep in groups of at least six. A good community fish that can be kept with other small fish. The Cardinal Tetra will fall prey to large fish, such as Angels.
Lemon Tetras are among those fishes that not only look far better in a decent sized shoal (and need the security of numerous conspecific companions, as in the wild, they shoal in groups numbering many thousands), ...
I wouldn't recommend anything smaller than a 20 gallon tank for a shoal of at least 8 tiger barbs (this shoal can be divided into the 3 colour varieties stated above, therefore you do not need to keep just 8 normal tiger barbs).
Benthocromis Tricoti is a cichlid endemic to Lake Tanganica and lives, in big shoals, deep in the lake.
If you are going to spawn these fish in a shoal then the tank must be of at least 51G (200L) capacity.
It is a very active and relatively hardy shoaling fish. They do often get marketed for small tanks which, sadly, are not suitable.
This is a communicative species that requires shoal numbers for their full personality to be appreciated, They will sleep in groups, and feed in coordinating lines and rows. They will shoal defensively.
Silvar dollars are peaceful community fish and should be kept is shoals of several fish. They are most comfortable with diffuse lighting and a dark substrate. M.
Some fish that shoal (school) together in the wild, will not live for a long time if they are not kept with large numbers of the same species (There are however, a large number of shoaling fish that will do well if kept by themselves).
dhonti does not seem to be quite the shoaling catfish as its look-alike, S. multipunctatus (note the differences in appearance between S. dhonti, upper fish, and S. multipunctatus, lower fish, in photo on this page.).
A group of 6 or more fish should be kept together in a shoal in a tank that provides hideouts as well as free swimming space.
To enhance their playful antics at the bottom of the tank, corys are best kept in a small shoal of at least three. I have four in my tank, one of which is blind.
Aquarium setup: Brilliant rasbora (Rasbora borapetensis) should be kept in a shoal in an aquarium with dense vegetation along the back and sides. Some roots that are placed in such a way that shaded areas are created are recommended.
Barbs are definitely shoal fishes, Keep 6 or more of the same species.
Be careful of Tinfoil Barbs they can get big.
Seperate the adults from young.
A tropical cypriniform, this barb is aggressive and should be kept in a shoal of eight or more to keep it from bothering other fish and the tank size should be rather large, say 10 or preferably 15 gallon.
Chromis are bright, active fish usually found in shoals. They are hardy, long-lived, and often used to cycle a tank. The Blue Green Chromis would make an excellent choice.
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When it has established a school, or shoal, a green chromis will often spawn in an aquarium, but it is virtually impossible to raise any babies.
OK, so that's the gory bit done. What about the fish themselves? Shapes, colours, shoaling etc.? This fish is amazingly diverse in all of those areas as I will explain.
This fact is due to its colors and active behavior, and if there are more sumatranuses in the aquarium, they`ll form a shoal.
The most common aquarium specie is the tetra, although hatchetfishes, pencilfishes, as well as piranhas, belong to this group of active swimmers. Mostly shoaling fishes, Characins prefer clean, clear, ...
Optically O. vittatus is easy to classify for the aquarist. The rhombic point on the peduncle at the the continuous lateral line makes it nearly unmistakable. Otocinclus species should always be kept as shoal.
Rainer Schmitt
rainerATotocinclus.de ...
He was an active partner in brood care and the female welcomed him into the shoal of fry. After several weeks the female began to make a few courtship displays to the male but never was their any aggression between them.
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