Scientific Evidence of Benefits of Shoaling Fish kept in groups

Byron

We've been advocating maintaining shoaling fish (tetras, angelfish, barbs, rasbora, corydoras, etc) in groups of 6 or more for some time; apparently this has never been scientifically studied--until now. Here's a link to an article from Practical Fishkeeping about a study that confirmed that larger groups of these fish have less stress and (in some cases) significantly less aggression.

http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.u...m_content=html

Byron.

kitten_penang

this is how they live in the wild. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWIVCdLOImw

bones14

I read this article as well.I agree with one reader who commented that they should have used larger groups in larger tanks as well.Overall a good piece that proves that having groups does serve a purpose and is more in keeping with natural behavior.

1077

+one, Have always thought that large groups are much more appealing, and they do appear to appreciate being in large groups as well.

kitten_penang

yup coz although they are hand bred they still have their natural inborn instinct.

TexasTanker

Neat article, although I wonder at the accuracy they could have attained by doing larger group studies. 10 litres is not much, and 5 angels seems small if you're trying to demonstrate"shoaling'" behavior.I'd be curious if they got different results in a larger tank with larger groups.

iamntbatman

Agreed, especially since, in the case of things like tiger barbs, you often find that even six or eight fish isn't enough to really alleviate the problems associated with having too few fish in the shoal. I'd like to see them use 55g tanks and groups of 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 12, 20 and 30 barbs (though I guess their metrics would be pretty useless with just one fish).