How to make schooling fish stay tighter
 

in my 29g i have 7 rummynose and 6 neon tetras. i no tht if u get a predator or if u hv alot than they will school more. but what would be some predators i could get that would not eat the fish.

Adding a predator is cruel and causes stress which over time causes death. It will cause the group to scatter and hide.
Adding dither fish makes a species more comfortable. Fish that tend to hide (Cichlids) are made more comfortable if another species can be seen above who's behavior is calming. The dither fish are not freaked out... ok.. things must be ok.

Adding more of the same creates a more confident group and are more likely to school. Don't be confused by shoaling... and schooling. Schooling is swimming together as a group in the same direction in a coordinated manner. Shoaling...they like to be with their own kind and don't nec swim in that tight group.

Both your tetras are "shoaling" and you are at the minimums for the groups. Neons are tiny, you can easily increase their numbers in a 29. Lots of live plants in an aquarium and frequent water changes will allow you to up numbers a bit too.

I have kribensis and they even swim at the top sometimes. So it must be a safe enviorment. There is a lot of fish in it though. Theres 2 dawn, 2 bumblebee, 2 sunset platies, 1 pearl gourami, 1 peppered cory cat, 1 juli cory cat, 1 albino bushynose pleco, 6 neons, 7 rummynoses, 1 bango catfish, and 1 neon blue stiphodon goby. Im moveing the kribensis to a breeding tank. What about cory cats? Do they school well? What else are some good schooling fish?

You have no space left for fish in the tank.

Most freshwater fish do not "school" as marine fish do. Rummynose tetra are about the best for this, but no FW species school in the strict sense.

Add more fish of the particular species you want to school. Bigger schools look much more impressive anyway!

Not all the time at least. Many of them do at times throught the day, but the tank needs to be large enough to allow it. It's not like fish either school or shoal - that's just a description of what the group happens to be doing at any given moment. Granted, some species spend more time doing one than another.

Aside from the group moving from one place to another, fish school for protection - the reason why it's said that adding a predator will make them school instead of shoal. a group of fish in a tank that are comfortable and not threadened tend to spread out and mill about (shoaling). Obviously you don't want to add a real predator or that's all you'll have left in the tank, but often just a large centerpiece fish will do. Again - you don't want your fish tightly schooling all of the time, as that's an indication of stress. But, the larger fish will get them to school from time to time.

The definition of "school" and "shoal" is not always clear. The ones I tend to use apply "school" solely to marine fish, and this means the species remains together 24/7, they hunt/feed as a pack, etc. As far as I know, no freshwater fish does this, at least not strictly. "Shoal" on the other hand refers to the freshwater species habit of remaining in large groups that may form a "pack" for various reasons, but also separate partially and/or completely, and they never hunt as a pack with the sole aim of bringing down prey together.

I acknowledge there are sources who reverse these definitions, or who do not apply them like this at all. This is why I tend to use shoaling for those freshwater fish that must have a group to avoid stress in general, such as the characins, cyprinids, some catfish, etc. It is certainly true that the larger the space they are in, the more they generally remain close. And when threatened they will tighten the shoal even more.

Many of these species do not actively swim much to begin with. Rummys as I mentioned are the best example of an active-swimming fish that does tend to remain in a close group while swimming through the tank. Many others, such as cardinals, the Rosy clade species, and so on are quite sedate, remaining in close proximity under the shelter of plants, branches, etc. Rasbora are like this too.

Byron.

OH YEA??
Kokanee salmon. EXPLAIN THAT.

Explain what?

Jorunder... Do Kokanee Salmon school? Is that what you are asking? By Byron's definition of Schooling / Shoaling... why does Kokanee Salmon act the way it does? Just wanting to clarify your question.