Stange behavior
 

Is it normal for rosy barbs to not school? I have 4 currently and they will be everywhere but in a school, 50/50 in pairs, rarely 3... also as a cute side note my serpae are trying to impress them...

I wouldn't worry too much about it. My green tiger barbs hang out for the most part with each other but will def. pair off from time to time. As long as they're aware of each other, I guess they're ok.

Thanks! I was really confused since they are suppose to be schooling fish and had bought 2 more to my already pair so they could.

What size tank do you have? Sometimes fish don't school because they don't feel threatened at all. I know my grandma has a 10 gallon tank, and her neons tetras and black tetras are so comfortable in there they don't school. Size and tank temperament would affect how closely fish stay together.

+1 I have a shoal of cardinals and they are always a few here, a few there, and then something happens that spooks them and they all come together in a big fat hurry. I'm curious to know your tank size and other occupants??

I have a community tank of 4 diamond tetras, 4 serpae tetras, 4 rosy barbs, and 6 zebra danios in 35 gallon tank. Also I noticed the littlest diamond swimming with the serpae school... strange!

ditto on everyone else, my group of 10 neon tetras don't school together, but if something hits the floor hard, they're back with each other "in a big fat hurry" :-)

Waiting for Byron or someone to explain the difference between schooling and shoaling. D:

Schooling and shoaling are not that much different. Shoaling is when a group of the same fish swim together as a group. Schooling is a form of shoaling where the fish are in very close proximity of each other and swim as a single giant coordinated mass, like herring in the ocean. In a nut shell, schooling is just a closer knit, more organized form of shoaling.

My Cardinals don't school either. Like Kymmie, you see one or two here, one or two there. Makes me want even more for an even nicer display of their beautiful colors. Now as for my Rummynose, they are ALWAYS together; left to right, right to left in one large group. They are a tight schooling fish for sure.