What are some big peaceful schooling fish?

Stanzzzz7

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 26, 2015
5,215
7,631
1,433
51
Uk
The
the op was talking about a 300 gallon tank. I think it would suffice for a shoal.
The most common pink tail is the ery and the one most people refer to when talking about this fish of the 5 or so species.
The only correct way to keep these fish is like most other characins , in shoals just like they behave in the wild.
Seems like all the fish discussed in the above threads lacked tank space and were kept in low numbers.
 

SilverArowanaBoi

Redtail Catfish
MFK Member
Sep 21, 2023
1,398
1,369
154
Houston, Texas
This might perhaps be a far stretch but when I think of large schooling fish, I think of a nice school of Hujeta Gars.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Bret Signorelli

viejafish

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 31, 2013
682
120
76
Northeast
I keep medium and large African and CA/SA cichlid and tried many large schooling fish, including bleeding heart tetra, diamond tetra, Congo tetra, Tiger barb, brilliant rasboras, black neon, red fin tetra, rosy barb, roseline shark and so on. I have to grow them out in separate tanks to reach sufficient size before introduction to the Cichlid community. Still I always lost a few fish in the first few days as newly introduced fish are skittish and trigger attack instinct from cichlid. But once calmed down, my cichlid surprisingly would ignore schooling fish that fit into their mouth.

Large is relative. Lungfish can grow to 4 ft, so you need are monster size schooling fish. Bala shark and tin foil barb get large, but they eat plants. Pink tail Chalceus get big, but they dont move or school much, and behave more like cichlid in conspecific aggression. Clown and Tiger loach will school and reach monster size, but retailed size are small and take years to get big.
 

Stanzzzz7

Silver Tier VIP
MFK Member
Sep 26, 2015
5,215
7,631
1,433
51
Uk
Pin
I keep medium and large African and CA/SA cichlid and tried many large schooling fish, including bleeding heart tetra, diamond tetra, Congo tetra, Tiger barb, brilliant rasboras, black neon, red fin tetra, rosy barb, roseline shark and so on. I have to grow them out in separate tanks to reach sufficient size before introduction to the Cichlid community. Still I always lost a few fish in the first few days as newly introduced fish are skittish and trigger attack instinct from cichlid. But once calmed down, my cichlid surprisingly would ignore schooling fish that fit into their mouth.

Large is relative. Lungfish can grow to 4 ft, so you need are monster size schooling fish. Bala shark and tin foil barb get large, but they eat plants. Pink tail Chalceus get big, but they dont move or school much, and behave more like cichlid in conspecific aggression. Clown and Tiger loach will school and reach monster size, but retailed size are small and take years to get big.
Pink tail chalceus when kept in a shoal are not aggressive. When kept singular or in groups of less than six they pick on the weakest as a true pecking order can’t be reached. I’ve seen many tanks and have kept them myself in groups of more than six and they behave just fine.
 

viejafish

Piranha
MFK Member
Jan 31, 2013
682
120
76
Northeast
Schooling fish need a minimum of 6 and the presence of large tankmates to exhibit schooling behavior. When I grow out schooling fish in their own tank, under no threat they don’t school but spread out all over the tank. Also, juvenile fish shoal more than adult when they will engage in mating competition.
 
  • Like
Reactions: SilverArowanaBoi

tiger15

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
Oct 1, 2012
1,700
1,053
179
SNJ
Here are examples of some large schooling fish.

.

Alternatively, it is feasible to house hundreds of cardinal tetra with a single arowana and likely a lung fish in a huge tank.

 
  • Love
Reactions: celebrist

celebrist

Goliath Tigerfish
MFK Member
May 7, 2013
3,023
2,871
179
alaska
Schooling fish need a minimum of 6 and the presence of large tankmates to exhibit schooling behavior. When I grow out schooling fish in their own tank, under no threat they don’t school but spread out all over the tank. Also, juvenile fish shoal more than adult when they will engage in mating competition.
My (9) pictus behaved the exact opposite, tight school in the qt90 then spreading out in the 450
I was hoping the two big P.blochi and a feather fin would keep them in a school roaming the tank but they shoal one group on either side of the big cats
 
  • Like
Reactions: SilverArowanaBoi
zoomed.com
hikariusa.com
aqaimports.com
Store