[nevetsphan]

Hey guys, I have a 75 gallon set up with an eheim 2215 and eheim 2217 running as filtration. I have about 40 neon tetras in there.

They usually stay near the bottom when the lights are on and don't swim around as much. When I did a water change yesterday, I shut off all the filters and noticed that they were swimming in nice schools.

So is it possible that I have too much flow? I even turned the knob on the filter to slow down the filtration by half and I don't notice them schooling. I don't want to sacrifice too much flow, because its also a planted tank.

Any recommendations? Sorry I'm a noobie.

 

[shift]

You are fine. I have a bunch in my 84g with a fx5 and two small power heads. They have no prob with the flow

 

[shift]

Mine didn't really school until I added rummys or harlequins the. They joined the school on and off

 

[GuppyGuppyGuppyGuppyGuppy]

Mine all stayed at the bottom when I had too much flow.

 

[shift]

Try pointing the filter output along the back wall of the tank

 

[nevetsphan]

Thanks for the suggestion, I'll try pointing it against the back when I get some time. Temporarily, I turned off the eheim 2215 for less flow but they still didn't act any different.

 

[ua hua]

They are fine with the flow you have. After all these fish come from rivers that have way more flow than your tank I guarantee you that.

 

[nevetsphan]

Thanks ua hue, that makes sense. What do you think the issue would be since they do school when my filters are shut off for water changes?

 

[ua hua]

Thanks ua hue, that makes sense. What do you think the issue would be since they do school when my filters are shut off for water changes?

They are schooling tighter when you do a water change because they're stressed. Having a huge hand in the tank will do that and its their natural defense mechanism to form a tighter school. If you add some larger fish they will school together better.

 

[nevetsphan]

Oh now it all makes sense, I currently have Amano shrimps, Corydora habrosus and just the neon/cardinal tetras. The tetras are the one dominating everyone right now, they pick at the wafers and pellets meant for the bottom feeders.

I'll look into new fishes soon, any suggestions?

 

[DaveP1982]

Generally I think with tetras it is a sign of happy fish if they are not bunched together as it means they feel secure. As nice as it looks to see them schooling, as already said this is normally when they feel spooked or threatened in some way.