Will angelfish make cardinals school?

well i added a quarter sized angelfish to my 30 gall along with 10 neons,,,,my neons were already schooling, but i'm sure ur cardinals would do the same ....but everyfish is different so...good luck

Im pretty sure that it will spook them into schooling once and a while.Dont count on them scholling all the time though. And eventually you will find your cardinal school going down lol.

ive got 4 adult size angels in my 55 with around 15 neons and none of them school.

i have cardinals with my discus. i know angels are more aggresive then the discus but they dont mess with the cardinals. i have 5 or so left out of a group of 15 (i got them over 2 1/2 years ago) so i assume there dieng from natural causes. the tetras wont school unless there in a group larger then 2-3 and even then it wont really be too impressive.

I have some not quite full grown angels with 20 or so cardinals and I'm the only thing that scares them into schooling. They do hang out in a loose group most of the time.

they will initially, but only because the angel or any other larger fish is new and may be a threat. once they figure out its harmless though, the schooling will stop. mine never school and hangout all over the tank almost like solitarty fish. schooling is a defensive strategy and the only way to keep them schooling would be to have a fish that picks on them/eats them all the time, which is probably not what your looking for.

Hmmm...remote controlled shark anyone?

That's pretty funny that a fish that will eat them won't make them school. Oh well. I just like the idea of having fish that naturally occur together in the same aquarium.

tapping the glass lightly will make them form a school quickly :wink:

yeah angels will make them school they will also make them disappear. My neons are always in a loose school some times its quite compact sometimes its not. your best bet is a larger fish like an angel and about 15 neons.

whats the point? your neons will school out of fear ... then be eaten by the angel
I have a mix of green neons and cardinals who school without threat...split occasionally but always re-group.. they are nice to watch, they share a tank with 6 corys, 2 Praecox Rainbow, a pair of bolivian rams, a beautiful Synodontis leopardis and 4 tetras which were sold to me as 'Emperor tetras'.. but they are not... anyways, my neons school without being scared into it.. you just need enough of them & enough open swim room.
IME.. I would put them in with bottom feeders like corys & other catfish as it seems to push them up into swimming at the middle/top of the tank more, therefore helping them school..

I've already stated that I am aware of the risk of the cardinals being eaten by angelfish, but I have seen it work in several store display tanks. The method described is always to have the cardinals in there first, and to buy the angel at quarter size or less. Yes, I know, varies by fish, but I am going to take that risk.

zergling said:

tapping the glass lightly will make them form a school quickly :wink:

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not even just wave something near the tank, hand , towel , etc..

i've seen that rainbows can make them school too. probably anything bigger will pose them a threat.