Community Tank Too Peaceful?

This isn't a serious advice question but I am curious. Do any of you find your tanks to be almost too peaceful? None of my fish fear anything so my rummynose tetras loosely shoal sometimes in 2 groups going different directions rather than tightly school. My panda corys also go off on their own or in pairs rather than explore as a group. All they really do the lot of them is sleep. My honey gouramis are the only other fish in the tank and they’re relatively young still. Not babies but only half their adult size. Ive been so tempted to add a female opaline gourami or a bolivian ram but I don't wanna ruin the peace and cause chaos and fear. Anyone else ever feel this way?

 

My espie rasboras loosely schooled for the first few days, and then they started to behave like my mollies Same with my cardinal tetras, they now seem to behave like the rasboras. The funniest thing was when one of my khulI loaches was out doing loop the loops, and one of the mollies decided that looked like fun and started to do loop the loops too! For a short time the mollies started to school like the rasboras!

I've seen my rasboras competing with the mollies swimming against the filter outlet. Last night I saw a cardinal tetra down at the gravel go up and "kiss" a khulI loach.

I find the interactions between the fish quite fascinating, even if it is completely not what they would do in the wild!

Tony.

 

You don't need aggression for a schooling behavior, just a concern. My tetras only school well when my cichlids come out of hiding. My cichlids never hurt anyone, they mostly harass each other and chase other fish out of their turf on the bottom.

Cories don't really school, they just frolic together.

 

Personally I take comfort in knowing that my fish are at ease and don't feel the need to school for safety. Having to live with anxiety myself, I end up projecting that awful feeling onto my fish. I also find looking at my tanks relaxing, which is exactly why I limited myself to peaceful fish.

I think Bolivian rams are super peaceful cichlids, but they may add a bit of personality to your tank. That's what my blood parrot cichlids do in my tanks.

 

I quite like the peace of my tank. My fish can get into little fights every now and then, but they are still very peaceful. Especially as the fights are mainly just displays that result in no damage. Even so my neons and harlequins are not very good schoolers. One of my harlequins originally claimed half of my 53g tank and chased anything that crossed the halfway point. Not anymore since I've added bolivians and pearl gourami.

My bolivians will fight amongst themselves at times, no damage though. They never go near other fish unless they have fry. The only thing they do is dash forward a little bit to chase them away. No real aggression at all. My pearl gourami can be stubborn and will keep going to grab a mouthful of fry despite the bolivians displays. My male pearl is probably the most aggressive in the tank though he's still very peaceful.

I can't speak for opaline, but bolivians are great and very peaceful. My favourite fish too.

 

My espie rasboras loosely schooled for the first few days, and then they started to behave like my mollies Same with my cardinal tetras, they now seem to behave like the rasboras. The funniest thing was when one of my khulI loaches was out doing loop the loops, and one of the mollies decided that looked like fun and started to do loop the loops too! For a short time the mollies started to school like the rasboras!

I've seen my rasboras competing with the mollies swimming against the filter outlet. Last night I saw a cardinal tetra down at the gravel go up and "kiss" a khulI loach.

I find the interactions between the fish quite fascinating, even if it is completely not what they would do in the wild!

Tony.

its definitely funny seeing how they interact amongst each other! My tetras used to chase my molly fry when I had mollies in there and my one gourami loves to feel EVERYONE with his feelers

Personally I take comfort in knowing that my fish are at ease and don't feel the need to school for safety. Having to live with anxiety myself, I end up projecting that awful feeling onto my fish. I also find looking at my tanks relaxing, which is exactly why I limited myself to peaceful fish.

I think Bolivian rams are super peaceful cichlids, but they may add a bit of personality to your tank. That's what my blood parrot cichlids do in my tanks.

I definitely wouldnt wanna perpetually stress them out or anything like that! I just love the look of them schooling and the way they are now is slightly chaotic lol. Definitely wouldnt get a known aggressive type of fish in any tank I don't think

I quite like the peace of my tank. My fish can get into little fights every now and then, but they are still very peaceful. Especially as the fights are mainly just displays that result in no damage. Even so my neons and harlequins are not very good schoolers. One of my harlequins originally claimed half of my 53g tank and chased anything that crossed the halfway point. Not anymore since I've added bolivians and pearl gourami.

My bolivians will fight amongst themselves at times, no damage though. They never go near other fish unless they have fry. The only thing they do is dash forward a little bit to chase them away. No real aggression at all. My pearl gourami can be stubborn and will keep going to grab a mouthful of fry despite the bolivians displays. My male pearl is probably the most aggressive in the tank though he's still very peaceful.

I can't speak for opaline, but bolivians are great and very peaceful. My favourite fish too.

both of my honeys are girls so I won't need to worry about breeding aggression with them. Id love to add a bolivian but my store doesn’t sell them and I wouldnt wanna order one just to have compatibility issues. Maybe i’ll try eventually though! Theyre very beautiful I'm just not sure id want a pair it seems like a bit much for my tank size

 

both of my honeys are girls so I won't need to worry about breeding aggression with them. Id love to add a bolivian but my store doesn’t sell them and I wouldnt wanna order one just to have compatibility issues. Maybe i’ll try eventually though! Theyre very beautiful I'm just not sure id want a pair it seems like a bit much for my tank size

They really are beautiful! I generally like to recommend a pair as they seem to like company, but if you want it to be as risk free as possible a single would be best. That's not to say they cause too many problems, but they can quarrel at times and it seems you don't want that.

They tend to get overshadowed by the German blue, but really once you get a well bred male, bolivians can be more beautiful in my opinion.

 

They really are beautiful! I generally like to recommend a pair as they seem to like company, but if you want it to be as risk free as possible a single would be best. That's not to say they cause too many problems, but they can quarrel at times and it seems you don't want that.

They tend to get overshadowed by the German blue, but really once you get a well bred male, bolivians can be more beautiful in my opinion.

my store sells german blues and electric blues but ive heard time and time again how sensitive they are and I don't wanna keep everyone else at their preferred temperature. I definitely wouldnt want a single one to be lonely. Ill have to think about it, thank you for your input!

 

I really enjoy my peaceful 55 I have a school of serpae that keep to themselves and always have. a bunch of guppies that are always ready to greet and eat. a school of Pepper Cory’s that don’t sit still for a second a shoal of Otto cats that are constantly cleaning a beautiful pearl Gourami that is completely peaceful and a recently added school of Vonrio tetras that are amazing to watch at feeding time along with a rubber lip and a pretty good size handful of ramshorn that I would lose track of counting after 40 when I drop an algae wafer or piece of zucchinI in the tank

 

I really enjoy my peaceful 55 I have a school of serpae that keep to themselves and always have. a bunch of guppies that are always ready to greet and eat. a school of Pepper Cory’s that don’t sit still for a second a shoal of Otto cats that are constantly cleaning a beautiful pearl Gourami that is completely peaceful and a recently added school of Vonrio tetras that are amazing to watch at feeding time along with a rubber lip and a pretty good size handful of ramshorn that I would lose track of counting after 40 when I drop an algae wafer or piece of zucchinI in the tank

okay I absolutely love the sound of your stocking! Id love to see a photo but I know its hard to get the fishies in it when they’re always moving lol. I'm very tempted to add a female gourami whos not a honey but I'm hesitant to disrupt the peace. This is the first time ive heard of von rio tetras they’re beautiful! Wow I need more tanks

 

okay I absolutely love the sound of your stocking! Id love to see a photo but I know its hard to get the fishies in it when they’re always moving lol. I'm very tempted to add a female gourami whos not a honey but I'm hesitant to disrupt the peace. This is the first time ive heard of von rio tetras they’re beautiful! Wow I need more tanks

Yes very tough to get a shot of evryone together. My Gourami is a male and he is stunning IMO of course. The Vonrio are more commonly known as fire or flame tetras I believe but they are a blast to watch and they just made the tank so much more lively adding them. I'll add pics from my phone in a minute!