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Are all shiners/minnows schooling fish?

Started by Guest_juhason_* , Apr 04 2014 04:20 PM

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6 replies to this topic

#1 Guest_juhason_*

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Posted 04 April 2014 - 04:20 PM

Here's a list of all the shiners/minnows I'm considering for my various tanks:
Red Shiner
Spotfin Shiner
Spottail Shiner
Blackchin or Blacknose Shiner
Suckermouth Minnow
Bluntnose Minnow
Emerald Shiner

There are some I would definitely keep in a school if I got them (red shiner for example), but some I'd rather keep only a few, or maybe even by itself.
Which of those can HAPPILY be kept as a single of its species (it would still be with other schools of different fish though) if any?

#2 mattknepley

NANFA Member

Smack-dab between the Savannah and the Saluda.

Posted 04 April 2014 - 04:30 PM

I'm no expert, but I have a spottail shiner (Notropus hudsonius) who is the only member of his species in my stream tank. He is very happy, healthy, and active with the other Notropis in the tank. I imagine it'd prefer some other spottails, but it is certainly thriving without them. In fact, he hangs with the N. chlorocephalus like he was one of them. They don't have any problem with him being there, either.

I imagine you would have the same situation with the species you list.

Matt Knepley
"No thanks, a third of a gopher would merely arouse my appetite..."

#3 Guest_BenCantrell_*

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Posted 04 April 2014 - 04:40 PM

First off, you should remove blacknose and blackchin shiners from your list because they're both on the IL T&E species list.
http://www.dnr.illin...ecklist2011.pdf

All of the other species you mentioned will be happy in mixed species schools, with the possible exception of suckermouth minnows. When I see them in the wild they're usually in single species schools feeding in riffles. I bet they'd be happiest if they had other suckermouth minnows to accociate with. I had two of them in the past, and they always swam around together. The other species are common in pools where there's a good mix of species.

#4 Guest_juhason_*

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Posted 04 April 2014 - 05:10 PM

First off, you should remove blacknose and blackchin shiners from your list because they're both on the IL T&E species list.
http://www.dnr.illin...ecklist2011.pdf

All of the other species you mentioned will be happy in mixed species schools, with the possible exception of suckermouth minnows. When I see them in the wild they're usually in single species schools feeding in riffles. I bet they'd be happiest if they had other suckermouth minnows to accociate with. I had two of them in the past, and they always swam around together. The other species are common in pools where there's a good mix of species.

Thank you you're a great help as usual! Thanks for the list too, I wasn't able to find it but it'll definitely come in handy. To be honest I wasn't all that interested in the blackchin/blacknose anyways... It was a possibility.

#5 Guest_Kanus_*

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Posted 04 April 2014 - 06:37 PM

The suckermouth (or at least the Phenacobius I have seen) have either been solo or with one or two others. Bluntnose minnows have been the same any time I have seen them. I wouldn't consider either of those really schooling fish.

#6 Guest_fundulus_*

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Posted 04 April 2014 - 06:56 PM

Emerald shiners are definitely a schooling species, in some larger rivers you could catch hundreds at once in large enough nets. But they also need high quality flowing water that's not too warm.

#7 Guest_gerald_*

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Posted 05 April 2014 - 07:33 PM

After a while In captivity, some minnows that normally school in nature become less school-oriented, probably because there's no predators to encourage schooling, and being first one to the top at feeding time becomes their #1 priority. And then there's the territorial Cyprinella males that give up schooling in breeding saeson to guard a crevice in a rock or log.