# Schooling fish behavior



## aQualung (Oct 20, 2010)

Our tank of 6 harlequin rasboras has been fine so far but one of the fish is acting dominant and has been charging the other fish all day so far almost acting like a cichlid.

He is the biggest one out of the 6... is it normal for a fish in a school to act dominant towards the others from time to time? Is this a sign of something to watch for or be alarmed about. As far as the numbers are concerned there isn't any reading that has shown any reason to think it is more stressed than the rest.

Thanks


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## snail (Aug 6, 2010)

If you only had two fish he would probably pick on it until it died but with six there should not be such a problem because he will take turns so they all get a break. How much bigger is he? If he's much bigger he might be too rough on them but I don't think you have to worry unless the others are hiding or showing other sighns of stress. 

How big is your tank? Usually with schooling fish the more you have the less problems with aggression so if you have space you could get more. If you don't have them, plants and wood etc can be placed to break up the tank, making it feel bigger to your fish and giving more chances to get out of sight when being picked on.


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## aQualung (Oct 20, 2010)

snail said:


> If you only had two fish he would probably pick on it until it died but with six there should not be such a problem because he will take turns so they all get a break. How much bigger is he? If he's much bigger he might be too rough on them but I don't think you have to worry unless the others are hiding or showing other sighns of stress.
> 
> How big is your tank? Usually with schooling fish the more you have the less problems with aggression so if you have space you could get more. If you don't have them, plants and wood etc can be placed to break up the tank, making it feel bigger to your fish and giving more chances to get out of sight when being picked on.


Thanks!

I feel better now... plus their little tiff is over with for now.


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