neon tetras shoaling

Question
I have about 25 neons in a 4 feet tank.  I no that neons will stop shoaling
once they feel secure . I want to get some more neons another 50 or more .
For a nice shoaling affect . Any advice on keeping them in a shoal?  Does a
fake preditor work in the tank? Or should I save my money I will never get
them to shoal. Cheers

Answer
Hi Derek,
Wow, that would be a beautiful tank. I'm sure it is incredible already with just the 25 in there. It's rare to see neons kept in a situation where they can really show off their beauty and true behaviors like when in a shoal.

A larger fish swimming about -might- keep the neons in a tighter shoal but I can't guarantee that. It would be difficult to find a larger fish that couldn't perhaps eat the neons... however, there are some that you might consider. 1-2 Larger gouramis such as any of the color variations of the three-spot (includes blue, gold, opaline) or some larger schooling fish like Rainbows or Barbs.

I'd imagine with that many you'd have a schooling effect for sure even without a larger fish swimming about to keep  them together.

I hope this helps and best of luck!
Karen~