Best schooling fish

Are you looking for shoaling or schooling fish, there is a big difference. Shoaling is a group of fish that will hang together. Schooling is a swimming pattern of a group of fish that is coordinated and directional.

Shoaling can easily accomplished with cardinals. Lookdowns will swim together as well as pilotfish and pompano in a tanks but it is not schooling.

Schooling is much more difficult. With much effort, I have come to the conclusion that a predator must be present for schooling behavior to persist or a strong rotational current forcing directional swimming in a round aquaria (I call the latter pseudo-schooling). I have worked with fish like menhaden and silversides - these fish spend their lives swimming in schools. Hours to days after being removed from the ocean and place into a pool the schooling behavior ceases. When I've added a predator like a shark - the fish instantly group and start schooling. My point is that - attempting to create a school of fish in your tank without the addition of something that is going to eat those fish will be fruitless.
 
Depends if you want active fish or not. Sweepers and to a greater extent lookdowns are active fish. Cardinals preferably PJs are great active fish and very easy.

The best place I have ever seen schooling fish is at Atlantis. The have a great school of sardines that I could watch for hours. It is mesmerizing. They also have tuna and jacks ready to pick a sardine or two off. Great tank, near impossible to replicate in the home IMO.
 
Chalk bass, they don't really school but they shoal/ cruise around together, and they have some wicked indigo blue stripes in the right lighting.
 
I'm not sure what type of tank your going for but my peaceful tank I have two yellow corris wrasse that hang out together. Two gobbies one yellow watchmen and one Yasha Goby occupy one cave with a pistol shrimp. I'm getting five Zebra Barred Dartfish which should be cool. Anthias could be good also.
 
Best schooling fish

I had three Black Bar Chromis. They killed each other until only one was left...all within 8 or 9 days. So I wouldn't recommend them despite the fact that they are considered shoaling fish.
 
I like the chalk bass suggestion.
I am looking at the following options...just can't decide.

Bengaii cardinals
Yellow stripe cardinals
PJ cardinals
Bannerfish

I want a more peaceful fish. I have plenty of other fish that I don't want to torture ;0)
 
What size tank? That definitely affects which social species to get.

In captivity bangaii's will not be social, you will end up with a pr and the rest will be killed.

Pj cardinals and yellow striped cardinals will be a good choice for most tanks.

Bannerfish get surprisingly large, so to do a group of them a couple hundred gallons are needed.

Smaller peaceful anthias such as dispars or randalls are a good choice.

Pilotfish and lookdowns would need tank sizes in the thousands of gallons to be kept in a group.
 
I have personally been shopping for a group of small fish as well besides anthias and have narrowed it down to yellow stripe and red dot glass cardinals, both are sold in groups by LA and I have seen both stay in loose groups in aquariums before. Also depends what part of the aquarium you want them to occupy, the zebra dartfish and blue dartfish both are sold in groups and occupy the upper part of the tank.
 
I added 11 chalk bass to my tank about 3 weeks ago. They are in a tank with a lot of tangs that are significantly bigger then them, and for the first 2 weeks, they spent most of their time hiding together under some live rock and only coming out to eat. Recently they are feeling a little more comfortable and are venturing a little bit from their home. I love their colors and am interested to see how things play out after some more time in the tank.
 
If I went with the PJ or the yellow striped carfinal, how many would you guys put in?
Will they do better with 3 or 6...anybody have experience with either of them?
 
I am having great luck with a group of 7 Randall's anthias currently. They seem to be easy to feed, stay small and don't seem to exhibit the feisty nature of some of the other similar anthias species. Threadfin cardinals are a great schoaling species as well.
 
Did you ever consider a harem? I've read some interesting accounts of Royal Grammas and Fairy/Flasher wrasses. While they don't school and the photos & videos I've seen could be more accurately called a "loose aggregation", it's a nice sight to see so many identical colorful fish all at once.
 
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