Coolest LITTLE fish kept in a GROUP?

TampaReefer79

TampaReefer79

Premium Member
I have set up a 375 reef, 96x30x30 and am trying to decide on a fish that I can keep that will stay in a group and stays relatively small.

I was thinking green chromis, but they lose color and get bigger than I want...and 'can kill each other off'. Or so the story goes. When I say group by the way, I'm thinking like 20-25 'little' fish. I don't want damsels for the obvious...and even cardinals get too big. I've seen some MONSTER pajama cardinals. Bangaii's pair off and wouldn't be a 'group' anyway. Plus they get huge as well.

So does that leave me ANY options? The idea for them is to be nothing more than a cutsie dither fish. Is there any cardinal that stays small, stays in groups, and isn't ugly? Doesn't have to be a cardinal...ANY idea is great.

Thanks! :fish2:
 
Both of them stay small? I wouldn't mind either one actually. They kind of remind me of freshwater tetras though. lol
 
I'd go a little bigger. Why bother going through all the trouble of keeping a salt water aquarium just to keep tetras ;)

Maybe parvirostris (7.5cm) or even smithvanizi or dispar (9.5cm) anthias are of the smaller species, and tend to hang out with each other more than lyretails and such. All three would look pretty small in a 375g reef, IMO :)
 
The Longspine Cardinalfish aren't too small. They're about the same size as my Carberryi Anthias, but not quite as long. They stay in a loose group and take up more space than I thought they would. The Cardinalfish also have an interesting non-aggressive social hierarchy, which is cool to watch.
 
I was going to say Carberryi anthias. They're on my punch list... I'm just trying to figure out how to QT 13 of them...
 
What about a big group of different types of anthias, with one male amongst them? Does that work, and if so which anthia do you get the male in?
 
Definitely go bigger than red spot cards with 20-25 fish, especially in a fish tank of that size.

Here's a crappy video that I made from my cell phone:
http://ericdo.com/pictures/ADA/Videos/feeding.avi

The pack in the upper right are red spot cardinals (15 of them total) and the smaller pack on the lower left are dispars (4).

The size of the tank is about 1/10 of your system volume.
 
Tampareefer- Anthias will be just fine in your aquarium in a group. You can easily buy all females and just let them work out their own pecking order and the species Peter mentioned will look great in a reef.
 
I want the same thing for my 400. I had my heart set on a large number of pygmy sweepers (parapriacanthus ransonneti) since I saw display at the Georgia Aquarium.

Unfortunately, I can't find a supplier for them. Have a look! Aren't they perfect? They stay in that tight ball all the time...a true school.

100_0024.jpg
 
How about a group of Flasher wrasses? One male & several females?
Or is that too much money?
Chromis damsels shouldn't be forgotten, either.

Matthew
 
jhawkor said:
I like the idea of a shoal of Bartlett Anthias.
Click to expand...

Funny coincidence...that picture from the GA is of the tank that holds their bartletts. ALL males :( They just don't stay female, so I wouldn't recommend that species considering the "look" the OP is going for.
 
The long spine or blue stripe cardinals are great...they dont get too big at all and usually stay together. If you want a group of fish that will interact with each other try yellow assessors or Royal Grammas. both add a spash of color!
 
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