Coolest LITTLE fish kept in a GROUP?

SDguy said:
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.
Click to expand...

I didn't know that. Don't most Anthias stop turning male after there is already a dominant male in the group, or is this a problem with all Anthias?
 
What about mixing different types of anthias? Maybe a few of these, some of those, couple of them? If I mix anthias, how many males can there be? Only one right? Or are you saying get ALL females no matter if I mix types or not and let them figure it all out?

All that said, how many can fit comfortably in 96x30x30 tank with LOTS of caves, holes etc?
 
Sheol said:
Can't Grammas get kind of rough with one another? Males, anyway..

Matthew
Click to expand...

In the wild they live in Large groups. They are territorial but in that large of a tank you could easily have 5-6 as long as they are all added at the same time
 
Untamed12 said:
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
Click to expand...

Blue Corner in Japan can get them, but a ball like that cost the GA a fortune. They are awful awful shippers from what I understand, unless they are treated carefully ($$$).
 
I'd go with the Longspine - here is my group in my old 180 SPS reef. I purchased 25 and a year + later ended up with 15.
DSC_0887.JPG
 
TampaReefer79 said:
What about mixing different types of anthias? Maybe a few of these, some of those, couple of them? If I mix anthias, how many males can there be? Only one right? Or are you saying get ALL females no matter if I mix types or not and let them figure it all out?

All that said, how many can fit comfortably in 96x30x30 tank with LOTS of caves, holes etc?
Click to expand...

You can mix anthias with similar aggressiveness. Dispars, ignitus, bartletts, carberryi, lyretails should all be okay together. You can probably find someone on here that has some mixture of those in a tank.

Huchtil are supposedly more aggressive and probably won't work. Some of the others are pretty timid and are hard to get eating (tukas for example) and should be avoided.

Get all females, they're cheaper and will turn to males as the flesh out their pecking order.
 
You can mix most anthias. You might want to cherry pick a nice male of a given species and have the rest be females. Otherwise, due to dumb luck, whichever species is the least attractive as the male will turn male :) .
 
With this size of a tank, you really have some interesting options. If it were me, I would go for a group of tangs. 3 or 4 yellow or convict tangs together would be really cool and should work well in your volume. They should schoal together and get along well.

Another option would be to keep a bunch of royal grammas. Very colorful and fun to watch fish. I have read that they are real interesting when kept in a group in terms of their behavior.

In your volume, you could do both options which would work well because the tangs are active swimmers whereas the grammas tend to stay near or about the rocks. Therefore, each group would occupy a different niche in the tank.
 
Last edited:
I dont know if this would work but have you thought about having a bunch of green chromis along with other different kinds of chromis such as vanderbilts.
I have always wanted a gangload of mixed chromis!
 
I think large tank is a pre-requisite here.
Though I've seen others suggest tanks of about 50 gallon for a group. Personally, I wouldn't try it. Besides I don't think they stay in the open as much as he would want.
I love Grammas but I suffer a curse! No Gramma can survive in my tank for longer than 2-3 weeks! <Sigh> Long story.
First fish I added after the crash in January. I think my Yellowtail damsel ( Which had been a pacifist before) murdered him. Well, someone took the Yellowtail out. reef Justice!

Matthew
 
While I love anthias and cardinals, I have to recommend the Grammas.

I have a client with a small group (5) of royal grammas in her 90 gallon. These fish stay within 3 inches of each other at all times and never do any harm to each other. It is very interesting to watch the hierarchy structure and how they determine it. I think that for your size tank a group of 15 or 20 would allow for smaller groups to part off, and create mini harems throughout the tank.

~Michael
 
My anthias don't stay in a ball very often. The ignitus do but only when they think I am going to feed them. Most of time they are all over the tank.
 
I don't think the OP wants a "school" of fish; but maybe I'm wrong.

I suggest that you find two or three species of anthias that you like that will both do well with their tankmates. Then get 10-15 females of one and 10-15 of the other. Qt them at different times. They will need to be fed more than your other fish but it's always a good idea to oversize your skimmer and cleaning routines. GL
 
I picked up 15 Chromis Retrofasciata yesterday for my 150 gallon tank. Something a bit different to what is normally seen in reef tanks. They are hanging around in a loose group and presumably will continue to. According to fishbase, they top out at 4cm total length. The seem to ship well too which is a bonus.

IMG_8531.jpg


IMG_8540.jpg


IMG_8543.jpg
 
Time will tell I guess. They are not a fish that is commonly kept here, so information is not available. I did post a thread in this forum a couple of weeks ago asking for peoples experiences, but got no replies. I'll just have to cross my fingers and see how they go, there's no getting them out now without stripping the entire tank.

Cheers,
Dave.
 
davez104 very cool Chromis Retrofasciata! I like that it is a fish you don't see in alot of reef tanks.
Although their rear end reminds me of domino damsels :uzi:

Good luck and let us know how they adapt to your tank!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

JeannineC
Fish suggestion
Replies
19
Views
2K
rwbroadnax
R
Abyssopelagic
Multibar Angelfish Harems (In a 75 Gallon Deep Reef)
Replies
4
Views
455
Zionas
Z
Z
5.7ft tank stocking
Replies
7
Views
1K
ZanaZoola14
Z
Z
Wrasse compatibility
Replies
0
Views
847
ZanaZoola14
Z
T
New 55g setup. Advice for fish appreciated
Replies
6
Views
362
Uncle99
Uncle99
Back
Top