Schooling fish question

Beth J

New member
I have always loved to watch schools of fish when snorkeling. I am wondering what would be a reef compatible type to get for my 135 gal tank. I know about blue chromis but am wondering what would some alternatives be.

Thanks
 
I have had bad luck with firefish. Seems they wind up killing each other off. Anthias look awesome, IMO thats what I would shoot for. They do like to eat quite a bit though.
 
Yeah I noticed that my green chromis will eat everything up really fast and my other fish are not getting as much food as they should.. I am almost regretting getting them.. If I had it to do again I would not put them in my tank..
 
Bengaii cardinals will school wont they? or do you need to buy the correct sexed fish for a harem (ie 1 male and the rest female)? sorry a bit of a hijack, but I was thinking a school of cardinalfish would be cool in the new tank.
 
I don't know if I would call what cardinals do schooling --- JMO --- mainly because they just hang out, as oppose to swimming around all the time. I THINK that is what Beth J is looking for.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12257657#post12257657 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mcliffy2
Bengaii cardinals will school wont they? or do you need to buy the correct sexed fish for a harem (ie 1 male and the rest female)? sorry a bit of a hijack, but I was thinking a school of cardinalfish would be cool in the new tank.


I just read this sonewhere earlier in the week:


Bangaii Cardinal. When U introduce a group they will pair in 2. And if the group is in odd number, then the other will kill the last odd one.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12258555#post12258555 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by RedDaisy
I just read this sonewhere earlier in the week:


Bangaii Cardinal. When U introduce a group they will pair in 2. And if the group is in odd number, then the other will kill the last odd one.
Not necessarily. I've seen 6+ "hang out" while the odd guy chilled over yonder....

Firefish don't do much imo...

Anthias are good.

Tangs tend to school with each other. 3 smaller ones wouldn't be out of line for a 135. imo.

Neon gobies usually "hang out" together...
 
Thanks for the info everybody! :)

I have been googling the various options and I know now why the blue chromis seem to be the fall back choice. They are about 5 times cheaper. I am interested in the more active swimming ball of fish. The behavior is fascinating to me. It may take some convincing to get something as expensive as the anthias. They are beautiful though.
It is funny that my royal tang that I just pulled out of QT is hanging out with my foxface. They are about the same size right now about 21/2". They swim around side by side.

As an odd but related side question: how many inches of fish is advisable to keep in a 6' foot long 135 gal reef aquarium?
 
I have 3 anthias 1 male 2 females, 3 blue/green cromis, 2 spotted cardinals, and a pair of clowns 1 black 1 orange in a 225g. None of them really school anywhere, definitely nothing like the ocean. The might of a little when I first got them , now they all do their own thing. Unless my tank is different than most, I do not think you will get the effect you are looking for. In the ocean they are surviving, in our tanks it is a buffet vacation.
 
Going on what Keith said...

Most of the reason that fish school if for protection from predators, and in an aquarium that usually isn't the case.

And no, clowns don't school, most of the time if you have more then two you will end up with just two after the dominant pair kill off the others.
 
You will not get schooling behavior in an aquarium for reasons Todd stated. You can get shoaling which is a loose aggregation of fish that "hang out together". Of the fish mentioned in this thread only Apogon leptacanthus will shoal. Clowns will pair off, firefish will pair off IF you have a male and female otherwise they will kill each other, anthias will somewhat aggregate but not truly shoal, likewise chromis.
 
So would a larger group of chromis elicit more of a shoaling behavior? I found a darker blue chromis from the Caribbean that is still considered a shoaling fish http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+2730+113&pcatid=113.

These fish get up to 5" long. How many fish could I reasonably keep. I have a hippo tang, fox face, 2 clown fish, and a sandsifting goby that I am going to trade in for a non-sandsifting goby or maybe a blennie. I had figured a school of some sort would round out my peaceful little group. I really don't want any aggressive type behavior to worry about. But this gets back to my question about how many fish can I keep? Is there a recommendation by like 1"/gal?
 
get about a hundred baby saltwater catfish! they will form a super cool "ball of fish" school. that is of course untill they grow into big ugly adults.
 
In salt water it does not go by inches per gallon, that is an old fresh water measure. Chromis get large relative to your tank size but if you were doing chromis, perhaps 6-7 might work. MBasile is right, the baby saltwater catfish are cute albeit poisonous. But the grow into big very ugly adults.
 
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