Monster00101
New member
Is there any fish in the trade that school? I dont have a huge tank so something smaller would be prefferd but i would like to have a small school of fish swimming around.
schooling reef fish?
- Thread starter Monster00101
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sanchoy
New member
schooling/shoaling.
From my experience fish tend to shoal when first introduced to the tank for security reasons. After some time the more dominant fish will start pecking at inferior fishes in the group and even at times killing them. these were my experience with green chromises, anthias, cardinal fish.
From my experience fish tend to shoal when first introduced to the tank for security reasons. After some time the more dominant fish will start pecking at inferior fishes in the group and even at times killing them. these were my experience with green chromises, anthias, cardinal fish.
Amen to that, especially in smaller tanks.
Monster00101
New member
I only have a 65 gallon. Whats the differnce between schooling and shoaling?
"Shoal" can describe any group of fish, including mixed-species groups, "school" is reserved for more closely knit groups of the same species swimming in a highly synchronized and polarized manner. As such, "school" is a very specifically defined subset of "shoal". Schools have a mathematical relationship among members whereas shoals are more loosely defined.
Fish derive many benefits from shoaling behaviour including defense against predators (through better predator detection and by diluting the chance of capture), enhanced foraging success, and higher success in finding a mate. It is also likely that fish benefit from shoal membership through increased hydrodynamic efficiency. However, in our aquariums, which are small relative to the natural environment, shoaling, and hence schooling provides no benefit unless there is a perceived predator.
Fish use many traits to choose shoalmates. Generally they prefer larger shoals, shoalmates of their own species, shoalmates similar in size and appearance to themselves, healthy fish, and kin (when recognized).
The "oddity effect" posits that any shoal member that stands out in appearance will be preferentially targeted by predators. This may explain why fish prefer to shoal with individuals that resemble them. The oddity effect would thus tend to homogenize shoals.
One puzzling aspect of shoal selection is how a fish can choose to join a shoal of animals similar to themselves, given that it cannot know its own appearance. Experiments with zebrafish have shown that shoal preference is a learned ability, not innate. A zebrafish tends to associate with shoals that resemble shoals in which it was reared (that is, a form of imprinting).
In very large aquaria, glassy sweeper shoals will act in a schooling fashion, but in normal sized aquaria, the best you can hope for is the aggregating effect demonstrated by cardinal fish. When a largish group of cardinal fish are introduced, they will often exhibit shoaling behavior, but over time, will pair off and only shoal at night.
