schools of fish for reef tank?

G

gholtmeyer

New member
ok, if you were going to put a school of fish (10+) in a reef tank, what would the specie of fish be and why? I am in the planning stages of setting up tank. I had my previous setup for 7 years. I am now going to go with a 48x24x30 or 72x24x30 tank.
 
Any schooling fish is tough - most need more room than you think. There are a few cardinals that might work, but most small ones need multiple feedings per day
 
Anthias and chromis damsels. Maybe a couple of tangs. Blue gudgeons. I was just at my lfs and they had these gobies or blennies that schooled, but i can't remember the name.
 
I second the Disbar Anthias. The Banggai and Cardinals don't move around much... The Anthias are always on the move.
 
Another for chromis, great cheap little fish and super hardy if you can get over that initial 2 week hump. for me they always seemed to draw out the nicer shy-er fish.

~Will.
 
Cardinals are generally the only fish that will tolerate being kept in groups the size you are talking about. It's common for anthias to (eventually) all turn male and fight, and once chromis realize there is no concern of predation (why they school in the first place), they'll continually pick off the weaker one in the group until you have a small number, or just one left.

If you insist on one of those fish, small dispar's will last the longest, IME.
 
Everyone seems to assume that Cardinals are ok in groups, I think in general it is safer to say they are now, with a few species being safe (bangaii NOT being one of them).
 
no fish will school in captivity. If you want a fish that will shoal (stick together in a smallish group) then the above mentioned cardinals are probably your best bet.
 
THe orange line chromis turn jet black. I got 4 green chromis and one orange line at the same time. Now my orange line is 3 times the size and jet black. I want to replace him with something that has color.
 
Several years ago, at a lfs I worked at, we had 6 blue gudgeons and 6 barred dartfish in a display tank. The tank was torn down after a year and a half, but they all schooled tightly together with no aggression among them the entire time. There weren't any larger fish in the tank to induce schooling. If I wasn't doing barebottom in my newest tank, I'd have a school of either for sure.
 
My choice. Cheap and beautiful.

g093a.jpg

Picture stolen from, Goby Frontiers.
 
They schooled, and I do know the correct definition :). The two species were constantly together, side by side, head to tail, back and forth in the 125. The only times they weren't like this was during feeding and cleaning. Maybe that still isn't considered true schooling, but it was close enough.
 
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