Shoaling Fish

lindfozs

New member
I'm looking for a small group of shoaling fish for my 350 gallon setup. Any suggestions or useful experiences? I'm looking for about 5-7 in the group. Chromis? Cardinalfish? Dartfish?
 
I'm looking for a small group of shoaling fish for my 350 gallon setup. Any suggestions or useful experiences? I'm looking for about 5-7 in the group. Chromis? Cardinalfish? Dartfish?
IME...chromis and cardinals will eventually be down to 1 or 2.... However my group of 5 Zebra dartfish often swim together and if 1 gets 'spoofed' they all disappear instantly!
 
IME...chromis and cardinals will eventually be down to 1 or 2.... However my group of 5 Zebra dartfish often swim together and if 1 gets 'spoofed' they all disappear instantly!

With cardinals, it can really depend on the species. Pajama and Bengaii (also called Kaudern's), the two most common varieties of cardinalfish in my experience, have very different temperments. Bengaii generally need to be stocked only in male-female pairs, but pajamas are very peaceful and can usually do well in groups.
 
With cardinals, it can really depend on the species. Pajama and Bengaii (also called Kaudern's), the two most common varieties of cardinalfish in my experience, have very different temperments. Bengaii generally need to be stocked only in male-female pairs, but pajamas are very peaceful and can usually do well in groups.

Yeah... But I had 5 PJs, and they really didn't stay together...have been down to just 3 for the past 3 yrs and only 2 are 'usually' together... But even when they are together they hardly move and to see them, I have to look for them... IMO they are very low on the 'entertainment value' scale!
 
Thanks guys! Have either of you had luck with a group of Firefish? I've read mixed reviews on these too. Do you think a group of 5 would stick together?
 
Thanks guys! Have either of you had luck with a group of Firefish? I've read mixed reviews on these too. Do you think a group of 5 would stick together?

IMO there was too much 'action' in my tank for firefish... I have ~80 fish (including ~40wrasses and 10 tangs) firefish don't seem to like that!
 
I have blue eyes in a pretty small tank and they seem to hang out together mostly. They do seem to be paired up though, since I have 4 of them. So sometimes they split up. 57 gallon tank.
 
I've seen yellow striped cardinals move together but not in a tight shoal. Didn't see them swimming in the open part of the tank if that is what you're looking for. Some of the other more obscure cardinals reportedly do this as well, to varying degrees.
 
Show long is a feeding response that you probably won't see in your aquarium unless you want to feed every minute or so. Fire fish you can get a group of but they are hard to sex and you are not guaranteed a group. I like gold assessor basslets myself as they can be kept in a group, are tank raised, are pretty, but they will not truly shoal.
 
I have a school of 6 green chromis. They look great together and never split up. I've also had no problems with them picking each other off. Tank is 187 gallon. Also used to have a pair of mollies in with them, which stayed with the chromis, but the mollies kept being sucked into the refugium. Now I just left them in the fuge.
 
Like stated earlier, blue eye anthias aka lyretails. 7 is a n awesome site and they tend to thrive in groups larger than 5. Easier to keep than other anthias and relatively inexpensive at about $15 a pop.
 
Thanks guys! Have either of you had luck with a group of Firefish? I've read mixed reviews on these too. Do you think a group of 5 would stick together?

I have 4 Purple FF in my 150. Two are always together, front and centre, one joins them occasionally and one is always in his corner next to my Elegance Coral.

They never seem to both each other but never hang out in a foursome either.
 
Like stated earlier, blue eye anthias aka lyretails. 7 is a n awesome site and they tend to thrive in groups larger than 5. Easier to keep than other anthias and relatively inexpensive at about $15 a pop.

+1 I recently added 7 anthias to my tank. They are very active swimmers and amazing colors. I added 3 female lyretails and 1 male/3 female Tuka Anthias (yes I know the latter anthias is difficult to keep but so far they are eating and all mixing together well). Good luck.
 
I have 4 Purple FF in my 150. Two are always together, front and centre, one joins them occasionally and one is always in his corner next to my Elegance Coral.

They never seem to both each other but never hang out in a foursome either.

How long have these fish been together?
 
I have 5 green chromis my tank for just over 8 months and they stick together in my 300. A little bit of picking but not any to a point where it would appear to be an issue. They have doubled in size and make for nice movement in the tank.
 
Buddy of mine has a quintet of pyramid butterflyfish in his 300DD and they hang together pretty well. They look so nice that I am attempting to replicate - having a bit of trouble getting some through QT though :( FWIW, I've never had a group of fish that really 'schooled' in my tank, and I have tried many of the suggestions already noted in this thread.
 
The closest I have seen in "normal sized tanks" is Apogon Parvulus; however they need "attention" in terms of feeding. In huge tanks, glassy sweepers will school (as opposed to simply shoal).
 
My chromis school together but as far as fish go they are very low on the "cool" factor and lack personality. Chromis will slowly die off, or get picked off. I started a year and 2 months ago with 25, now I have 10 and have had that number for close to a yr. fish that school do that for protection, after some time in your tank they will become comfortable and stop schooling together anyway
 
Back
Top