What's a good schooling fish to get?
- Thread starter iloveinn
- Start date
sevendigitcake
New member
bangaiis are one of the ones that pair off, threadfin cardinals are good, as are redspot, and i believe pajama cardinals.
FrankenReef
New member
Blue/green chromis are quite pretty in large groups despite their low price tag. Plus they are easy to care for.
29reef
It's all about the flow
Chromis will slowely, over months, widdle each other down. However, as FrankenReef said, they are cheap so just top off the shoal from time to time
Buying a fish that you know is going to die and then to buy more seems a bit irresponsible to me.
The top three anthias for me are lyretail, disbar, and barletts. Anthias need several small meals over the course of the day. I feed 4-8 times. Keep in mind these are small feedings. Anthias don't hunt for pods like other fish do, their main diet is "plankton" so they feed out of the water colum.
velvetelvis
Active member
Agreed.
Banggai cardinals are best kept singly or in mated pairs. As they reach sexual maturity, the dominant pair will kill off the other Banggais. I've read that pajamas are OK in odd-numbered groups (3, 5, 7, etc) or in pairs.
As for cardinals that really do best in shoals, threadfins are beautiful, peaceful, and completely reef-safe (Diver's Den has them available tank-raised from Sustainable Aquatics periodically, and while these are a little pricey it's worth it to get healthy specimens). I have two pairs in my 34G and love them. Redspot cardinalfish have also become very popular (you can get these on DD also). From what I've read they're delicate and tricky to get settled in, but do well once established.
reef_doug
Premium Member
Chromis will slowely, over months, widdle each other down. However, as FrankenReef said, they are cheap so just top off the shoal from time to time
I have 5. The key to keeping green chromis for the long term is to provide a lot of flow. When they are in the current they are less aggressive and shoal up. Less flow then they go in the rock and become aggressive, eventually killing the smallest one and work their way up.
Note: they can be jumpers too.
Another fish to consider are Azure Damsels. They don't really shoal up, rather spread out and live in the rock, but they have awesome color. They are not your typical damsel, very mild temperment and never bother any other fish, just occasional cat & mouse with each other but not bad at all. Best to add them all at once. I have 5.
sevendigitcake
New member
lyretails or bartletts
gholtmeyer
New member
elegance coral
They call me EC
What about blue chromis? They're a schooling fish.
Shameless plug.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1885023
Shameless plug.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1885023
davocean
Active member
Chromis will slowely, over months, widdle each other down. However, as FrankenReef said, they are cheap so just top off the shoal from time to time
I've had 3 seperate groups of blue/green chromis over the years, my longest were 6 of the same chromis for 6 years, and it was a heater that did them in, or I'm sure I'd still have them.
My present group is 5, 2 years so far, not a hint of aggression.
I still don't get how some have probs w/ them.
My anthias are lyretails, one male, 4 females, over a year now w/ no probs, great eaters.
The only issue w/ them is metabolism, so I do several feedings per evening, maybe a lil more than a normal/past feeding, but just in small doses.
The bartletts are great eaters too, but heard they can be slightly more aggro at feeding time.
No aggression from my anthias either.
I think a major issue with chromis may be the pricetag. These are EXTREMELY abundant fish that are EXTREMELY cheap. For a fish that is caught in the ocean around Fiji, shipped halfway around the world, and ends up in a pet store in Ohio costing 2.95, they must cost almost nothing for most of that trip through the supply chain. As a result, I think the treatment and health of the chromis is probably sub-par in many cases, so losses result and some people have poor success not due to the species so much as due to the starting health of the fish.
They are awesome fish in a reef tank, totally underrated IMO. And if you've ever had a chance to swim on an Indo-Pacific reef, they are certainly an iconic species associated with the Acropora dominated ecosystems we try to emulate in our tanks.
-Tim
So what is plankton???? Mostly pods, or copepods, just not ones that live on surfaces or substrate. Calenoid copepods occupy the water column.
Everybody generalizes the term "pods" way too much, because of the mandarin craze and worries way too much about which fish eat "pods".
As for "schooling" fish, most fish won't school, but threadfin cardinals Zoramia leptacanthuswould be a great choice, that provide a similar effect. Some cardinals, anthias, dartfish, chromis, and others, provide a good schooling effect or shoal well, but those are probably one of the best, most easily obtainable IMO.
landlord
New member
Call it what you may schooling / shoaling... Whatever it is these guys are doing in my tank the stay together in a group. Fun to watch for sure. The togetherness of this species provides something that was always missing from my freshwater days and large groups of tetras.
With the added benefit of more potential fish to rear....if I can catch / strip 'em away :lol:
I watched this guy take a large egg mass from a female on Wednesday night. The translucence of this species makes it easy to see whos holding. Just look for the pink lower jaw
Kurt
With the added benefit of more potential fish to rear....if I can catch / strip 'em away :lol:
I watched this guy take a large egg mass from a female on Wednesday night. The translucence of this species makes it easy to see whos holding. Just look for the pink lower jaw
Kurt
elegance coral
They call me EC
Wow! Congrats on the red spots. How long have you had them?
