Best 1 inch reef schooling fish?

BRS
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Deltec
Nutramar Foods
Masked gobies (though they get to almost an inch and a half).

Not a lot of choices in that size range, though. Some of the other very small free swimming gobies could also be a choice, but perching kinds generally won't school.
 
Thank yall for the fish, they both seem pretty good fits for my tank, 1 and a half inches is perfectly fine, I was just trying to empathize the fact I wanted them to be very small, thank yall!
 
Orphek OR3 reef aquarium LED bar
school of clown gobies
l-intro-1641863000.jpg

* (j/k. don't do that.)
 
Ecoscape Reef Rock
Unlikely you find anything you are happy with.

Chromis stick together at first but spread out and fight as they get bigger and more comfortable.

Cardinals might fit, but are expensive and hard to find.

Both are well above 1 inch.

All the true schooling fish as adults are way too big for even a large tank.
 
BradB said:
Unlikely you find anything you are happy with.

Chromis stick together at first but spread out and fight as they get bigger and more comfortable.

Cardinals might fit, but are expensive and hard to find.

Both are well above 1 inch.

All the true schooling fish as adults are way too big for even a large tank.
Click to expand...
yup. more often in a reef tank, fish that look the same will try to kill each other before they school with each other
 
Deltec
BradB said:
All the true schooling fish as adults are way too big for even a large tank.
Click to expand...
polyppal said:
yup. more often in a reef tank, fish that look the same will try to kill each other before they school with each other
Click to expand...
It really is a shame :(. Having a school of neon tetra-like fish in a reef system would look fantastic in my opinion!

Other "small" schoolers:

Mosquitofish (Gambusia sp.) and guppies (Poecilia reticulata) can be acclimated to saltwater (like Mollies), though they do not school very tightly and are easily exhausted, even under lower current. I have also found mosquitofish to occasionally nip the fins of tank-mates.
1655790448295.png
1655788316582.png

Inland silversides (Menidia beryllina) can be purchased from MBL Aquaculture, though these are larvae that would not survive in a display tank (maybe a refugium) and are said to prefer lower salinities. These reach a size of about 4 inches and I have heard reports of silversides being both very easy and very difficult to feed.


Eastern hulafish (Trachinops taeniatus) are said to tolerate both subtropical and tropical temperatures. I have never seen these on sale, though ORA has bred them. These reach a size of about 4 inches.
1655788969547.png

Mini dart goby (Aioliops megastigma) are said to be difficult to feed and have success with. These grow a little over 1 inch long.
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/product-mini-dart-goby
1655789431117.png


Marsh killifish, like the mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus), rainwater killifish (Lucania parva), and sheepshead minnow (Cyprinodon variegatus) (this last one is said to be very aggressive) can tolerate saltwater, though I doubt they could handle high flow like the mosquitofish and guppies mentioned earlier in this post. These grow to about 2-3 inches long and may hitchhike on macroalgae.
https://gulfspecimen.org/specimen/fish/boney-fish/
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Note that the only fish on this list I have cared for in the past are mosquitofish so I may have made a few factual errors.
 
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Ecoscape Reef Rock
You need a very large tank to support a school of fish and you will have to constantly replenish for the ones getting bullied and killed off.

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Tidal Gardens
There are a few anthias species that stay smaller than the others, maxing out at say 3" instead of 4"-5" like some of the larger types of anthias. maybe a few of the 3" types.
 
BRS

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