Let's talk about schooling fish...

[Nemo&Friends]

I bougtht 9 chromis about 5 years ago. One went in a corner of the tank where I had isolated my 4 stripe damsel. and was immediately killed. Another died a few month later, for unknown reason. but the 7 remaining chromis are still with me. They spawn regularly. It sure gives a lot of movement to the tank.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

Read that scissortail dartfish do better in group. I purchased 2 and they are constantly together and swim all over the tank. I wish I had bought more. That tank only has peaceful fish though. 2 pajama cardinals, 2 firefish and 2 scissortail dartfish.
The pajama cardinal are always out, but not very active and do not like each other much. Big one tend to chase the small one, not too aggressively, but none the less it does chase it now and then.

 

[o2manyfish]

It needs to be remembered that alot of these fish aren't going to behave as they normally do because they are in such a small environment.

A 150g tank might be a big tank to you. But to fish like bar gobies that come flying in and out from under rocks on the bottom this is right at the limit of their dart range.

When you have a 4' or 5' tank you just don't have the volume of space for the fish to act normally. That's why fish like damsels get such bad reputations, because instead of getting their own area to call home - they are literally on top of the other fish in the tanks.

Also 'schools' of fish in the wild are not 2 or 3 fish. When I dove the Red Sea and swam into schools of Anthias hanging upside down from the ceiling of the cave - There was a mass of thousands of fish. Not just a few fish hanging out.

For the past 18 years I have kept a 400g tank and then went to a 560g and now am up to a 750g (120x48x30).

If I have a school of blue spine caridinals - Thats 12-18 fish. My school of Kashwei (sp?) Anthias is almost 20 fish. I have over a dozen fire fish. I have 6 Bangais. The Bangais in my experience are going to school until the females become dominant and then they will pair up into different areas of the tank.

Bigger fish like tangs I have in small quantities of the moment - 3 yellows, 3 purples and some other tangs. They are so active that there always a few together - but that's not schooling. When the lights start to come on around 4 in the afternoon I have all the internal flow pumps in the tank turn off - so it's only the single return from the sump. During this period of almost fallow flow in the tank the tangs all get into a tight knit pack and work thru the rock work between the corals all eating algae from the same small spot at the same time.

This is similar to schooling behavior I have seen with tangs when swimming on reefs around the world. But this only lasts for a half hour or so and then they go do their thing.

When I was up to 9 yellow tangs, 3 purples, 3 Gems, 1 Black - This behavior was awesome to watch.

Also with 9 yellow tangs in the 400 and 560g tanks there were always a minimum of 6 in a close group. A few may stray to look at something or nibble at something - But there was always a nice group of them moving thru the tank together.


Another fish that groups well in a small aquarium and wasn't mentioned was Assesors. I don't think of Assesors as schooling fish. Because they find a nice dark area and stay in a little group altogether. I don't think of this as a school because they really don't move around that much. They also don't like the bright tank lights and will dissappear when the lights are on and show up when the lights are dim.

Dave B

 

[olonmv]

Soooooo, no one thought this after reading the title?

 

[bnord]

I'm getting 5 zebra barr dartfish this week. They are the only ones in my research that eventually won't all kill each other. Everything i've read about Cardinals, Chromis, and Anthias are that eventually they just kill each other and you get 1.

We'll see how they do, but i'm hopeful they will offer a nice group swimming aesthetic without turning into a blood bath over time.

have 3 - 2 plus year-old pajama cardinals and the least interesting fish I have ever owned - heard they don't live long, and am waiting to find out

edit - a CB captive bred scrawled rabbitfish, bought to eat algae, was the least interesting fish ever. sat under a frag rack till he grew to filet size, but re-homed him before I gave into temptation

 

[Joe.D]

For a 125 - Staying with the Cardinal Family - Look for Blue Spine or Blue Eye Cardinals - These aren't super colorful fish - They look like freshwater bleeding heart tetras. When they get established in the tank the blue really stands out and they get more noticeable blue stripes on their side.

While they aren't eye popping. They are eye catching beause they stay in a tight knit school and move around the tank as a pack. My experience with them - over the past 6-7 years - is that pick out one area of the tank and keep to that area. They don't usually move across the entire tank - but I have kept them in 8' and 10' tanks,

Pajama Cardinals in my experience just don't move. They find a spot in the tank and will stay in the same spot for years some times.

Bangai Cardinals are more striking than the blue spine, but they also like to beat the crap out of each other.

One of the only only downsides to the Blue Spine cardinals is that they seem to have a short life span - Maybe less than 3 years. I several times have started with a group of young ones and they at the 2.5 year mark or so they all start passing within a few weeks of each other. You don't lose the whole group, just those of the same age.


Dave B

I got 3 BangaiI a few months ago thinking they’d school - 2 have paired off and are growing nicely. They pick on the 3rd and it is smaller and usually hangs out alone above the wavemakers or in a tight spot behind some rock until it’s feeding time. My LFS has agreed to take the 3rd one back, but I can’t catch it.

I like the look of them though - just wish I’d only bought 2.

 

[Nemo&Friends]

I like the look of them though - just wish I’d only bought 2.

At least you got a pair. If you had gotten 2 males or 2 females, you would probably be left with only one.

 

[Chris Spaulding]

I have a group of 5 Ignitus Anthias and 3 Purple Queens that school together (Shole) during the day. At night each group retires to opposite sides of the tank. I also have 4 Fusilier damsels that keep a tight school. I have had these guys for 2 plus years with out killing off each other.

 

[SimplyFishy]

So my 125 build has moved along nicely, and I've been thinking about which fish I'd like to place in the tank.

I'm thinking I'd like to make this a tank which features schooling fish. I've been considering Cardinals to start. Also, I have been considering the Chromis.

Any other suggestions?

Also, When I make my purchase, how many should I purchase? I'm thinking at least 6.

Thank you.

Ring-tailed Cardinalfish are a great option and then continue to school when full grown. Color changes as your lights do and they are pretty mellow without any major squabbles. They do like to eat and this group is approximately a year old. They have also tried to breed twice though the male tends to dine heavily on caviar a couple days into mouth brooding...maybe still young?

Also have a group of BG Chromis which are playing nicely and always in together. They are younger so we will have to see what maturity brings to the mini-school. They have already established the hierarchy.

 

[coraler07]

Just wanted to bring back the fusiliers. Are they good fish to have? Want to get some. Does anyone have experience?

 

[Nemo&Friends]

i have 7 chromis for over 5 years in my 125G. They spawn regularly. I read you should have at least 6 if your do not want them to kill each other little by little. I bought 9, over 5 years ago. One was killed almost immediately by an aggressive damsel I have. I isolated the damsel for a while, so now I no longer have problems with it. The next chromis died a few weeks later, I do not know why. All the others survived with no problem since.
However it is not really a school. They are extremely active and interact constantly between themselves, but it is not really a schooling behavior.