Small Schooling fish.

[1979fishgeek]

I’d like to stock my 6x2x2 sps dominated reef with a large school of small hardy fish.

I’d love some smaller Cardinalfish species, but is it possible to mix different Cardinal species? I’m liking Threadfin Cardinalfish (Zoramia leptacantha), Yellowstriped Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus cyanosoma), Ringtail Cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus aureus).

I’m also considering just a large school of blue/green Chromis, but I keep reading how 6 Chromis eventually become 2!? So would getting 20 or 30 in a large reef reduce the aggression? Finally would they be too aggressive for Cardinalfish?

Any advice is greatly appreciated, if you have photos for inspiration that be fantastic too.

Thank you

 

[Mr. Limpid]

I say no to chromis, I started with a dozen of them and in six month they were down to 3 and then there were none. I just a guy that did yellow tail damsel, Simon's 450 it is in the large 180+ section.

 

[chad vossen]

Fang blennies! Komahara blennies are my top choice.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Thank you, Chromis are out for sure then.

I love the idea of the Fang Blenny, but my hands are forever in the tank and I’m so accident prone, nearly blinded myself with palytoxin, it only be a matter of time till I get a find Blenny bite! Lol

I can’t make my mind up if it’s stressful trying to workout a new stocking list or stressful!lol But least I’ve ruled out the Chromis.

 

[DangerDave]

IMHO, if you have a lot of small fish like you’re planning, the likelihood of them killing each other goes way down.

I have small schooling fish in my 160. 7 blue/green chromis (all still there after 7 months!), 5 Bartlett anthias, 5 lyretail anthias, a couple gobys, a blenny, and a bangaii cardinal. The only death I’ve had was a bangaii, at the fins of the bangaii that’s still there.

Good luck!!

Dave

 

[1979fishgeek]

I’ve had good success in the past with Bangaii, I started with a single female and two males and within 2 years had 22 all from the original trio. The males held there own territory and were not in eye site of each other. The juveniles shoaled till adult size then established their own areas of the tank.
The female would take it in turns to get the males mouth brooding, once he had a mouth of fry she go in to the next, she was a smart lady and the boys got a breeding break while she cheated! Lol
I’m planning on keeping Bangaii in a 300l mixed Bubbletip anemone tank, with longspine urchins again....another side project but sharing a sump.

 

[fabulousfavia]

Striped Cardinals are the way to go. Great little schooling fish.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Striped Cardinals are the way to go. Great little schooling fish.

Yeah, they are def on the list. I’d like some Threadfin Cardinals as well, hopefully they be ok with no aggression?

 

[fabulousfavia]

Yeah I've had great experiences with both.

 

[1979fishgeek]

Yeah I've had great experiences with both.

Have you had them together?

 

[ca1ore]

Hate to be the bearer of bad news, but no fish will school in a tank. Maybe they'll hang together every once in a while, but that's about it. The best way to have even a chance of them schoaling is to have a large tank, put in a whole bunch of small fish and intimidate them with a few big ones. Then, maybe.

 

[fabulousfavia]

Not together, in separate tanks.

 

[fabulousfavia]

I've kept both tho

 

[eatbreakfast]

Besides the threadfin and parvulus cardinals, most cardinals form a pr and then spread out.

I've had success keeping lg groups of chromis without them killing each other off. A lg group diffuses aggression. High flow and frequent feedings also help.

Scissortail and zebra dartfish are social and outgoing.

 

[Jesterrace]

My Scissortail spent most of his time hiding, so I am not really a fan of them. IMHO a school of Pajama Cardinalfish would be good as they don't maintain their pecking order based on aggression and they are always there just hanging out in the tank.

 

[eatbreakfast]

My Scissortail spent most of his time hiding, so I am not really a fan of them. IMHO a school of Pajama Cardinalfish would be good as they don't maintain their pecking order based on aggression and they are always there just hanging out in the tank.

Scissortail dartfish are social, so a group is significantly more outgoing than a single specimen.

 

[Greybeard]

I was wanting a school of cardinals... looking at several different varieties. Walked into the LFS, someone had traded in 4 adult PJ cardinals. Big, fat, and healthy. $5 each, if I bought all 4. Well... that's my school

Not the most attractive fish, perhaps, but they do stay together, and they're model reefing citizens.

 

[chad vossen]

Fang blennies aren't much for biters fortunately. If you poke your finger in a hole with a blenny, sure he may bite. However mine swim around my hands when I'm working in the tank and never present a threat.

 

[izzyishh]

Firefish always hang out together when you have a lot of them

 

[Greybeard]

Fang blennies aren't much for biters fortunately. If you poke your finger in a hole with a blenny, sure he may bite. However mine swim around my hands when I'm working in the tank and never present a threat.

I have a Smith's blenny. He's a loner, but then again, I don't have any other blennies, so who knows.

As for the danger level... knowledge is good. Trying to grab him by hand while he's feeding might well be a bad idea. Don't do that. Aside from that, eh. Their fangs are for defense. I don't know that I've ever heard of _any_ fang toothed blenny bites. You? Many of us have creatures I would consider much more dangerous in our reefs. Spiny urchins, for instance. I used to have an encrusting fire coral in my old reef. Not particularly attractive, but it was fast growing, and very hearty. In those days, SPS corals were a real challenge... I was happy to have it... but knew enough to keep my bloody mitts off of it!