Thinking of adding these damsels.. Need recommendation please.

[JRSE7EN]

I have a 75g mixed coral community reef inhabited by 1 melanurus wrasse, 1 yellow watchman goby, 1 sunburst anthias, 2 phantom clownfish, 2 banggai cardinals, 1 lawnmower blenny, 1 hippo tang, and 1 green clown goby. My question is that I'd like to add some "schooling" damsels, and am wondering which species are more likely to not off each other. Years ago I attempted this with blue-green chromis two times and failed both. First time I got 5, second time I got 3. Eventually ended up with 0. This was in 2010 in a 55g mixed reef.
Ideally I'd like to sustain 7 to long and happy lives but realize that may not be possible. Anyway, I'm considering the Springer's Damsel, Kupang Damsel's, and yet again the Blue-green Chromis. 7 may be too many; so how about 5? I do have a 40g breeder sump with about 35g of additional water volume and steady nutrient levels. Which of these three am I most likely to achieve success with? Thanks in advance!

 

[Tired]

Not chromis, I know that much.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Springers and other Damsels aren't really schooling. They live closely together in nature. Their population is so dense that aggression toward one individual is difficult. You might get away with two in a 75. I have two Springers in my 90 now. You'll always start out with a bunch of any Damsels but they'll beat up the weakest until they get to a point where they have adequate room that the consider their territory. I had three Yellow Tail Blue Damsels in my old 75. They appeared to establish 3 different territories and held territorial squabbles regularly, until one day... poof, one was gone. The two stayed around until I tore down the 75 and sold the fish.

FWIW, I have Pajama Cardinals, Barred Dartfish, Lyretail Anthias, and Springers in my tank. None actually school. The closest is the Anthias. They swim in a trio for a while then one gets driven off; or the Male harasses both Females and sends them into hiding for a minute; or the Females squabble while the Male pays little attention. The Barred Dartfish and the Pajama Cardinals both consist a pair and a third wheel now. The third wheels are usually on opposite side of the tank from the pairs. The Springers occupy territories on opposite sides of the tank and squabble a little where they meet.

 

[JRSE7EN]

I guess "schooling" wasn't the term I was looking for. A group of the same kind of fish that usually but not always hang out together is more what I'm looking for. My clownfish are inseparable but there's only two. Something that likes to hang out as a group with reduced chances of a squabble would be great. It's probably a myth in the fish kingdom.

 

[Tired]

Most of the shoaling fish (loose group) are freshwater, and all the schooling fish (tight group) I can easily think of are things like anchovies. There's a species of blue-eyed rainbowfish that shoals and can be acclimated to saltwater, or you can do that with guppies. IIRC mollies might shoal to some extent?

Some anthias will more or less shoal. Part of the problem is that an aquarium is both very small and is free of external pressures (i.e. predators) that make fish want to stick into a tight group to avoid being eaten.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Id have to say the most common and successful that I see are lyretail anthias as stated above. They usually arent far from one another and swim alot. They dont have the greatest survival rate and they dont ship well. I have two of them and they swim together most of the time.

 

[Bucs20fan]

The thing with saltwater, and reef fishes specifically is that they all kinda just do their own thing, Like if you watch videos of reef divers, youll see a tonnn of fish, and they all get scared and such at the same time. But before they scare, they are all minding their own business doing their daily stuff.

 

[JRSE7EN]

Lyretail Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)(Pre-order)

Approximately 2-3”

tsmaquatics.com

These guys? Would I just roll with two boys and two girls? Seems weird and I don't think fish work like that. Or do they..

All my fish are from TSM by the way so no safety concerns shipping as I pick up in store.

 

[dedragon]

for lyretails you only want one male and at least 2 females, but a 75 gallon is gonna be pushing it on size for lyretail anthias group. Even your hippo tang should be rehomed after a couple of years in a 75 tbh. Im also uncertain about compatibility with you current sunburst anthias but hopefully others know about that.

 

[ReefGeezer]

Lyretail Anthias (Pseudanthias squamipinnis)(Pre-order)

Approximately 2-3”

tsmaquatics.com

These guys? Would I just roll with two boys and two girls? Seems weird and I don't think fish work like that. Or do they..

All my fish are from TSM by the way so no safety concerns shipping as I pick up in store.

Get three females and let one morph into a male. Otherwise you run the risk of one of the females morphing into a 2nd male and losing one to aggression. Buy small ones. They grow pretty fast. I have three in a 90. They were a little over an inch less than two years ago. Now they're pushing 3.5". Sorry about the crappy picture. The lights were still ramping up and mostly actinic and blue.

 

[Zionas]

I would stick to the more peaceful ones among the genus Chrysiptera. For a combination of color, price, and availability, I would go with C. Hemicyanea or the Azure Damsel. Your Hippo Tang will have to be rehomed. Springeri, Talbot’s also remain small and aren’t too bad for damsels. If you can find one I would consider a Starcki. Rolland’s are ugly and bland unless you get the ones with yellow crowns from Vanuatu and the South Pacific.

Curious is your Goby paired with a Pistol Shrimp?

 

[JRSE7EN]

I tried getting pistol shrimps for the goby but didn't workout. One was doa and the other came in missing a claw and was very very small. He was alive but didn't make it for long. Probably eaten by a snail, worm, or some other mysterious creature. I get inverts from reefcleaners.org.

I'm working on upgrading the size of the tank as I'm truly not happy with the Aqueon I have now. $50 petco sale. Got my wife to bite on that but she still hasn't caught on to the hobby as a whole. I've been up and running for almost two years now; so far so good. She thinks I spend too much time on the reef. I don't think I spend enough time on it lol. Ehh whatever.

I don't think I'll go the Lyretail route because my focus should be on upgrading the size to a 120g or bigger. I only have enough room for a 48" but width doesn't matter. I think a 120g is 24", but there's room to go bigger. I overbuilt my stand with 2x6"s and 2x4"s so it can hold significantly more weight but I'd extend the width in the back depending on how far I go. A 4 foot by 3 foot would be perfect )) I run an AP9X for lighting around 61% peak and get decent SPS growth from 12"-14" off the water. Can't remember exactly as I'm at work right now.

Mr. tang has grown but he seems very happy as of now. He's got a great hiding/sleeping spot behind the overflow and has become very personable honestly. He's like a little puppy dog but I know I'm not doing him any favors by keeping him in the 75g. I need the most economical way to get myself a larger tank to keep him for years to come.