Schooling fish

[Trigger Man]

So I'm trying to find a good schooling fish for my reef tank. I had 8 Blue Chromis, but after 2 years there are now only 2 of them, and I found that for the most part they didn't really school. I just picked up a couple of Zebra Dartfish and they seem to be hanging out together at the moment, so does anyone know if they continue to school after becoming comfortable in the tank? Right now I'm leaning towards 8-3 inch Anthias, but would like some suggestions. My tank is a little over 125 gallons (five feet long).
I like the purple Queen Anthias, but heard that they are tough to keep so may go with lyretails.

[Chin_Lee]

i've tried many times to get schooling fish and i realized that they will school at first and at the pet stores because they have fear. When the fear subsides, they will stop schooling. Schooling for fish is an instinctive behavior to survive when there is a threat or fear for their safety. After being in your tank for weeks and months, they no longer perceive any threat and they will stop schooling. Put a predator fish in with your schooling fish and then its a different story.........

[naesco]

I wouldn't recommend anthias at all as they simply do not last long in our tanks.
The queen anthias has an especially poor survival rate.

Why don't you try a school of cirrhilabrus wrasse. Choose the species of your choice.
Remember that you can only have one male and the rest must be females. You will have to put a special order in for the females as the males are the ones that are commonly imported.
Wayne

[sandyd]

Have you thought of glass cardinals? Colby usually has them, I've had a few for quite awhile and they tend to stick together.

[michika]

If you do go the Anthias route you'll probably want to treat them for internal parasites. Parasites seem to be pretty common with Anthias of all kinds.

[TheRealBigAL]

My good friend WHATIGOT has a school of chalk Bass in his tank. Very nice looking fish. I think he has 5-7 in his 72Gallon. Just have to watch because they can sometimes be jumpers.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

i've tried many times to get schooling fish and i realized that they will school at first and at the pet stores because they have fear. When the fear subsides, they will stop schooling. Schooling for fish is an instinctive behavior to survive when there is a threat or fear for their safety. After being in your tank for weeks and months, they no longer perceive any threat and they will stop schooling. Put a predator fish in with your schooling fish and then its a different story.........

Fish school in my tank! LOL

But they have to avoid being eaten by my 10" grouper :) (He has eaten a few in the past month)

I think your right on about why most fish don't school in aquariums. I had some chromis before the grouper and they used to fight constantly. After adding the grouper, the chromis have stopped fighting and school along with the damsels and coral beauty. They really stick together now in a very strange looking group! No more aggression once the predator was added.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

My good friend WHATIGOT has a school of chalk Bass in his tank. Very nice looking fish. I think he has 5-7 in his 72Gallon. Just have to watch because they can sometimes be jumpers.

Yeah great little fish but they do jump very often. I had three in my last tank. One was eaten by a puffer and the other two jumped. :neutral:

[Trigger Man]

My good friend WHATIGOT has a school of chalk Bass in his tank. Very nice looking fish. I think he has 5-7 in his 72Gallon. Just have to watch because they can sometimes be jumpers.

I will have to check on Chalk Bass, anyone know if they are easy to keep and how large they get (can't find much about them online, they might go by another name), I have managed to pick up 4 Zebra Dartfish (with plans to get 8 more), and they are currently schooling, so it looks like i will not have to try anthias, but Chalk Bass look cool to, so may have to get them as well.

[TheRealBigAL]

Chalk Bass Serranus tortugarum (dwarf seabass)
Max length - 3.1 inches
Range-Tropical western atlantic

Very peaceful fish. It is better to keep them in odd numbers ex. 3, 5, 7. Best kept in 70gallon and up.

[Trigger Man]

Chalk Bass Serranus tortugarum (dwarf seabass)
Max length - 3.1 inches
Range-Tropical western atlantic

Very peaceful fish. It is better to keep them in odd numbers ex. 3, 5, 7. Best kept in 70gallon and up.

Thanks, this will make it easier to do my research. My tank is a little over 125 gallons and I like to get my fish in the 3 inch size so this may work for me.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Thanks, this will make it easier to do my research. My tank is a little over 125 gallons and I like to get my fish in the 3 inch size so this may work for me.


They are really easy to keep, just have to watch for the jumping.

[untamed]

Fish school in my tank! LOL

But they have to avoid being eaten by my 10" grouper :) (He has eaten a few in the past month)

I think your right on about why most fish don't school in aquariums. I had some chromis before the grouper and they used to fight constantly. After adding the grouper, the chromis have stopped fighting and school along with the damsels and coral beauty. They really stick together now in a very strange looking group! No more aggression once the predator was added.

I would really like to see a photo of what the "school" looks like in your situation. I have a nice predator in my tank as well and I'm very curious to see the effect it has. I can't believe that your grouper has only eaten a few in a month. I'm concerned my Lookdown would polish off an entire school in a couple of days!

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

I would really like to see a photo of what the "school" looks like in your situation. I have a nice predator in my tank as well and I'm very curious to see the effect it has. I can't believe that your grouper has only eaten a few in a month. I'm concerned my Lookdown would polish off an entire school in a couple of days!

Sure. I have to get a new cable for my camera but I will take a few pics as soon as I do. They generally stay in a group of at least 3-4 if they leave the rocks. They kind of dart around and follow each other. Definitely looks like they get kind of scared if the others leave them behind and will quickly catch up.

Honestly though, they do not come out of the rocks all that much. They all share the same cave and spend most of the day hiding from the grouper.

The grouper is fed 3 times a day, fish, prawn, mussels, ect. so I don't think he has much desire to go hunting. He ate three damsels in one day though when I decided to not feed until the night time :smile: I guess he was going to eat regardless. He ate one the other day when it darted out of the rocks at feeding time and got stuck alone near one of the top corners of the tank. I did not see it but my fiance was feeding them and did. She said he just swallowed the damsel and kept swimming.

So you think your lookdown would eat them that fast???

[naesco]

I will have to check on Chalk Bass, anyone know if they are easy to keep and how large they get (can't find much about them online, they might go by another name), I have managed to pick up 4 Zebra Dartfish (with plans to get 8 more), and they are currently schooling, so it looks like i will not have to try anthias, but Chalk Bass look cool to, so may have to get them as well.Chalk bass, sel. stkg. 12/24/07


Here is the thread on fish expert Robert Fenner's website www.wetwebmedia.com


Hey crew!
<Mike>
I have a 55 gallon reef with around 60 lbs of rock that I was thinking about adding some chalk bass to.
<Some?>
At current I have 2 Ocellaris clowns, 2 green chromis, a Scopas tang
<Needs more room>
and a scooter blenny. Do you think that one, or even two would be pushing the limits?
<Two too likely... Serranus spp. are territorial...>
It is a show style tank so it is 4 feet long and 20 inches deep and offers a good amount of space to swim with plenty of rockwork for cover, though I more concerned about the biological limitations. your thoughts?
Thanks
Mike
<Think a four foot by one foot bottom is pushing it too much psychologically here. One specimen is all I'd place. Bob Fenner

[Trigger Man]

Chalk bass, sel. stkg. 12/24/07


Here is the thread on fish expert Robert Fenner's website www.wetwebmedia.com


Hey crew!
<Mike>
I have a 55 gallon reef with around 60 lbs of rock that I was thinking about adding some chalk bass to.
<Some?>
At current I have 2 Ocellaris clowns, 2 green chromis, a Scopas tang
<Needs more room>
and a scooter blenny. Do you think that one, or even two would be pushing the limits?
<Two too likely... Serranus spp. are territorial...>
It is a show style tank so it is 4 feet long and 20 inches deep and offers a good amount of space to swim with plenty of rockwork for cover, though I more concerned about the biological limitations. your thoughts?
Thanks
Mike
<Think a four foot by one foot bottom is pushing it too much psychologically here. One specimen is all I'd place. Bob Fenner

Thanks for sending me that writeup, it will be helpful in making my mind up.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Hmmmmm....well as of this morning my "school" of chromis and other damsels is looking a little thin. And my grouper is looking kind of portly. I think he has a "damsel gut".

Darn...I guess you were right Untamed...schools may not last too long with an eating machine in the tank. Weird thing is, he only ate two in his first month in the tank and then suddenly he ate I would say four between sometime yesterday and this morning. The rest (about 4) are now in disarray but still stick together most of the time. Not quite the same as before though.

Well I don't know if I will add any more. I think they will just keep becoming midnight snacks. Too bad because they really added some nice colour and movement to the tank :(

On a side note, this grouper is NEVER full. He ate a prawn and a half last night for dinner and still ate damsels all night...jeez. I don't know how this is going to work when he hits 20 or 22". I hoped the 240G would be enough but now I think he may need a bigger tank :sad:

[tang daddy]

just a thought but if you still want to try schooling fish you could try some blue eyed cardinals.... I had 3 chalk bass in my tank and they would pick on each other maybe if you added it all the same time they may get along however the B.E. cardinals school for sure. I recently bought 7 and they're all doing well the first few days they all hid but now they are out more frequently if you feed them a mix of mysis and colour enhansing flakes they glow a nice blue in their eyes and belly also get orange stripes. Aftr seeing how well they school I want to add another 13 to make a total of 20. Here is a pic I googled to give you an idea. Hope it is helpfull.http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgurl=http://www.city-data.com/profiles/photo/9127f&imgrefurl=http://www.city-data.com/profiles/photo/9127p&h=384&w=512&sz=44&hl=en&start=3&usg=__Qf4ksRsdaLKUaC3zWO8-Qh2aboA=&tbnid=f8ugdsYKCCwQmM:&tbnh=98&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dblue%2Beyed%2Bcardinals%26gbv%3D2%26h l%3Den

[TheRealBigAL]

Odd numbers are always better for schooling fish. I would go 19 or 21.

[Trigger Man]

Thanks everyone for the info, in the end I went with 4 Zebra Dartfish, (they hide till the evening but then all 4 school together) and have purchased 3 Look Downs (2.5ish inches each). I figure this gives me a good reason to have to upgrade to a larger tank later on.

[Whatigot]

Bummer, I have 6 chalk bass and they don't fight at all.
They swim eachg at different levels int he tank with the highest in the hierarchy having the highest position in the tank and the lowest being at the lowest.

No preds in my tank so they only school when they are feeding or occasionally for no reason.
really nice fish though and my tank is a standard 72 gallon bowfront (4ft long) with about 100 lbs of LR.
My tank is also OPEN TOP, and I have NEVER had a chalkie jump.


Aquatic Addictions has Chalk Bass for 14.99, JL has them for 22.45 so if anyone wants to get some of these nice fish, Dan is the guy to talk to as he already said he would order me 3 more for my "school".


I would like to get a predator now though, after reading this thread.

Cheers, a little late I know, but you gotta put in input where you can because there is so much more I don;t know than I know.:razz: