Schooling fish

[mojoreef]

Hey Terry, after getting rid of my buddy the clown tang from hell, I am wanting to get a school of small fish for it. I have tried Anthias prior but found that eventually they end up illing each other until thier is only 2 or three left. Any recommendations or ideas for me??

Mike

 

[Scooterman]

Back to School



Those were the days!

 

[Terry B]

Hi Mike,

Are you looking for fish that exhibit schooling behaviors in an aquarium as adults? Some fish such as blue-green chromis school until they reach maturity and start to form bonded pairs for spawning. Then these timid little fish turn aggressive and make us remember that they are damsels after all. In a tank as large as yours you could end up with half a dozen spawning pairs. I doubt that is what you envision for your reef. They would probably bother the coral during the process of caring for the eggs. I don't know if anyone has raised chromis in captivity. I doubt it because they don't sell for much. I don't know that I would recommend keeping a school of any species in your reef since your focus is the corals and the fish are there for movement as much as anything else.

Cheers,
Terry B

 

[jojo]

I have seen some nice schools of pajama cardinals as well as bar gobies do well in a reef.

 

[Witfull]

mike,,,how bout a small school of bonita tuna?,,,your tank is almost big enough..

 

[Witfull]

ok...seriously you could think about a harem of fairywrasse, not true schooling but very attractive, colorful and easy to feed, the are active hunters and need little supplemental feedings.

 

[Craig Manoukian]

seriously you could think about a harem of fairy wrasses.

Great suggestion about the genus Cirrhilabrus. A male and three or four females is the ticket. You can acieve the same effect with flashers, genus Paracheilinus! :exclaim:

 

[mojoreef]

Yea Terry I have seen that behavior in chromis. I believe it is the same with anthias but starts alot earlier. I was looking for fish that would school through out. I have had luck with banner fish. But was looking for a smaller breed of fish with a larger population for the tank. Nothing come to mind??

I am not a big fan of cardinals but the gobies do sound interesting, maybe even dart fist. Any thoughts Terry.

On the wrasses I dont know if I want that many. My heni's are pretty active feeders so is the butterfly. Concidering they are all about 5 inches long they take a bite out of the local natural food population. I think adding to many of these hunters would clean out the population and make them totally relient on me feeding them, which isnt that bad. I was looking at getting a pair of flashers.


Craig great to see you buddy, about time you dropped by and said hello


Mike

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Mike thanks for the welcome back!

My Flashers and Fairies are not hunters that patrol the rock work like my Yellow Coris Wrasse, Halechores genus. The Flashers and Fairies patrol the water column and I do not know what their natural diet consists of. Mine gorge themselves on mysis when I feed. Anywhere from a pair to a male with a harem of 2 - 4 fish will really bring out the display behavior they are so famous for. You won't be disappointed as they are very peaceful and active swimmers with fabulous colors!

 

[Playa]

Just please do not report me to the Chromis police in RC. I have nothing but friends there, dont need anymore.

My LFS got their weekly quota of chromis in Feb(they got 50) I took 40 from Rob the same day and only hours after they were aclimated (telling it like it is) The stressed and weak did not make it. Several months later I have 34 or 35 from what we can count(pretty hard to do) No one has died since April.

 

[mojoreef]

Man Luis you had to post that picture!!!!!!....that it...oh Greg...oh greg, rofl.

Craig that sounds real interesting, Terry any opinions on the wrasses??

Mike

 

[Witfull]

my dorsalis wrasse is an active pod hunter. i feed maybe once aweek and he is not hurting. but then again, my maroon hunts too...i guess they learned not to depend on me for food.

 

[Playa]

LMAO Mike you crack me up, I was so close to mention names But you got it bro, that fellow was the one that stirred the pot and obviosly my #1 Fan there. I wonder how I can get people to hate me so easily. If you know him(I m sure you do, you know everyone)please put in a good word and tell him I am not the evil he thinks I am

Also wondered how Witt did not chime

Mike here is more, I swear that these guys are the most fan thing to watch in the reef. When they get big they will be taken out, it is that simple

 

[Terry B]

Hi Mike,

The chromis exhibit the schooling behavior that you are looking for and they don't get real large and are very hardy. However, I don't think you will be happy with them once they mature. Thier behavior changes and they could damage your corals when they chose a spot for laying thier eggs.

If you really want to stretch then you could experiment with some Equetus lanceolatus or the Jackknife fish. They will eat small shrimp and worms, but shouldn't bother your corals. The problem is that they can be difficult feeders and touchy fish. I don't consider them to be true shoal fish, but they do like to hang out together.

Some fairy wrasse are not a bad idea. You could keep one male with several females. Check out Paracheilinus mccoskeri http://fins.actwin.com/species/index.php?t=9&i=422 They should eat mysis and pacifica plankton well.

Cheers,
Terry B

 

[Craig Manoukian]

Some fairy wrasse are not a bad idea. You could keep one male with several females. Check out Paracheilinus mccoskeri. They should eat mysis and pacifica plankton well.

Not to get too technical, yah right, the Fairies are genus Cirrhilabrus and the Flashers are Paracheilinus. The McKoskeri is close to my heart, great suggestion Terry!