what is a good schooling reef fish

[prow]

hi everyone how goes it out there. working on a fish list and want to get 3-4 reef safe schooling fish that will remain fairly small. any idea's they will be going in a 120gal tank.

[almostdiva]

hi everyone how goes it out there. working on a fish list and want to get 3-4 reef safe schooling fish that will remain fairly small. any idea's they will be going in a 120gal tank.

have you ever tried scissor tail gobies? They look great, stay pretty small and are not delicate. They do jump, so you have to have a cover.

Rebecca

[dougc]

Most schooling fish do not exhibit this behavior for very long in captivity unless the tank is on the scale of Atlantis Marine World on Long Island. Schooling is largely a risk management strategy that is not necessary in the absence of predators.

That being said, the best small schooling fish I have seen are some of the cardinals. I have a group of six apogon leptacanthus (spinecheek cardinals) that still school at night or when there is activity around the tank. The rest of the time, they are dispersed around the tank in pairs. The other commonly available cardinal that will exhibit this behaviour is Apogon cyanosoma (orange-lined cardinal).

The most commonly cited schooling fish are the chromises. Unfortunately, they only school as juveniles, becoming territorial as they mature.

Even if they do not truly school, I think that it is much more natural to keep groups of fish where possible rather than having single representative from each species.

[scubadude]

I like bartlett, sunburst, and dispar anthias they do require a bit more feeding regime but are very colorful and active.

[kevinpo]

Im partial to anthias

Me too!
Kevin

[vtec si]

I like bartlett, sunburst, and dispar anthias they do require a bit more feeding regime but are very colorful and active.

ME THREE!

Martin

[prow]

thanks for the info. need to do some research now that i have some good places to start. thanks everyone

[ick sucks]

surprised nobody mentioned chromis?

[dougc]

I did.

[scubadude]

surprised nobody mentioned chromis?

I was gonna mention chromis, but if you read some of prow's other threads he has chromis (a few of them) already in his sump that he doesnt want

[prow]

yeah a lot of people did chromis is the one that seems to alway come up frist.

hey been looking into the anthias either dispa or bartlett. between the two which one is less shy or more bold.

[Papa Doug]

My 5 pyjama cardinals, that are now a year old, are still schooling well. Not sure what will happen when mating occurs. The chromis seem to always school well, but their longevity is not very good. They require several feedings per day to keep them healthy. I used an auto feeder, when keeping chromis.