Schooling Fish Question

[Kasrift]

Hi everyone, I'm finally on my way to a bigger tank and one thing I've always wanted was a proper school of fish.

Info:
I have a 200 gallon aquarium I ordered during black Friday and am looking for a school of fish. The stocking will be medium overall with two or three tangs as the only large fish.

My question is who has a good suggestion and do they school together or shoal?

Chromis seem to swim together, but people say they pick each other off over time and deal with uronema. Do they actually school and is there a perfect number? Also do green vs blue green make a difference, liveaquaria lists blue green as shoaling fish which I understand means they just swim together.

People mention evansi anthias or springeri as well.

 

[tbrown]

Hi everyone, I'm finally on my way to a bigger tank and one thing I've always wanted was a proper school of fish.

Info:
I have a 200 gallon aquarium I ordered during black Friday and am looking for a school of fish. The stocking will be medium overall with two or three tangs as the only large fish.

My question is who has a good suggestion and do they school together or shoal?

Chromis seem to swim together, but people say they pick each other off over time and deal with uronema. Do they actually school and is there a perfect number? Also do green vs blue green make a difference, liveaquaria lists blue green as shoaling fish which I understand means they just swim together.

People mention evansi anthias or springeri as well.

@F i s h y what did you say about Springeris? 6+ or only 2?

Also, @Kasrift you might check into Flashers or Fairy Wrasses? If you get a male and several females I believe they school. @Slocke @i cant think ?

 

[blecki]

Anthias are good options. I tried a school of chromis and it didn't work out - the three that remain do not swim together; they fight each other.

 

[Slocke]

Schooling fish often doesn’t work as people hope. Chromis and anthias are the two people go for but they both tend to fight unless you get a big enough population. And there is the uronema problem. I would find a species of smaller anthias and get at least 5 though closer to 10 would be even better. And of course make sure there is no more than one male.

 

[blecki]

Start with a group of females if you do anthias and can't find an established trio.

 

[littlefoxx]

I have a trio of chromis that are great together. I looked for a seller who had them together since they were tiny. They dont have any aggression with eachother, just my blue azure damsel when he tries to swim with them

 

[Kasrift]

Anthias are good options. I tried a school of chromis and it didn't work out - the three that remain do not swim together; they fight each other.

What type of chromis?

 

[Kasrift]

@F i s h y what did you say about Springeris? 6+ or only 2?

Also, @Kasrift you might check into Flashers or Fairy Wrasses? If you get a male and several females I believe they school. @Slocke @i cant think ?

I hadn't even thought of wrasses schooling. I was planning on one Mccosker wrasse since I think they are really pretty.

Another fish I was curious about was maybe tilefish. Anyone do a school of those, or do fire fish school if you have enough?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Firefish tend to pick each other off as well.
You also need to remember that fish school primarily for safety. In a tank, they are a lot less likely to need to be that close to others to feel secure...

 

[Kasrift]

Firefish tend to pick each other off as well.
You also need to remember that fish school primarily for safety. In a tank, they are a lot less likely to need to be that close to others to feel secure...

Hm, good point. So obviously I needed to convince the wife for larger than a six foot tank with some sharks or predators.

 

[tbrown]

Hm, good point. So obviously I needed to convince the wife for larger than a six foot tank with some sharks or predators.

Follow in @pandaparties footsteps?

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Lol!
If you've ever been diving or snorkeling you probably noticed that fish "on the reef" are swimming around independent of each other picking at the rocks, etc. They generally school out in open water (or, if it's shallow, over relatively empty sand).

If you want a school of fish, set up a small FW tank with tetras, etc. While the same logic applies here, it's more likely you'll see behavior that resembles schooling/shoaling.

 

[Kasrift]

Follow in @pandaparties footsteps?

Haha. Yeah... We just need to start a WeWork space for aquarium lovers. We each have our own "office" space for our tanks, no significant others complain about buckets, gear, or other stuff lying around the house.

 

[tbrown]

Bumblebee Gobies and Tetras!

 

[littlefoxx]

Hm, good point. So obviously I needed to convince the wife for larger than a six foot tank with some sharks or predators.

Lol trying to convince my BF that a 8 foot tank is a great idea lol. He likes the six foot tank but thinks the 8 is too big for the living room..

 

[WheatToast]

Also do green vs blue green make a difference, liveaquaria lists blue green as shoaling fish which I understand means they just swim together.

Both common names refer to the same species: Chromis viridis

Chromis seem to swim together, but people say they pick each other off over time and deal with uronema. Do they actually school and is there a perfect number?

Chromis Uronema can be combatted using thorough quarantine. I used Metroplex on Chromis cyanea and Chromis viridis and never saw Uronema.
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/uronema-marinum.247940/
Based on the anecdotal evidence I have heard, there is no ideal number of Chromis and that very heavy feeding and hiding spaces can be used to reduce Chromis aggression. If I am to believe the Wikipedia definition of schooling (swimming in the same direction in a coordinated manner), then yes, some Chromis, like Chromis viridis, do school. However, Chromis may disband unless there are larger, more aggressive fish around to stimulate schooling behavior (again, more anecdotal evidence).

Cardinalfish are another option in terms of schooling fish, though I know less about them compared to Chromis. IMO, the redspot cardinalfish (Ostorhinchus parvulus) looks the best, but is very difficult to care for. The threadfin cardinalfish (Zoramia leptacantha) is another stunning and more popular option that seems to be fairly hardy outside of shipping from what others are saying.

 

[i cant think]

Hi everyone, I'm finally on my way to a bigger tank and one thing I've always wanted was a proper school of fish.

Info:
I have a 200 gallon aquarium I ordered during black Friday and am looking for a school of fish. The stocking will be medium overall with two or three tangs as the only large fish.

My question is who has a good suggestion and do they school together or shoal?

Chromis seem to swim together, but people say they pick each other off over time and deal with uronema. Do they actually school and is there a perfect number? Also do green vs blue green make a difference, liveaquaria lists blue green as shoaling fish which I understand means they just swim together.

People mention evansi anthias or springeri as well.

It’s honestly impossible to find schooling fish in this hobby. They will shoal but it’s rare you will get true schooling fish.

Schooling is used as a deterrent towards predators to make themselves larger and ‘scary’. However, in the hobby we generally can’t have these predators that cause these fish to go into schooling modes so your best bet is with shoaling fish.

Now, Chromis and Anthias are good recommendations however people often lose them as they kill eachother off because there are no larger fish constantly being aggressive towards them. This is where damsels and other somewhat small but boisterous fish come in. Damsels (and even other species of Chromis) keep Chromis viridis in groups. This is because they are being boisterous and keeping the Chromis in their place, making them want to group up more and overall shoal.

I hadn't even thought of wrasses schooling. I was planning on one Mccosker wrasse since I think they are really pretty.

Another fish I was curious about was maybe tilefish. Anyone do a school of those, or do fire fish school if you have enough?

I disagree with the comment of wrasses. First off, wrasses live in harems which is slightly different to schools or shoals. Then, in captivity you have that fact that flasher and fairy wrasses will always transition to male and eventually fight to the death to be the most dominant male. This is different to if you have different species of flashers in the same tank as they don’t see eachother as the same fish and instead see eachother as wanting to hold the most territory. So they defend their own territory and generally won’t chase the other around the tank for long periods of time.

Tilefish are 50/50. Some will group however they’re best kept in 2-3s if you want a group other wise, keep them singularly (obviously you can have different species but I’d stick to 1-2 of the same species). another issue with tilefish is they are much more jumpy than any other fish I’ve had - I have/had wrasses, dragonets, gobies, tilefish, rabbitfish. All are somewhat known jumpers however the tilefish were the worse until they were settled in and they need crevices and overhangs to be happy.

 

[Mikeltee]

I'd go with 7 Bangaii Cardinals if I was you. I have had a max of 5 in my 130. I absolutely love them. They don't live long for me though. I once found about 50 babies in my overflow. I'd love to bread them. They used to be $8. They are $25 now. I have 3 in qt now. They are so tiny I may get another 4 as I know I'll get maybe a year out of them if im lucky. Sometimes a pair seperates but 90% of the time, they all cruise the tank together.

 

[Kasrift]

I'd go with 7 Bangaii Cardinals if I was you. I have had a max of 5 in my 130. I absolutely love them. They don't live long for me though. I once found about 50 babies in my overflow. I'd love to bread them. They used to be $8. They are $25 now. I have 3 in qt now. They are so tiny I may get another 4 as I know I'll get maybe a year out of them if im lucky. Sometimes a pair seperates but 90% of the time, they all cruise the tank together.

I was thinking the Threadfin Cardinals since by all accounts they school, they just don't seem to ship well.

Bangaii don't offer much in terms of movement. Do they move more as a group or still just "hover".

 

[Mikeltee]

I was thinking the Threadfin Cardinals since by all accounts they school, they just don't seem to ship well.

Bangaii don't offer much in terms of movement. Do they move more as a group or still just "hover".

They are constantly cruising in my 48x24x30 with a ton of lr. Even my 3 babies in qt cruise with barebottom and a couple PVC elbows. I am unfamiliar with any other Cardinals. I always loved the bangaii. I think I read in the past that multiple PJs isn't a good idea. I've never heard of threadfins. I'll check them out.