Schooling Fish? - Coolest (Peaceful & Easy)

[drcrook]

Hey Folks,

I'm getting a new tank fired up. Its a 120 48x24x24 rimless. Full mixed reef. I've always sort of wanted a few schools of fish running around as well as a few center beauties. Last time I made the mistake of using damsels (they tried to kill everything).

This time, I'm hoping to find some super peaceful folks that might travel in groups together cruising around the tank and don't necessarily have to eat the frozen mysis all the time (i like to go on vacation occasionally and an automated feeder with flakes will totally get used).

So lets see and hear about the coolest schooling fish that also take into mind ease of care and will be peaceful as new tank mates get added!

Thanks!

 

[AngryMike2016]

Pajama cardinals

 

[Jimbo662]

Blue Eyed Cardinals. I've had 10 for the past year or more. They don't take each other out.

 

[Halal Hotdog]

Here is an out of the box fish. I have two scribbled rabbit fish that had no interaction to each other prior to being introduced into my tank. I do not believe they are a mated pair, however they do school together. Great fish and relatively peaceful.

 

[TexasReefer82]

Zebra dartfish will pair off and the pair will usually swim together. The male will often do a little matting dance for the female.

 

[TexasReefer82]

you're correct that the answer is certainly NOT chromis, haha.

 

[DeniseAndy]

My blue eyed killed each other down to three after two years. Cool that yours haven't. I had ten to start.

So far I love my azure damsel babies, but that is just it. They are still young. I got them captive bred and have four in the tank. They hang with each other.

My bangaiis hang out together too. All five of them. Again captive bred.

My new Evansii anthias also hang out together, but they are more difficult to leave for vacation. Resplendents would be cool. I also had a trio of the indigo dottybacks (ORA) that hung out together for over 6 years or more.

 

[TexasReefer82]

The masked goby, which is a caribbean fish, don't exactly school but they hang out all together in the mid water column. They give a very "reefy" appearance to the tank. I had 6 (currently 5) in a 30 gallon and could have had more. Just slightly nippy with eat other but they don't pick each other off like chromis. Order them from KP Aquatics.

https://www.kpaquatics.com/product/masked-goby/

 

[TexasReefer82]

Blue Eyed Cardinals. I've had 10 for the past year or more. They don't take each other out.

Are you referring to this fish (AKA threadfin cardinal)

Or this fish?

 

[DeniseAndy]

Love the masked gobies. Just thought they may get lost in a 120g. I had them in nanos and picos.

 

[DeniseAndy]

Mine were the threadfin!

 

[stefanm]

Allen's damsels, I've got 10 coming hopefully tomorrow, not sure how tight they will be together, however one will become the dominant female, the rest follow on like chinese dolls smaller and smaller, don't get too big either.

 

[Jimbo662]

Are you referring to this fish (AKA threadfin cardinal)

The threadfin

 

[TexasReefer82]

Love the masked gobies. Just thought they may get lost in a 120g. I had them in nanos and picos.

I don't think they'd get lost at all. They are very good feeders and not shy about darting out to grab food. If I had a 120G I'd probably get 30-40 of them just to have as background fish then continue to stock the tank like normal, haha.

 

[smartwater101]

Cardinals are like Chromis in that they eventually will split up. They generally will not stick together long term. You might get lucky with Bangaiis though. As for chromis, the difference is they will murder each other and Cardinals will just split off into their own territory.

Others have mention things like masked gobies. They do tend to stick to the same area. Although, they tend to perch more than swim so if you're looking for movement this may not be the best choice. That said: I LOVE these small little dudes and you should get some either way! If I had the $ I'd fill my 160 with these fish. Everywhere you look you'll find another little dude hanging out.

Masked Goby

Red Spot

Red Stripe

Gold Neon Eviota

Red Neon Evitota

Okay, sorry to get slightly side tracked. I just love those things.

Anyway, Anthias are your best bet for a shoaling/schooling fish. Lots of movement (depending on what type) and generally stays near the mid to upper levels (also depends on type.) If you want long term success, as far as shoaling, def looking into Anthias.

 

[drcrook]

What about various kinds of wrasses? Do they school? Anthias a pretty awesome; I would probably want to go Lyretail (super cool looking); I had a single male square in my last tank.

How do you think a small harem of say 3-5 lyretails would do when new inhabitants get added? Clownfish & coral banded butterfly & a yellow tang or two are definately on the list.

 

[nereefpat]

What about various kinds of wrasses? Do they school?

In general, you don't want to attempt to mix wrasses of the same species. They all turn male and fight eventually. Some folks do have success with multiple leopard wrasses, so that might be possible.

You can mix different species. It's common for reefers to keep several different wrasses. You do have to consider compatibility. And they don't school.

 

[Kyl]

If you're thinking about anthias (I would), give this a read:

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/easiest-anthias.301351/

 

[Jesterrace]

Definitely not wrasses. In captivity most transition to male and you end up with males trying to kill each other.

Zebra Dartfish would be my recommendation.

 

[kchristensen8064]

Creole wrasses to my knowledge are an exception to the wrasse theory. They are a schooling wrasse and are very cool looking both as juveniles and as adults.