Schooling Tangs?

|Tom the Bomb| · Apr 25, 2020

Salt Addiction said:
I think you should get some more sleep, you obviously need it with that attitude.

Schooling vs Shoaling in Fish

Last I checked most freshwater species will, along with chromis, etc.

Yep definetly, i used to have a large 55 gallon tank with all neon tetras and they swim together as a close group in the same direction back and forth across the tank. And I bet sardines do so too

Salt Addiction · Apr 25, 2020

CoralReefer2110 said:
Salt Addiction,
Totally agree with you on all points. I've been at this long enough to know just how much I don't know. Always grateful for those who can teach/enlighten me in a pleasant way. It's your thread, you do you....
Cheers.

25 years into the aquarium hobby (mostly fw) and I couldn't of said it better myself. Always something new to learn, or relearn something we had thought of as fact. And just when you think you got it, something gets thrown into the mix that turns that on its head.

BrandonP · Apr 26, 2020

According to Wikipedia, "any group of fish that stays together for social reasons is said to be shoaling...". Before my tank crash, I had a Sailfin, Hippo, Mimic, and Tomini tang. The Tomini tang kind of did its own thing and sometimes the Mimic would follow the Tomini around (they came from the same tank of a previous owner). However, my Hippo would always shadow the Sailfin around the and the Mimic would usually follow. Sometimes the Tomini would join. The Sailfin was definitely the king/queen of the tank so I guess this kind of made sense. Based on the definition above, I don't see why you couldn't call that a shoal of fish IMO.

The Sailfin always followed me around the tank so this video was to highlight that behavior and not so much the shoaling behavior. You can see how the Hippo follows the Sailfin and the Mimic follows the Hippo in the video. I still have the Hippo today and plan on adding the same group of tangs. I really miss that behavior. I am guessing this time around the Hippo will be the leader. Enjoy!