Small, schooling, reef-safe fish?

JCM

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,342
Reaction score
1,646
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
They were fed 48 hr. naups 2x/day dripped from a culligan water bottle, then one large feeding of frozen (PE mysids, chopped clam/krill, capelin eggs, and cyclopeeze) and one small feeding of live adult brine. I plan on adding a group to my 300, once I'm hopefully done traveling for work, and feeding naups from a Venturi off of a Hartford loop or refrigerated doser.

Do you think the live food contributes to success even when they're eating frozen? Or were there other fish in the tank that required the live food? I'm not feeding any love foods at this point.
 

monkeyCmonkeyDo

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
8,288
Reaction score
8,087
Location
Puyallup, Wa USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ive tried several species of anthiad in the past prob 2 or 3 diffrent times. Ive tried lyretail. Squarebacks. And 1 princess. They eat yes. Swim. Yes. Look healthy yes but eventually just diminish. Die. I come from the day when number read 0 were acceptable. When feeding ur tank 1 time a day or every other day was accepted.

Times have changed and hopefully improved and maybe ppl have better success these days idk.

I just find it intresting everyone suggesting $100s of dollars in fish that the op might bot have good success with.
Get the sgt majors or convict tangs and be done with it. Im no expert either just a guy with a reef tank.
-d
 

Murphs_reef

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 27, 2021
Messages
129
Reaction score
146
Location
Uk
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I'm happy to be proven wrong. Chromis/damselfish and anthias definitely won't. They will hang out in loose groups but no synchronized movement you'd see with a school. The closest I've seen is with some small cardinalfish species.

My chromis school, I have 5. One is a bit of a bully but they seem fine.. been in the tank together since December... mind I have a pretty big dusky wrasse and a growing scopas tang that get annoyed by their antics so keep chasing them.. which may be leading to the schooling In a tight synchronous group.
 

dyno

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Aug 2, 2015
Messages
346
Reaction score
348
Location
Yorba Linda, CA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Are green chromis delicate or do they end up killing each other off? I bought a group of 7 huge green chromis, so pretty and nice almost 2.5-3". They didn't last very long.
 

BostonReefer300

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Messages
1,165
Reaction score
1,252
Location
Boston-Metrowest
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I had read that anthias were hard to keep, but after reading some of the posts in this thread---no thanks! Beautiful fish, but I don't have the time to feed that frequently or stay on top an autofeeder that is that critical to their survival.
 

jdiefenbaugh

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 15, 2019
Messages
384
Reaction score
582
Location
Omaha, NE
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Do you think the live food contributes to success even when they're eating frozen? Or were there other fish in the tank that required the live food? I'm not feeding any love foods at this point.

No, I don't think they get much nutritional value from them, it was just extra food and some enrichment. We would keep live brine at all times for sygnathids and to help get new fish in quarantine to eat as needed.
 

JCM

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,342
Reaction score
1,646
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
My chromis school, I have 5. One is a bit of a bully but they seem fine.. been in the tank together since December... mind I have a pretty big dusky wrasse and a growing scopas tang that get annoyed by their antics so keep chasing them.. which may be leading to the schooling In a tight synchronous group.

I would be surprised if that continues long term. I hope it works out for you though. They do ok when they are small (2") but I've never seen them stick together when they're 5-6" monsters.
 

jdiefenbaugh

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 15, 2019
Messages
384
Reaction score
582
Location
Omaha, NE
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Are green chromis delicate or do they end up killing each other off? I bought a group of 7 huge green chromis, so pretty and nice almost 2.5-3". They didn't last very long.

I never had luck keeping green chromis in groups, they would just continually pick off the weakest member until they got to a small number. They are also really susceptible to uronema during the chain of custody, which can kill them off really quickly, and most people don't keep formalin on hand to treat with. Not saying that was your case, just common.
 

JCM

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,342
Reaction score
1,646
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ive tried several species of anthiad in the past prob 2 or 3 diffrent times. Ive tried lyretail. Squarebacks. And 1 princess. They eat yes. Swim. Yes. Look healthy yes but eventually just diminish. Die. I come from the day when number read 0 were acceptable. When feeding ur tank 1 time a day or every other day was accepted.

Times have changed and hopefully improved and maybe ppl have better success these days idk.

I just find it intresting everyone suggesting $100s of dollars in fish that the op might bot have good success with.
Get the sgt majors or convict tangs and be done with it. Im no expert either just a guy with a reef tank.
-d

Yes, if you're only going to feed every day or two, anthias aren't for you. I've always fed 3-5 times a day so the feeding requirements aren't an issue.

I'm surprised to hear you recommend convict tangs. I like them but they don't have a great track record in captivity either. Plus adding a school of them to a tank with 4 other tangs will be pretty taxing on the filtration.
 

Murphs_reef

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 27, 2021
Messages
129
Reaction score
146
Location
Uk
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would be surprised if that continues long term. I hope it works out for you though. They do ok when they are small (2") but I've never seen them stick together when they're 5-6" monsters.
Yeah indeed time will tell.
 

monkeyCmonkeyDo

7500 Club Member
View Badges
Joined
Mar 4, 2019
Messages
8,288
Reaction score
8,087
Location
Puyallup, Wa USA
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
But feeding 4 times a day dosent?
I now feed 2 times a day or 1 time a day. I would still not recommend them to ppl with home aquariums.
Green chromis get 3-4". Ive never seen a 5-6" in a fish tank at home.
Convict tangs are BA. Like scopus. Underrated and not looked at.
Sgt majors too. Damsels get a bad rap.

The urlomea disease is hear say nay say. All fish are suseptipal to disease when stressed. They form the pecking order naturally. They just have a lot more room in the wild to spread out. Lol.
-d
 

BostonReefer300

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Apr 12, 2021
Messages
1,165
Reaction score
1,252
Location
Boston-Metrowest
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I've always wanted Sergeant Majors in my tank. Will they get along with the yellow tail damsels I have? I've read that they don't like other damsels. I'm assuming my clowns don't count but maybe I'm wrong.
 
OP
OP
tammieh

tammieh

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 5, 2017
Messages
222
Reaction score
230
Location
Palmetto, Fl
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Please, tell me more about Ignitus Anthias. Looks pretty, smaller size, hear that they are more peaceful...

I can get an auto feeder. I was planning on having one anyways.
 

southerntnreefer

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 19, 2018
Messages
2,214
Reaction score
1,542
Location
Southern Middle TN
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ive had the same experience with Chromis. Wife wanted a school of the dark blue reef chromis. I got a 6 pack from Divers den. Over many many months, one would be killed here and there. There were 5, then 4, then 3, then 2, and then 1. now 0. ive had decent luck with dispars. Lost a couple in the transition to male, but still love them. If i add now, it may be small wrasses.
 

JCM

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jan 28, 2018
Messages
1,342
Reaction score
1,646
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Ignitus are almost identical to Dispar. They stay fairly small, they usually won't continually pick off the weakest and they are fairly easy to feed. Mine took to frozen and pellets quickly. They are fine feeding 3-4 times a day.

They are a good choice in my opinion.
 

SPS2020

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 24, 2020
Messages
2,250
Reaction score
4,932
Location
NC
Rating - 100%
1   0   0
I've had good luck with my Ignitus. I feed them 2-3 times a day with mixed pellet (Hikari, Reef Nutrition). They get along with themselves and with my Tangs, Clowns, Dottyback...and my 1 Chromis viridis (lol). I work from home, so feeding isn't so much of an issue. When I go away, I use an Eheim automatic feeder.

I have not had success with Chromis. Two different tanks, add 13, wait a little while, then there was 1. Regardless of rockwork and pvc pipe. YMMV

Also, I've had Sgt Majors in the past...mean little devils in my tanks. Again, YMMV
 

Lowsingle

Well-Known Member
View Badges
Joined
Jun 25, 2009
Messages
826
Reaction score
280
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Best schooling fish from my experience is blue eyed cardinals, they would school really tight at night for protection, but would scatter a little during the day (usually into 2-3 groups). I never had luck with chromis, I would always end up with one or two as the school would diminish over the course of several months. That and I think they are ugly when they get big (they are really pretty when they are ~ 1 inchish). Good luck, let us know what you get and how it works for you.....

Darren
 

silvernblackr35

Active Member
View Badges
Joined
Dec 1, 2014
Messages
141
Reaction score
88
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I have a trio of ignitus anthias, 15 green chromis, and 7 pajama cardinals in my tank. The pj cardinals are fairly new additions but the anthias I have had for 4 years and the chromis for 2.

The key is for anthias is buying all females to start and getting them trained on a freeze dried and/or dry food like pellets or flakes. Frozen is great too but I have had skinny anthias waste away on me during previous attempts. You want to throw in dry foods as soon as possible to keep their weight up. I also soak my foods in phytoplankton I grow myself. Anthias can be very frustrating because they don't arrive in good shape most of the time and the weak ones rarely make it.


Chromis are hit or miss, my group of 15 is really 2 groups split up, I have had a few die from being excommunicated from the groups and they just waste away.

I would avoid every damsel as a shoaling fish as they are only shoalers before they become sexually mature and then they start to carve out their own territories. Springer's damsels are a nice addition to my reef, I have 3 that are pretty mellow. Sgt major damsels are very territorial even when I have observed them in the wild while snorkeling.

My PJ cardinals get along really well. I would say they are the best shoalers in my tank, although they don't add a ton of movement like the chromis and anthias, they just hang out.

Each fish definitely have their pros and cons.
 
Back
Top