What's a good schooling fish?

[reefchaser]

I would like to have a bunch of fish swimming together.

 

[Waters]

Chromis, Anthias, Cardinals and Firefish will all school to some degree but it doesn't always happen in the smaller space that our aquariums provide.

 

[reefchaser]

Is 75 good enough or no

 

[mcarroll]

Saltwater is not the best for those types of fish, unfortunately.

Virtually all marine schoolers are hyper-aggressive. Unless they can get up in numbers enough so that aggression is well-distributed, in a tank that usually means within 1-3 years you end up with one specimen left. Practically the opposite of freshwater schooling fish.

This is especially true if you're talking about a small tank - under 150-200 gallons. (Please don't try it.)

Once you are in that range of tank or higher some options become available, but probably none of the fish you have in mind as the better ones are sorta freshwater-looking. (None of the ones recommended so far.)

There are so many more options to consider than schooling fish - consider reef fish instead. For example, there are still gregarious fish like chalk bass which form loose communities, but don't school, which are awesome.

-Matt

 

[PatW]

Schooling behavior is thought to be a response to an external threat. By that I think they mean a predator. Fish rarely school in an aquarium. You can get them to shoal or hang out together. Since most fish are mature at about 4 inches or larger and you want quite a few and for them to have all sorts of room, you are talking about a huge tank. It would be really cool to have it happen but......

 

[DeepSeaIllusions]

A lot of marine fish school, I have seen Tangs, Butterflies school also. But it is just like it has been said already up to the fish. The more comfortable they are in your aquarium, the less they will school. It's a type of defence for the fish.

Yet if you still want to try to add a group in your aquarium I would pick Bangai Cardinals. These once have been known to breed in captivity, so that would be then a nice extra.

 

[Dalmatia]

I agree, cardinals, cromis or some smaller anthias will school. The cromis will school 100% if added at the same time, even after you can still intrudes these fish but some might not get along at that point and fight till death

 

[Dalmatia]

I have these 2 schooling in my tank for a year now

no problems

 

[OceanDude]

Schooling or shoaling?

 

[navila06]

in my experience chromis have always schooled for me, had 11 at one point.

 

[Dalmatia]

Schooling or shoaling?

I guess they are shoaling, same to me as long as they don't fight

 

[AJsTank]

I have a dozen anthias that all stick closely together in my 8 foot long tank. Dispar, purple queen, lyretail and Ignitus.

 

[Dalmatia]

I have a dozen anthias that all stick closely together in my 8 foot long tank. Dispar, purple queen, lyretail and Ignitus.

When I started out, I had 2 little anthias for a while, they schooled and wanted some more. Went and bought another 2, I thought where the same but I guess they weren't cause some had more green and they where fighting. Next day bought a lion fish (stupid me) and he fixed that problem by eating all of them, man was I dumb!
Just know what your buying before you buy
Glad to hear yours are getting along

 

[Eienna]

When I started out, I had 2 little anthias for a while, they schooled and wanted some more. Went and bought another 2, I thought where the same but I guess they weren't cause some had more green and they where fighting. Next day bought a lion fish (stupid me) and he fixed that problem by eating all of them, man was I dumb!
Just know what your buying before you buy
Glad to hear yours are getting along

Sounds like you might have bought female lyretails in the process of changing to males...

If you ever buy anthias again, try to get all females and add them all at once. The most dominant female will become your male.

 

[1.0reef]

In your tank, cardinals, assessors, chromis, and anthias would be best, oh and of course dartfish.

 

[AQUAMAN21]

my chromis and anthias have school but i also added them at the same time. Also its 150 gallon reef tank aka 6 feet long

 

[mcarroll]

I guess since people are throwing out BIG TANK schooling fish all over the place, I'll chip in on that too.

Klein's Butterflyfish

(more images)

Of the fish I've seen come through the trade, this is my favorite schooling fish, and I think the strongest schooling fish I've seen. Just for an anecdote, I've had one freshly caught in a catch-cup hanging inside the tank, while his three schoolmates - apparently unperturbed - still hang right by him schooling. Yes, even though I was still around and he was stuck at the top of the tank in a catch-cup.

On top of that, they have really nice personalities toward most other fish, and very low risk factors toward most inverts.

In the absence of regular feedings - what I think would be considered starvation by most - they have been known (IME) to eat a zonanthid or acan or two. If there are easier polyps like aiptasia and mojano, they do seem to prefer those to coral polyps, IME. This is the set of behaviors most people are looking to exploit when adding Klein's to their tank....but it's obviously not their only good point!

Getting back to a 75 gallon tank....there's no way I'd do fish this large. Certainly not a school of fish that get this large.

-Matt

 

[Eienna]

You know, I hear that chalk bass like to be in groups. I don't think they're schoolers, per se, but it might be as close as you're going to get under the circumstances.

 

[Seasquirt]

EXCEPT that once bangaii's mature, a pair will take out the others.

 

[phys]

One species I have notices that schools well in a lot of situations are mono argentis. I don't suggest bangaii (unless they're tank raised), or green chromis which have a high death rate.