Thanks, this will make it easier to do my research. My tank is a little over 125 gallons and I like to get my fish in the 3 inch size so this may work for me.

They are really easy to keep, just have to watch for the jumping.

I would really like to see a photo of what the "school" looks like in your situation. I have a nice predator in my tank as well and I'm very curious to see the effect it has. I can't believe that your grouper has only eaten a few in a month. I'm concerned my Lookdown would polish off an entire school in a couple of days!

Sure. I have to get a new cable for my camera but I will take a few pics as soon as I do. They generally stay in a group of at least 3-4 if they leave the rocks. They kind of dart around and follow each other. Definitely looks like they get kind of scared if the others leave them behind and will quickly catch up.

Honestly though, they do not come out of the rocks all that much. They all share the same cave and spend most of the day hiding from the grouper.

The grouper is fed 3 times a day, fish, prawn, mussels, ect. so I don't think he has much desire to go hunting. He ate three damsels in one day though when I decided to not feed until the night time :smile: I guess he was going to eat regardless. He ate one the other day when it darted out of the rocks at feeding time and got stuck alone near one of the top corners of the tank. I did not see it but my fiance was feeding them and did. She said he just swallowed the damsel and kept swimming.

So you think your lookdown would eat them that fast???

Chalk bass, sel. stkg. 12/24/07


Here is the thread on fish expert Robert Fenner's website www.wetwebmedia.com


Hey crew!
<Mike>
I have a 55 gallon reef with around 60 lbs of rock that I was thinking about adding some chalk bass to.
<Some?>
At current I have 2 Ocellaris clowns, 2 green chromis, a Scopas tang
<Needs more room>
and a scooter blenny. Do you think that one, or even two would be pushing the limits?
<Two too likely... Serranus spp. are territorial...>
It is a show style tank so it is 4 feet long and 20 inches deep and offers a good amount of space to swim with plenty of rockwork for cover, though I more concerned about the biological limitations. your thoughts?
Thanks
Mike
<Think a four foot by one foot bottom is pushing it too much psychologically here. One specimen is all I'd place. Bob Fenner

Thanks for sending me that writeup, it will be helpful in making my mind up.

Hmmmmm....well as of this morning my "school" of chromis and other damsels is looking a little thin. And my grouper is looking kind of portly. I think he has a "damsel gut".

Darn...I guess you were right Untamed...schools may not last too long with an eating machine in the tank. Weird thing is, he only ate two in his first month in the tank and then suddenly he ate I would say four between sometime yesterday and this morning. The rest (about 4) are now in disarray but still stick together most of the time. Not quite the same as before though.

Well I don't know if I will add any more. I think they will just keep becoming midnight snacks. Too bad because they really added some nice colour and movement to the tank :(

On a side note, this grouper is NEVER full. He ate a prawn and a half last night for dinner and still ate damsels all night...jeez. I don't know how this is going to work when he hits 20 or 22". I hoped the 240G would be enough but now I think he may need a bigger tank :sad:

just a thought but if you still want to try schooling fish you could try some blue eyed cardinals.... I had 3 chalk bass in my tank and they would pick on each other maybe if you added it all the same time they may get along however the B.E. cardinals school for sure. I recently bought 7 and they're all doing well the first few days they all hid but now they are out more frequently if you feed them a mix of mysis and colour enhansing flakes they glow a nice blue in their eyes and belly also get orange stripes. Aftr seeing how well they school I want to add another 13 to make a total of 20. Here is a pic I googled to give you an idea. Hope it is helpfull.http://images.google.ca/imgres?imgur...%3D2%26hl%3Den

Odd numbers
 

Odd numbers are always better for schooling fish. I would go 19 or 21.

Thanks everyone for the info, in the end I went with 4 Zebra Dartfish, (they hide till the evening but then all 4 school together) and have purchased 3 Look Downs (2.5ish inches each). I figure this gives me a good reason to have to upgrade to a larger tank later on.