Blue Streak Cardinals

[digital-audiophile]

Do they tend to stay as a school as they adjust to their new home?

Tha't one thing that I never cared for in chromis... when you first add them they stick together in a tight school but after a month they all are very independent.

[noirsphynx]

As far as I know from what I've read they do stay in a school unlike chromis. I hope they will because this was the whole reason I wanted these guys.

[marie]

I had 4 and I found they tend to pair off and rather then school together they just hang out in the general vicinity of each other.
They don't swim very much and they probably wouldn't of noticed if they were in a 20g instead of my 175g but the colour around their eyes is the most amazing blue

[Snappy]

Originally Posted by noirsphynx

As far as I know from what I've read they do stay in a school unlike chromis. I hope they will because this was the whole reason I wanted these guys.

They are a very cool looking fish but very timid and not too bright. I used to have some and it's the only fish I have ever witnessed being nabbed and eaten by a nickel sized aptasia. If you have a non aggresive tank I'm sure they'll do great. I wish I could keep them. For the record my chromis tend to school the majority of the time. I have 16 of them in my 400 gal and they sometimes split into 2-3 schools but usually stay all together.

[noirsphynx]

I always tend to hear about chromis not staying in a school as they get bigger, guess that's not true. My tank will be non aggressive & I have no apistaisa, thank goodness. I want it mainly sps and I have some small shrimp species, pom pom crab, porcelin crab, a pair of ocellairs clowns and maybe one other peaceful bottom dweller so all should be good.

[Snappy]

Dawn that sounds like a nice peacefull mix so those cardinals so do great. As I said I wish I could keep them in my reef.

[fishytime]

Cool little fish and great pics guys! If you want to be technical....even a group of 15 chromis hardly constitutes being called a "school". Probably why "most" groups of chromis end up with one dominant fish that slowly wears down the weaker individuals. Could also be that with no large predatory(or perceived predatory) fish in the tank the "need" to school isnt there. It sounds though like the cardinals may be a better choice for a school as they dont have that ingrained aggressive streak that the damsels have.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

Do they tend to stay as a school as they adjust to their new home?

Tha't one thing that I never cared for in chromis... when you first add them they stick together in a tight school but after a month they all are very independent.

My chromis still stick together after about 4 months now. All 9 are still with me (none have been killed) and you rarely see one go anywhere without the rest except sometimes at feeding.

Not sure why mine are so 'close' or feel the need to school but they do.

[digital-audiophile]

Interesting. I've had not much luck with keeping bigger groups of chromis. I've had up to 15 at one point and the number always ends up at three.. I don't know what it is but when I add more.. it always settles at three.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by digital-audiophile

Interesting. I've had not much luck with keeping bigger groups of chromis. I've had up to 15 at one point and the number always ends up at three.. I don't know what it is but when I add more.. it always settles at three.

Yeah thats what everyone told me but this is the second time I have kept a larger group and so far all are still around and the first time I tried years back, only one died. I guess I have just had good luck with chromis.