Schooling Fish

[ocean diver]

What do you guys think would make the best schooling fish in a 110gal mixed reef tank?

[fishytime]

cardinals or gudgeons make good choices that dont seem to dwindle in numbers

[Lance]

Stay away from Chromis. Some people call them schooling but they're not really. And like all damsels they are little bastards to each other.

[fishytime]

Originally Posted by Lance

Stay away from Chromis. Some people call them schooling but they're not really. And like all damsels they are little bastards to each other.

well.....if you wanna be technical.....chromis ARE a schooling fish.....problem is, we put 6 or 10 or 20 in a tank and think we have a school.....when in reality we have a small group/pack.....these fish school by the hundreds in the wild.....

[Lance]

Originally Posted by fishytime

well.....if you wanna be technical.....chromis ARE a schooling fish.....problem is, we put 6 or 10 or 20 in a tank and think we have a school.....when in reality we have a small group/pack.....these fish school by the hundreds in the wild.....

You're right Doug. In the wild they are schooling. I was referring more to the home aquarium. One of the problems with these fish in the aquarium is that they require constant feeding and if they aren't actively picking off food in the water column they are harassing each other. I started with thirteen and now 3 years later I'm down to three. Nasty little buggers!

I've seen both cardinals and anthias make some nice looking schools in reef tanks.
I bought some frags off a guy that had a 90 gallon with a fair size group (10 or 12) chalk bass in his mixed reef tank and they actually looked really cool together. I'm not sure they are considered 'schooling' fish or 'shoaling' fish but they definately hung put together in a pretty tight little group and apparently they are not aggressive towards any of his corals.

Cheers,
PatD