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small shoaling fish, ideas?


brianinak

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Simulated Fish
1 hour ago, 1891Bro said:

Neon tetras. And you can do more than 3 to 5 of those in 36 gallons. 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure if your serious..... *Insert Futurama meme here*

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Just now, Hippieheadshot said:

 

 

Not sure if your serious..... *Insert Futurama meme here*

Totally serious, I'm not a dick 24/7, Sometimes I sleep ;) 

 

really though. Easy schoaling fish that'll fit a 36 gallon? I'd do neon tetras if that was what I was after, or white cloud tetras. I figure it's way too small to pull of the anthias that most would want in a marine tank. 

 

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43 minutes ago, Hippieheadshot said:

@1891Bro Lol I know you just like to joke around, no worries man! I thought that tetras were FW only?

They are. 

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Maybe 3 chalk bass. Though they might just end up pairing off eventually. Not much you can fit, most truly schooling fish get huge. Others that would hang out together in a large tank are likely to bicker in a tank your size.

There are some little gobies that might group together, but they'd be less in the water column more in the rockwork. 

Alternatively, if you didn't want to stick much else in the tank, you could go with a damsel group (and not much else). Get a little group of yellow tail damsels (C. parasema) together; they'd be colorful, showy, easy to keep. Personally, I would do about 5 in that size tank, but depending on your aquascape or filtration that could go up or down... maybe sneak in a blenny that can hold it's own. 

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thank you Sun wyrm, I'll look into your suggestions.

Chalk bass kind of cool looking.  Should I be scared of the "semi aggressive label"? 

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Yellow Assessors are another option. Oh, and some Eviota sp. like Eviota bifasciata and Eviota nigriventralis shoal. They can be hard to track down, but some company captive bred them last year, I think, which might be a better bet. They're so small, you could probably put 10 of them in a 36g with no problems. Redspot cardinalfish are a better option than threadfins for cardinalfish, probably, because they're a good bit smaller.

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6 minutes ago, brianinak said:

Pajama Cardinal seems like real possibility.  Cool looking fish!

Have you seen one fully grown?

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nope, first go at any aquarium.  Stat I saw said can to grow to 3.5in, that probably too big huh

What are you thoughts?

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Simulated Fish
34 minutes ago, metrokat said:

Red spot cardinalfish.

Longspine cardinalfish

Orange stripe cardinalfish.

Blue reef chromis.

Blue reef chromis

 

I think you mean cold blooded serial killers... because all chromis are evil

 

 

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11 hours ago, brianinak said:

thank you Sun wyrm, I'll look into your suggestions.

Chalk bass kind of cool looking.  Should I be scared of the "semi aggressive label"? 

Not at all. Mine have always been pansies and I had 11 in a 360 gallon. Much better at "schooling" than anthias IMO, more peaceful too. Makes a great dither fish for more shy species, though if they're bullied they might need one themselves! One of my favorite fish. 

I think I just talked myself into buying some more for my new tank...
 

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I have redspot glass cardinals in my reef tank.  They look very similar to neon tetras actually.  They're great little fish and always stick together. I got my group of five about a year and a half ago from the Diver's Den on Live Aquaria.  Their lifespan isn't too long, so now i'm down to two, but will be adding more back shortly.

12 hours ago, 1891Bro said:

its become obvious to me that op only wants marine fish. Sorry for bad advice :eyeroll: 

 

Well, the forum is nano-REEF - as in saltwater reefs........  so...... 

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Simulated Fish

@stellablue I have always wanted a redspot group, but the short lifespan has stopped me every time. Especially since they are 25 or 35 bucks each when my LFS gets them, adds up fast.

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4 minutes ago, Hippieheadshot said:

@stellablue I have always wanted a redspot group, but the short lifespan has stopped me every time. Especially since they are 25 or 35 bucks each when my LFS gets them, adds up fast.

Live aquaria sells the group of five for I think $39.  Even with shipping, it isn't bad at all especially if you add more to your order to get the free shipping ;) 

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10 hours ago, brianinak said:

nope, first go at any aquarium.  Stat I saw said can to grow to 3.5in, that probably too big huh

What are you thoughts?

Keep in mind, most of the species people are suggesting can be harder to keep; requiring good water conditions, frozen food every day or multiple times a day. You'll have to keep up with water quality as this is probably going to be a bit higher bioload than a normal stocklist to get the effect you're looking for. That said, I think it's a really cool idea.

Another fish I just thought of, KPA sells Masked Gobies, saying they school in groups and easy to keep. Anyone have experience with them? Their description sounds like a smaller version of chalk bass, so you could potentially keep a larger group in that tank.

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2 hours ago, metrokat said:

Gobies in general are not swimmers though, more of a perching fish. I'm not sure if OP is looking for active swimmers but I assumed so.

I just checked out the ORA description of Masked Gobies and apparently these ones to hover around in the water column. So that would definitely be a good choice. KPA is a great source, but getting them captive bred from ORA is a tempting proposition as well (more expensive, probably, but they wouldn't have diseases and would already  be adapted to aquarium life). 

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