Would like to add a schooling fish

[danimal]

Well its time - the family is pushing for the addition of more fish to my tank. Currently we have a yellow tang, six line wrasse, two false clowns and a zebra gobi. (If my grandson has his way we would have the whole Nemo cast in there). The tank is an established 180 (1.5 years) with mostly sps.

the idea of adding a schooling fish goes back to my original plans . I am considering the Lyretail anthias - Pseudanthias squamipinnis or the Bartletts anthias. They seem to meet my need for for the schooling movement and provide the color to keep Mrs Danimal happy. The reasonably low bioload should also help. In my vision I was hoping to be able to add about 6 of the bartletts which is a huge investment for me given my current operating budget.

There is a local source for the bartletts right now and they appear to be in great health, but I have also heard contradicting opinions about their care. Some articles/descripiton claim they are very demanding and others say they are one of the few anthias that adapt well to the reef tank.

So i will ask for your two cents on the pros and cons of these possible choices or your own personal favorites. Posting from work so I will be back on line later. thanx

 

[Bucktronix]

i would hardly call anthias a low bio load fish, they need to eat at least 3 times a day maybe more.. all that food has to come out at some point.

 

[Ben1]

Buck is right the heavy feeding anthias reguire maes them high maintance. What about a bunch of green chromis?

 

[Anonymous]

Cardinals are good in groups the bioload is a little less than the anthias.

 

[danimal]

Thanx for the advice. I will have to take a closer look. The bartletts I saw formed such a beautiful school that they almost got me hooked on an impulse buy, but I am in no hurry - guess its time to go and get a good book on fish.

 

[Len]

The problem with schooling/social fish in our tanks is they often don't exhibit this behavior since our tanks are relatively tiny compared to what they're used to. Anthias hardly aggregate in tanks even up to 300 gallons.

A tricky (and arguably cruel) way to get some of these fish to bunch up is to display images of predatory fish such as groupers 8O A life size photo would do

 

[Anonymous]

(and arguably cruel)

Yet morbidly funny :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

how would schooling catfish work out? Are they good for reef tanks?

 

[Anonymous]

Schooling Cats for Reefs??? Hmm I dunno...I think saltwater cats arent reef safe to begin with and home aquaria too small to house...

 

[Len]

Those cute little catfish .... they grow up to be HUGE HUGE HUGE monsters (that don't school). Don't ever be suckered into buying juvenile SW "catfish," just like don't ever buy those cute twin spot Fuji C.aygula wrasses.

 

[Anonymous]

Thanks Len...You confirmed my suspicions...Ive only seen adult SW cats and was pretty sure they werent reef safe...Are sw cats even indigenous to coral reefs? Im imagining not but Im probably wrong...

They're not the same as FW corydoras...

 

[Len]

Plotosus sp. has a really wide natural distrubtion and actually can travel between FW, brackish, and full NSW. They are sometimes found in tropical reefs, but they'll all over the place (including rivers, estruaries, tide pools, etc.) The most commonly available "coral catfish" is Plotosus lineatus, and gets about 1 foot and a half long 8O

 

[Bucktronix]

i though catfish were freshwater, well the ones ive always eaten were.

 

[danimal]

The problem with schooling/social fish in our tanks is they often don't exhibit this behavior since our tanks are relatively tiny compared to what they're used to. Anthias hardly aggregate in tanks even up to 300 gallons.

If thats the case am I just out of luck thinking I can get a small group of fish to travel as a pack in a 180g tank? BTW the closest thing Ive got to a predatory poster right now is my seafood cookbook.....

 

[Chooch]

Danimal,

I have personally kept Bartlett's anthias and I can vouch that they are among the easiest anthias to keep. Others, including Scott Michael, have had this experience as well. Mine fed on every type of food offered including flake food. Once they were fat and well established, mine did well on one feeding a day and sometimes two per day on weekends although more than one feeding per day is better if you can accomodate that. Your fish bioload is modest at this point so I think your tank could accomodate 6 specimens. I would suggest purchasing juveniles if possible which will allow the most dominant member of the group to become the male haremic leader. I agree with the other comments that they don't school very well in our tanks. They need a large expanse of water and the feeling that there are predators around to cause them to school. In my tank, also a 180 gallon, they would mildly aggregate but were somewhat spread out most of the time. They are still beautiful fish that can add some really nice color and movement to a tank even if they don't tightly school. I would recommend you purchase them as they are only sporadically available. I think Mrs. Danimal will be pleased you did. Good luck.