Need suggestions for a school of fish in a 75 Gallon

[pogiboy67]

hey everyone i have a 75 gallon tank...what fish would u guys suggest for a 75 to see schooling action? i dont care what the fish look like but i would prefer to have them as small as possible... i keep hearing bad things about chromis not getting along and i hear good things about firefish....any other smaller fishes?

[Monkeyfish]

Cardinals - pajama or bangai (not sure of the spelling).

[phishlet]

Another vote for pajama or bagai cardinals.

Green chromis make nice schooling fish too but there can be a bit of squabbling initially until the school settles in. You might loose one or two intially. But for a 75 gallon I'd still recommend the cardinals.

[SDguy]

I think one of the mods on here mentioned that bangai cardinals don't "school" like other cardinals.

[pogiboy67]

SO out of the firefish, chromis, and cardinals.... would the easiest groiup to work with in regards to schooling are the cardinal fish? i think im heading in the cardinal fish direction.... any other fish that are small that school?

[clownfish4]

Go with the firefish. Chromis will battle until there's only one left, banggaiis will form one pair and kill the rest, and pajamas are just stupid. They sit there hovering and don't really move.

[SDguy]

An old Tank Of The Month on here had a school of threadfin cardinals, I believe is what they were called....very cool looking, with electric blue markings. Firefish will also pick at each other, unless they're a pair. And they jump like crazy.

[Steven Pro]

My suggestion would be a school of Threadfin Cardinalfish (Apogon leptacanthus).

http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/7265mini-Apogon_leptacanthus_School_3.JPG

[SDguy]

Thanks Steven...just the ones I was thinking of...

[pogiboy67]

those look nice...i was also thinking about another cardinalfish i saw called Orange lined cardinal fish too. ANYONE remember long ago..somebody posted pics of these other fish that looked like the size of neon tetras... but the fish are from japan... anybody remember that post? anyone have those pics??? they are literally nano fish

STEVEN PRO, what size tank is that where u posted that picture?

[pogiboy67]

i found them here are pics of these small fishies

http://www.reefaqua.com/pics/fish/fish015.jpg

http://www.reefaqua.com/pics/fish/fish019.jpg


i think they are schooling gobies/ cardinals are from japan.... AS of now i think id go with the longspine and orange stripped cardinals.....

[Steven Pro]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6229459#post6229459 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by pogiboy67
STEVEN PRO, what size tank is that where u posted that picture? Those fish pictures are in a 500 gallon display, but they don't need that size tank. They only get to two and a half inches. A half dozen or so would look good and do well in your 75.

[pogiboy67]

steven... i was also going to have 2 small clowns... and possibly an anemone in the future and a mandarin with the school.. what are your thoughts on this? cons....thanks!

[Steven Pro]

That all seems ok except for the mandarin. Housing an anemone with a mandarin can be problematic. A lot of dragonettes wander into anemones and get eaten.

[pogiboy67]

steven, true it would be a BTA...i hear alot of stories where mandarins go into carpet ones though... thanks for the advice!

WE NEED THOSE JAPAN CARDINALS IMPORTED NOW..

[pogiboy67]

so my next question is.... where is the best place online everyone usually buys their fish from? my LFS doesnt have any in stock.. i live in CALIFORNIA by the way...

[El Langostino]

Where exactly in Cali? Marinecenter.com shipping is very cheap in most of central and southern california. If you live in Sacramento however, you might not receive any discount at all.

[El Langostino]

Here is the map of the coverage area:

http://www.themarinecenter.com/california.htm

[pogiboy67]

dang..no discount for me... i live in the bay area... in a small town called pleasant hill

[Angel*Fish]

Steven Pro,

I've been reading about those small cardinals - it sounds like they are true schoolers -without dominance heirarchy. Do you know if that's correct?

Also could you tell us if yours are nocturnal like some cardinals & whether they swim around the tank or just "hang" like the baggais I'm more familiar with?

I know some say they look like freshwater - but they look like a dream come true to me - your blue ones are gorgeous!

[pogiboy67]

steven, what are your thoughts on the orange lined cardinalfish? i think they look much better than the longspine threadfins... ANYONE else have experience of having the orange lines in groups?


Apogon cyanosoma
http://a1272.g.akamai.net/7/1272/1121/20040623151508/www.liveaquaria.com/images/products/large/p_90102.jpg

[Bax]

I have no experience with the orange lined cardinals, yet, but I am considering some for my 75 g. A TOTM had some earlier this year. The orange line gets my vote so far pogiboy.

They seem harder to find at LFS here, they are offered on line, I see thread fins locally on occasion but only rarely the orange lines.

[pogiboy67]

yeah im thinking orange lined...but i want to know if they are just as passive and school like the threadfish longfish..so has anyone had any experience with the orange lined?..id probaby buy a bunch from live aquaria as my LFS doesnt ever have them either...i have a 75 too.. hehe

[pogiboy67]

anyone else?

[tryffin]

<a href="http://fishbase.se/Photos/PicturesSummary.cfm?ID=9240&what=species">Apogon cookii</a> are kinda cute, too ... we get them around here now and then. I think i'll try a small group when I move everone to my 108.

[pogiboy67]

i think those grow a bit larger than the orange lined and longspine....

[ThunderousTalon]

the totm that had the orange lined, well it turned out a pair formed up and wiped the rest out as the matured. threadfins are flat out your best bet. if youhave good lighting they look amazing.

[Bax]

TT: Which TOTM was that? I looked back and could find the one I was thinking of.

pogiboy: How about a small school of threadfins and a pair of orange lines? :)

[pogiboy67]

yea i will go threadfins... im trying to have other fish in my tank so i will stray away from the orange lines....

[katlongo]

anyone have experience with red stop light cardinals (apogen erythinus) or redtail cardinalfish (fowleria sp) They're both beautiful and my research says they'll school. I'm researching schooling one of them in my 150.

[pogiboy67]

ok regarding quarantine... if i bought 5 threadfins... would it be wise to put them all in 1 quarantine tank? or should i buy one cardinalfish at a time??

[cateyes]

i'm pretty sure you should get them all at one time and keep them together in one QT... they should be fine...

i had a blue assessor, yellow neon goby and lime striped goby in a 10g. QT together for 4 weeks no problem.... HTH