LFS's suggestion for schooling fish

[luntiz]

So I went into a LFS and asked around about schooling fishs, I pointed to the 3 Blue-Green Chromis he had and he said, "NO!" A minute later he suggested having 5 Blue Tangs if I wanted a school. I mention that my tank is only 50 gallons and not even 50 gallons long. He said "should be okay." I wonder how many Blue Tangs he sold using that logic.

 

[packfan2204]

people like that give people like me a bad name

 

[Atari]

Did you slap him?

 

[lando]

I would not bother spending my hard earned money at that place. Schooling fish in the saltwater tank can be a challenge. Mainly because you need a huge tank. In the wild fish generally school when threatened or for protection. They ussually do not have preditors on a tank to stimulate this behavior. Trust me, I am no expert on this topic but I just asked this question to a worker at the Minnesota Zoo and that is the response I got from her.

 

[SquishyFish]

Another reason fish dont school in small tanks is that there simply isnt enough room. Think about it. When you see a schoal in the wild, they may look shoulder to shoulder, but there is space between them. Its just the large # and the vastness of the ocean. If you put them in a 5 foot box, they arent going to look like their schooling.

 

[yaksplat]

I have 4 green chromis and they school all of the time. They do have recess occasionally and break up for a few minutes. But then they're right back to doing laps again. If there's any change in lighting they all group together, within about an inch of each other.

Jim

 

[SquishyFish]

Green's are the best. I had 3 large ones and they were exactly the same way...untill one went carpet surfing and I dropped a rock on the other.

 

[ClamKnuckle]

I have 4 green chromis and they school all of the time

In what size tank? The 55 that you have a stand for in your gallery?

 

[WarOrks15]

my 3 chromis will not school at all. there is one who always is away from the group. but the clown fish joins in the school. it is really funny. so the school that is ee is 2 chromis and one clown fish.

 

[yaksplat]

Yup, that's the one

 

[phases99]

My 2 Blue/Green Chromis seldom swim apart. Not much of a school but they are fun to watch.