Smallest schooling salt water fish?

I just got 3 chromis yesterday for the exact same reason. I currently have 2 clowns and a goby. They dont do a whole lot but the chromis added some action in my tank!

 

I was thinking about crhomis. 5 would add a bit to my bioload. That would be 15" right there. I think I need to do some research to find some micro-fish. haha

 

Well, none of these are schooling fish, they are shoaling fish. They will not shoal in an aquarium as there is no food territory to protect or fight for, and no predators. They may aggregate though

Anyways all semantics aside, I like small cardinals as well. Longspine or oranglined. They are more peaceful and don't get as big as the chromis. If you want an SPS dominated tank, too many fish will cause you headaches though. My .02 is you would be better off choosing if you want a low nutrient tank, or lots of fish...

 

shouldnt the anthias you bought school?

 

Manhattan Reefs - Keeping the Dwarf Cardinalfish (Apogon parvulus)

 

Thanks for the link. Those dwarf cardinals are interesting. They would make a great school, and aren't too flashy. Although I do like the somewhat glittery look of their scales. I can't seem to find anyone that sells them though?

 

I actually had been looking into the Trimma and Eviota gobies, but wasn't sure about their activities in the reef - their main point of interest - where they like to "hang out". I guess that's all over the place?

 

anthias probably are not the best choice... they will kinda hang out together, but nothing like what you see in the wild.

Cardinals are the only fish that I see school in smaller tanks... but their schooling is boring compared to what some do in the wild. Tangs will school in tanks but they must have a lot of room.

You might consider some flasher wrasses? a male and a few females will make for an awesome display and some great colors.
Also, I have a mated pair of sixline wrasses and I have to say that they look so awesome following each other around the tank all day long, then finally doing their intricate mating ritual right before the lights go off.

 

I think 5 or 6 of these would look pretty sweet.

Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Reef Aquariums: Red Neon Eviota Goby

 

I plan to have just a small group of anthias, maybe 3. The "school" will be smaller fish, like the one I just linked to, above.