Schooling/Shoaling fish in a Nano???

[kirkplunkett]

My 30 Gallon Oceanic Cube has completed it cycle!!! I should have my LED Pendant by the end of the week!

<u>Aquarium</u>:
20 Lb of Live Sand
29 Lb of rock (3 Lb was live and the rest was base, stacked with plenty of hiding spots)
Fluval 205 filter (Carbon and Media only, w/ surface skimmer)
1 Hydor Koralia 750 (I plan on getting 1 more)
Glass top
LED Pendant = Kessil A350

<u>Water is stead at</u>:
Temp 79F
Salinity 1.026
pH 7.5 (I will be dosing with AquaVitro 8.4 by Seachem to raise this prior to adding any inhabitants)
Ammonia 0 ppm
Nitrites 0 ppm
Nitrates 2 ppm
Phosphates 0.2 ppm
Alkalinity 8.4 dKH (Hoping to raise this to 9-11 while raising pH)
Magnesium 1350 ppm
Calcium 350 ppm

<u>Question</u>:
Does anyone have any good suggestions for Schooling/Shoaling Fish for a Aquarium this size? NOTE: I'm NOT a fan of Cardinals. IMO... They are just not an attractive fish.

I'm not even sure what I'm going to put in this tank yet... Just looking at options. Taking a veeeeeerrryyyy slow approach to this tank. I already have 1 Display in my Livingroom, so the itch to stock it in a hurry is curbed by that.

 

[thanh386]

Get a trio of firefish. I hope u have that kessil up high. It spot lights pretty badly and will burn coral like a champ

 

[dustin]

At the beginning of the summer I setup a RedSea max 130d (34 gallon). I wanted something similar as you and did alot of research. I ended up going for a dwarf angel and cool little wrasse. Both are very active and cruise around the tank which keeps things interesting.

The trouble is that Schooling/Shoaling Fish, which I love the debates that go on about what this actually means, just dont mix in a small aquarium. I think firefish would work but I dont consider these in the same variety as what I think your going for, nor do I consider cardinals in that variety. These fish just sort of hang out together. While a true schooling variety patrol in search of food and stay together for safety. My observance of this is more from what these fish do in tanks as opposed to the wild.

You could go for a pair of fairy wrasse. Or, you could go the damsel route. I thought about doing a dwarf angel or an aggressive clown and maybe 5 chromis. The idea being that they may school and view the other fish as the aggressor and stick together. most folks will tell you that one of the damsels will eventually take dominance and start picking the others off. Id be curious to what you do and how it goes as this is exactly what I was wanting to do for some time.

What we both need is a 200 gallon tank full of Anthias but hey I cant have everything I want.

Good luck