Shoaling/schooling reef safe fish question...

I purchased a school of 8 blue green chromis when i first added fish to my 120. Within 4 or 5 days all but one had died and left no trace. I gather that either my damsels killed them, a disease claimed them...not sure exactly. Anyway, i still have the lone survivor and am wanting to make an attempt at getting a nice set of 6 to 8 shoaling fish.

I will be going to ACC on Saturday and i know they recently got a shipment of dispar anthias...i really like the looks of them a lot. Would that be a good choice for a shoal/school? Or is there another type of anthias i should consider and ask the staff at ACC if they can special order? Will the lone chromis swim with the anthias or will the hierarchy of the anthias not allow this?

I also wasnt big on cardinal fish at first but the more i look at them the more i like them...they also shoal/school correct? Would that be a good choice or a better choice then anthias?

Basically looking for a shoal of fish that are actively on the move and stick together and move somewhat in unison.

Thank you in advance for any advice suggestions and opinions.

 

would using a timed feeding system that will feed cyclop-eze or other small foods that anthias enjoy be something to look into? or is my current feeding regimen adequate... i currently work from 3 in the afternoon until 11pm. my first set of accent lights come on at 10 am...i feed my fish at that time. i also feed again at 2:30pm when my main lights turrn on...my main lights then turn off at 11pm and then every other day i feed again at 11:30pm when i arrive home from work before my accent/moonlights lights turn off for the night...i feed small meals at these feeding times. would anthias do well on this or would the timed feeder like i mentioned be better?

 

maybe i could adjust my feeding of my larger non-anthias fish to supplying them with their foods once per day or once every other day give them a good feeding and feed the anthias small cyclop-eze and zooplankton at the 10 am, 2:30 pm and 11:30 pm feeding times i mentioned before? maybe adjusting my feedings would decrease the chances of wate quality issues since i would be adding additional food for anthias? what are everyones thoughts on this?

i know i had no luck with chromis and it sound slike cardinals are out of the question. i am determined to have a noce school of fish and i really enjoy the look of anthias...just trying to research and get my ducks in a row before i commit to purchasing them. i am going to AC&C on saturday and am hoping to leave there with a wrasse or two and quite possibly some anthias if i feel that i may be able to adequtely take care of them and at least give them a good fighting chance.

 

thank you xroads...do you know if AC&C would have any auto feeders in stock? i like the idea of auto feeding as it would eliminate me stressing the fish with my presence...auto feeders seem more like fish would be fed in the wild...like a tide or current just magically brought the food into their reef. would you feed all the fish a nice cocktail of food using in the auto feeder or just the anthias?

 

Thank you xroads...Sounds like a good option for me...I will ask mote about it Saturday when I come over. If I were to get some Anthias Saturday they would be fine feeding several small meals per day until I got the feeder?