They are sold as schooling fish because they are, well, schooling fish. However, "schooling" in the ocean and "schooling" in our reef tank are two very different things. in the ocean a school of fish is not 6 in number but, dozens (plural). A true "school" of fish often numbers in the hundreds to thousands of individuals. Take a "school" of 6 (or 8, 10, 12, whatever we might try) and you have the situation of "individualism". A school of fish is a protection mechanism based on numbers. First, an individual fish is protected from predation by sheer numbers and the survival of the species is guaranteed. Second, bullying is nearly non existent in the school because one individual (let's call him the bully) cannot concentrate his bullying tactics on any one other individual because the school is constantly moving. It's an ever changing dynamic. When you take 6 individuals and isolate them in our aquarium the dynamic is changed. Now one will become the dominate fish, the bully, and the others will be come submissive. Eventually, in most cases, you will wind up with two individuals. It happened to me. I started with 6 and I'm down to two, living happily together.
It takes a few months for this little phenomenon to play out. The key is, 6 is not a school.
Dick
Unfortunately you are correct. I started with 4 also almost 2 years ago and find myself fortunate to have 3 remaining. One I never see, 1 who has developed a new set of eyes in the back of his head and then the largest being the chromis tank terrorist. He reminds me of a dog I had eons ago who at feeding time would run the cat off first to eat his dinner and then go to his own bowl and eat it too! Just make sure the scared lil guy gets plenty to eat as well. 
Linear Mode
