Shortband herring

Where they come from

Shortband herring (Jenkinsia stolifera) are little coastal clupeids from the western Atlantic. You see them around reefs, grass beds, and nearshore water where the plankton is thick and the current keeps food moving. In the wild they live by staying in a tight group and eating constantly, and that pretty much explains why they are so touchy in aquariums.

Setting up their tank

Give them a long tank, not a tall one. They are open-water cruisers and they stress fast if they cannot school and loop back and forth. A big footprint also helps keep them from slamming into glass when they spook (and they will spook).

• Tank size: I'd treat 4-6 fish as a starting point and plan on at least a 4 ft long tank. Bigger is easier.
• Layout: open swimming lane across the front or middle, with rock kept low and to the sides so the school can turn.
• Cover: tight lid or mesh top - jumpers, especially at night or when startled.
• Flow and oxygen: strong, messy flow plus great surface agitation. These fish hate stale, low-oxygen water.
• Filtration: oversized skimming and mechanical filtration, because you are going to feed heavy.

Water numbers are the usual reef range. What matters more is stability and gas exchange. If your tank runs warm, bump aeration and surface movement - warm water plus heavy feeding is where things go sideways fast.

What to feed them

They are planktivores. In practice that means small foods, offered often, and in a way that stays suspended in the water column. If food sinks and disappears into the rocks, they will act hungry even though you "fed" the tank.

• Best staples: enriched baby brine (nauplii), copepods, calanus, cyclops, rotifers, finely chopped mysis, small marine pellets that stay in the water column
• Use enrichment: HUFA/omega products on frozen foods, and gut-load live foods when you can
• Feeding rhythm: 3-6 small feedings a day beats one big dump
• How to deliver: broadcast into high flow so it spreads like a plankton cloud

Watch their bellies. A healthy group looks sleek but not pinched. If they start looking narrow behind the head or the school gets ragged and timid, they are usually falling behind on food or getting pushed off meals by tankmates.

How they behave and who they get along with

They are nervous, fast, and very group-oriented. Kept in too small a group, they act jumpy and hide along the glass. In a decent-sized school they settle into that classic "one organism" movement and spend the day picking at the water column.

• Best kept as: a true group (more is better if the tank supports it)
• Good tankmates: peaceful reef fish that will not chase them and will not outcompete them at every feeding
• Bad tankmates: anything predatory (groupers, lionfish, big wrasses), nippy fish, and super aggressive feeders that vacuum food instantly
• Reef safety: they will not bother corals, but your nutrient levels might if you feed like they need

Breeding tips

Breeding them in a home aquarium is not something most hobbyists pull off. They are egg scatterers and the eggs and larvae are tiny and planktonic. Even if you get a spawn, your filtration and hungry tankmates will make short work of it.

If you want to take a swing at it, you are basically setting up a small-scale larval rearing project: a dedicated species tank, dim lighting, gentle circular flow, and a plan for live foods (rotifers first, then nauplii/copepods). The adults also need to be extremely well-fed to condition.

Common problems to watch for

• Starvation in plain sight: they look "fine" for a week or two, then drop weight fast because feeding frequency is too low
• Jumping and collision injuries: spooking at lights, sudden movement, or tankmate aggression
• Oxygen stress: rapid breathing, hanging at the surface, especially at night or after heavy feeding
• Wasting away from internal parasites: new wild fish sometimes need treatment, but treating a delicate schooling fish is a balancing act
• Nutrient creep: heavy feeding drives nitrate/phosphate up unless your export (skimmer, water changes, refugium) keeps pace

My personal rule with these: if the school is tight, cruising, and snapping at food all day, you are on the right track. If they start hanging in corners, spacing out, or acting skittish, I look at three things first - group size, feeding frequency, and dissolved oxygen.