Anyone have success with blue reef chromis?

[benha]

I'm thinking of getting a school of blue reef chromis for my reef tank. I heard they can be more temperamental than green-blue chromis and I'm worried that they will just notoriously dwindle themselves down over time. Anyone care to share what their plans and thought processes were in successfully implementing a healthy school of these guys in your tanks?

 

[EmdeReef]

You need a large tank and helps to have larger acro colonies for them to hide in. I’ve only seen them school in larger tanks and in general most start with a large number and then end up with a few that may school.
IME they’re somewhat of an ich magnet and I would recommend quarantining. In a small tank they’ll likely fight and it’s unlikely you’ll see any schooling.

 

[mta_morrow]

You need a large tank and helps to have larger acro colonies for them to hide in. I’ve only seen them school in larger tanks and in general most start with a large number and then end up with a few that may school.
IME they’re somewhat of an ich magnet and I would recommend quarantining. In a small tank they’ll likely fight and it’s unlikely you’ll see any schooling.

Agree^^^^^^

 

[Jesterrace]

From what I understand they generally do well in schools of 10 or more (and with Blue Chromis that would be a significant investment), and as mentioned many are shipping with disease these days. 10 of them will require a minimum of a 6 foot long tank to keep them happy long term IMHO. If they are kept in lower numbers they will almost always pick each other off over time. The 30 gallon minimum listed on Live Aquaria is way off due to the size of schools required.

 

[tripdad]

I cannot speak to the blue reef chromis directly, however on the blue,green I can. I have a group of 8 that has been stable for a little over 15 months now. I did start with 11, some of them were very small. I lost 1 in the first day, small one, and 2 more over the next month. They have been stable since. I have a 65 gal tank btw. They "shoal" very nicely at the area of strongest current. Yes, I have acro colonies and they do sleep in them. Nothing I know of will actually "school" in a tank, shoaling does happen though. I really enjoy when they get together in a group for a swim around the tank. IMO you must have a dominant fish right from the start. One much larger than all others so dominance is established early.

 

[coral49]

Had 5 Blue reef Chromis in 300 gallon 8 foot tank.. 24 months later down to 1 healthy nice looking fish. The leader pick them to death

 

[benha]

From what I understand they generally do well in schools of 10 or more (and with Blue Chromis that would be a significant investment), and as mentioned many are shipping with disease these days. 10 of them will require a minimum of a 6 foot long tank to keep them happy long term IMHO. If they are kept in lower numbers they will almost always pick each other off over time. The 30 gallon minimum listed on Live Aquaria is way off due to the size of schools required.

How big of a tank do you think is required to fit 3 blue reef chromis? I have a 40 gallon and based my thoughts on getting this fish from live aquaria + my LFS telling me I would be able to do so. I thought it might have been too good to be true....

 

[rsumner]

I've tried Chromis three times. The first two times have yielded complete loss where in both situations I had a quantity of 6 to 8 in my 5ft tank. I picked up 3 blues at my LFS about a week ago and I've already lost two of them with one solo remaining. There's always the chance these guys aren't eating well in my tank since I rely primarily on my automatic feeder and Neptune crossover diet pellets which can sometimes be too larger for smaller species.

 

[benha]

Had 5 Blue reef Chromis in 300 gallon 8 foot tank.. 24 months later down to 1 healthy nice looking fish. The leader pick them to death

Wow thats harsh. Curious to how often did you feed the fish? I discovered an article of one of the first captive bred blue reef chromis in New England Aquarium in Boston, where the Aquarist fed these fish 5 times a day!

 

[benha]

I've tried Chromis three times. The first two times have yielded complete loss where in both situations I had a quantity of 6 to 8 in my 5ft tank. I picked up 3 blues at my LFS about a week ago and I've already lost two of them with one solo remaining. There's always the chance these guys aren't eating well in my tank since I rely primarily on my automatic feeder and Neptune crossover diet pellets which can sometimes be too larger for smaller species.

That's too bad. It seems to be mostly bad news to managing so called "peaceful" blue reef chromis despite larger tanks sizes...

 

[coral49]

once a day.. LRS or Mysis or Pellets. The victory was the larger one of the group. It was nice looking for a while. I try not to over feed.. other fish in tank are tangs that graze on nori most of of the day

 

[benha]

once a day.. LRS or Mysis or Pellets. The victory was the larger one of the group. It was nice looking for a while. I try not to over feed.. other fish in tank are tangs that graze on nori most of of the day

This is the website if your curious of how they bred and raised blue reef chromis in New England Aquarium
http://www.reef2rainforest.com/2016/12/31/breeding-the-blue-reef-chromis/

 

[mta_morrow]

I have tried multiples a couple times

Never ended well for me.

I now keep 1 as I love the color.

 

[mta_morrow]

I enjoy groups of fish as their interaction with each other is really cool.

If that’s what your looking for I would recommend a trio or pair of the following, all of which are in my tank

3 zebra tail dart fish
3 red lines cardinals
3 azure damsels
2 wheeler gobies
2 hi fun red band gobies
2 ocellaris clowns

They are all out and about and use all different parts of the tank.

 

[benha]

I enjoy groups of fish as their interaction with each other is really cool.

If that’s what your looking for I would recommend a trio or pair of the following, all of which are in my tank

3 zebra tail dart fish
3 red lines cardinals
3 azure damsels
2 wheeler gobies
2 hi fun red band gobies
2 ocellaris clowns

They are all out and about and use all different parts of the tank.

Thanks for the suggestions! Just took a peek at your tank, and looks great!

 

[Steve1500]

I enjoy groups of fish as their interaction with each other is really cool.

If that’s what your looking for I would recommend a trio or pair of the following, all of which are in my tank

3 zebra tail dart fish
3 red lines cardinals
3 azure damsels
2 wheeler gobies
2 hi fun red band gobies
2 ocellaris clowns

They are all out and about and use all different parts of the tank.

Are the blue green chromis any easier to take care of than the blue chromis? I am also looking at buying 6-8 blue greens. Will they also kill each other off in a 180G tank with only LPS and softies?

 

[mta_morrow]

Are the blue green chromis any easier to take care of than the blue chromis? I am also looking at buying 6-8 blue greens. Will they also kill each other off in a 180G tank with only LPS and softies?

Blue greens have been coming in to the US in poor shape for quite a while based on a lot of feedback here on the forum.

The way they collect them is hard on them.

I have only ever had blue green and have had them die in a day to a couple weeks out. Because of how they arrive and aggression.

That’s why I only keep one now as I don’t want to keep watching them die.

There are other people here who have kept groups. But it doesn’t seem to be the norm.

 

[benha]

Are the blue green chromis any easier to take care of than the blue chromis? I am also looking at buying 6-8 blue greens. Will they also kill each other off in a 180G tank with only LPS and softies?

I've heard people try to use mirrors whenever they see aggression to off-set them from killing each other. Feeding maybe 3 times a day may help too I believe!

 

[mta_morrow]

I've heard people try to use mirrors whenever they see aggression to off-set them from killing each other. Feeding maybe 3 times a day may help too I believe!

I have seen the most success come from a strong flow, and a large group.

Like 10 or more.

I am by no means an expert, but I have read a lot about what works.

 

[tripdad]

A large group will spread the aggression around so all have a chance. Also having dominance established early helps so there's no need for it to become a battle between two fish. IMO the bigger the group the better, also odd numbers to start.