BlueZreef
Active Member
Hey all, wondering if anyone has observed this behavior.
Some background, my tank is a 6’ 210 gal. I have 3 tangs, a 2-bar rabbitfish, flame angel, wrasse, and 2 clowns. I have (had) a total of 6 blue chromis.
I started with 1 Blue chromis as the “test pilot” for the tank. He survived and was fine. I bought out a local reefers stock and ended up with 5 more. They all seemed fine and schooled together for months (I want to say I got them all around February).
About 10 days ago or so, I noticed one chromis hanging out at the far ends of the tank, away from the school. Almost like he was “banished”.
Didn’t see any fighting or chasing, just separated. I feared for the worst, as most fish I’ve seen in the past act like this have died.
I don’t notice him eating after a few days of this, possibly a bite but not like usual food hog behavior like they all usually are. Today after work I see his fins are all bitten off (mostly) and he’s swimming but also kinda getting blown around by the gyres. I see another chromis and even my blue hippo looking like they are going to take a bite or nipping at him. I netted him out and put him in the sump. He’s pretty much toast, just waiting to see if anything improves, highly unlikely.
Now, for the first time ever, I notice one of the chromis (the alpha who was picking on the dying chromis), attacking at the big fish as they are grazing on my nori feeder. These tangs/rabbit fish are like 4-5x his size at least. They don’t really seem phased but do swim off from it occasionally.
Did this chromis change into some alpha leader and now is going to beef with everyone? Normally chromis are pretty docile, maybe chasing other chromis but that’s about it. Has anyone observed this behavior in larger schools of them? Was 6 an odd number for the group?
Some background, my tank is a 6’ 210 gal. I have 3 tangs, a 2-bar rabbitfish, flame angel, wrasse, and 2 clowns. I have (had) a total of 6 blue chromis.
I started with 1 Blue chromis as the “test pilot” for the tank. He survived and was fine. I bought out a local reefers stock and ended up with 5 more. They all seemed fine and schooled together for months (I want to say I got them all around February).
About 10 days ago or so, I noticed one chromis hanging out at the far ends of the tank, away from the school. Almost like he was “banished”.
Didn’t see any fighting or chasing, just separated. I feared for the worst, as most fish I’ve seen in the past act like this have died.
I don’t notice him eating after a few days of this, possibly a bite but not like usual food hog behavior like they all usually are. Today after work I see his fins are all bitten off (mostly) and he’s swimming but also kinda getting blown around by the gyres. I see another chromis and even my blue hippo looking like they are going to take a bite or nipping at him. I netted him out and put him in the sump. He’s pretty much toast, just waiting to see if anything improves, highly unlikely.
Now, for the first time ever, I notice one of the chromis (the alpha who was picking on the dying chromis), attacking at the big fish as they are grazing on my nori feeder. These tangs/rabbit fish are like 4-5x his size at least. They don’t really seem phased but do swim off from it occasionally.
Did this chromis change into some alpha leader and now is going to beef with everyone? Normally chromis are pretty docile, maybe chasing other chromis but that’s about it. Has anyone observed this behavior in larger schools of them? Was 6 an odd number for the group?
