Chromis question

[madams585858]

Hi - going from a WB 90.3 to Infinia 150.4. Current stock is Coral Beauty, One Spot FF, Darwin Clown, Longnose Hawk and Gold Head Sleeper Goby. Would love to add 5 - 6 chromis or something else similar in number of fish. Thinking Green, Blue Reef, Black Axil or Vanderbilt. I read so many horror stories of killing each other off over time so reluctant to pull the trigger. Would appreciate thoughts/suggestions even if means going in a different direction. Thanks!

 

[Reef Jedi]

Green chromis will be the most docile in my opinion and will school when paired in numbers. I personally haven’t an experienced them becoming aggressive as a group and killing each other but at the same time each experience is different in this hobby however I think not as likely.

 

[jacree2022]

I have 4 blue chromes in my tank it’s cool to see them school around. But they do pick at each other from time to time. But they haven’t killed each other.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I'm not convinced the problem is them killing each other, and it may be uronema. My 3 carefully quarantined green chromis from Dr Reef are doing fine after 5 months, while in my previous tank, green chromis groups from the lfs were dwindling by this time.

 

[386reeftrader]

I have never had an issue with green chromis and I keep a small school in both my current tanks. The Atlantic blues are way more aggressive, IME. I would not keep the blue reef in a tank any smaller then 200gal they get much larger than the greens

 

[get-salty]

Hey there.

I've had up to 6 chromies in the past and they didnt pick on each others. However, they are fast and eat a lot. With that said, they will chow down most of the foods before the slower ones in the tank can get to it.

TBH, i hated them for that so i got rid of them and it took me days.......... to catch'em all.
So keep this in mind before you throw them in. lol.
But pls dont let my experience stop you from adding them.
They are very cool schooling fish to look at.

 

[painter1982]

I have 13 in my 60g. Been ~7 months not one has died. They brought my tank to life. My two clowns hang out with them.

 

[Reeferbadness]

I had 6 green chromis for over a year and only 1 died - due to getting stuck in my MP40 (no mesh protector on it so that's on me). Fun fish and school with my 4 anthias

 

[jbrady429]

Green chromis each need their own specific hole in a rock/coral colony to claim as their space. They retreat to it when threatened during the day, and they sleep there at night. They also have high metabolisms and need frequent small feedings throughout the day. Give them those two things--shelter and food--and they'll be happy. If they don't have those, they'll compete with each other for them and losses will likely occur.

 

[X-37B]

I added 6 green chromis in my 120 after a month of it being up. They did well for the 3 years but get quite big. My convict tang would break them up if they started chasing each other.
I put 6 yellowtail damsel in my current 150 and have only 1 now. And I watched it chase and kill the other 5. I was able to remove only 1. The fins were shredded. The yellowtail is fine on its own.
Hardest pic to get was all 6 together in the old 120.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Update to this thread…

It’s now well over a year, and the 3 green chromis that I got from Dr Reef are still going great and show no particular aggression to themselves or to any other fish.

It supports the idea that aggression is not the problem, but rather a long term health issue. While not proving it, these quarantined chromis have not dwindled as many find.

 

[exnisstech]

I tried groups of 7 blue green chromis twice and ended up with 1 both times. 11 months ago I added 10. They had been at the store for two months and I kept them in observation for 2 months and saw no signs of euronema. I'm now down to 3. What I'm seeing happen is the smallest one becomes afraid to compete for food and eventually disappears. The cycle is repeating itself one at a time. It has nothing to do with lack of available food, the smallest fish is just unwilling to come out and eat. Maybe this behavior is unique to my tank but I have a hunch it's what happened each time I've tried groups. I'm retired now so I can spend more time watching the fish and see things I didn't notice when i had to leave for work every day.

 

[slingfox]

I have had 6 blue/green chromis in my tank for close to three years now. All of them went through medicated QT. I believe one factor contributing to the success is I have a male bunch Anthias which chase the chromis around every so often so they are less likely to bored and pick each off. My Convict Tang also helps to keep the chromis in check.

 

[exnisstech]

I have had 6 blue/green chromis in my tank for close to three years now. All of them went through medicated QT. I believe one factor contributing to the success is I have a male bunch Anthias which chase the chromis around every so often so they are less likely to bored and pick each off. My Convict Tang also helps to keep the chromis in check.

I had hopes of something similar happening with 11 9 tangs, some fairly large keeping the chromis in a group. Tank is 330g with enough rock to hide every fish when lights go out. I don't know if there is a proven method to keeping a group or just luck which I obviously have none of lol.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

If it isn’t a disease such as uronema, perhaps fish from different natural sources have different tendency to dwindle by the scardy cat hypothesis that you describe.

 

[slingfox]

I had hopes of something similar happening with 11 9 tangs, some fairly large keeping the chromis in a group. Tank is 330g with enough rock to hide every fish when lights go out. I don't know if there is a proven method to keeping a group or just luck which I obviously have none of lol.

I don’t believe Tangs pay chromis much mind. Fish like Bimac Anthias have a more similar body shape. The male Bimac in my tank regularly chases the chromis around likely to keep the dominance hierarchy clear. My Convict Tang also does some chasing but mostly only late at night when it is time for lights out and it wants to make sure nobody gets to close to the Convict’s preferred hiding spot.

 

[exnisstech]

I don’t believe Tangs pay chromis much mind. Fish like Bimac Anthias have a more similar body shape. The male Bimac in my tank regularly chases the chromis around likely to keep the dominance hierarchy clear. My Convict Tang also does some chasing but mostly only late at night when it is time for lights out and it wants to make sure nobody gets to close to the Convict’s preferred hiding spot.

Sounds like my convict. He's actually a total butt at night when lights are dimming but the chromis hide as soon as the light start to dim.
I failed with anthia as well as chromis. I ran 4 disbars through QT and they hid behind the rocks when added to the DT and eventually disappeared. Guess it's damsels and tangs for me lol