Chromis,schooling fish,not really..

[Mr tap water]

Hi there it's 650L

 

[reefcubed]

I have successfully kept 9 chromis in a 60 gallon cube for close to a year. Perhaps at the very beginning a couple small ones were excluded from the school, they would just hide in a corner and not compete very much for food. They eventually perished. I sold them last week to someone with a 210 gallon because mine were getting quite large. I didn't really see a lot of issues with aggression. There was an occasional short chase, or sometimes two males might do their weird fight trying to court a female. It just looks like they are open mouth kissing each other. Not sure for the exact reason for my success. A few thoughts: I bought them all as very small juveniles, that may have helped. I also had a very densely stocked tank. With rock, coral and fish. There were plenty of hiding spaces and territories, each had its own. With numerous other fish in the tank, it may be they were distracted enough not to fixate on anyone in particular. When I would add a new acro colony it was pretty fascinating, as they would all school and hover in and around it. I know they use them for protection, but I can't really explain that behavior. Maybe checking it out to see if another fish would come out of nowhere to chase them away. Most aggression I saw was if a new fish tried to take refuge in their burrow while they were out and about. But that was only aggressive tail fin wagging to try and usher them out. I also kept then very well fed. I was initially drawn to them because they are dither fish. Other fish look to them as the all clear signal. If they are out, everything is good, and other fish feel more comfortable being out. Every now and then the school would get spooked and shoot down into their holes, it caused a simultaneous explosion of every single fish in the aquarium simultaneously darting downwards. I will be doing a school of juvenile chromis once again once my new 93 cube is finished cycling.

 

[knightwolf6269]

something new to add to this discussion. how does everyone keep up with the feedings 3 times a day. What does everyone feed there chromis. I feed rotofier max one LG dose in the evening though I was curious about setting up a dosing pump but it has to be kept cold.

 

[Kworker]

something new to add to this discussion. how does everyone keep up with the feedings 3 times a day. What does everyone feed there chromis. I feed rotofier max one LG dose in the evening though I was curious about setting up a dosing pump but it has to be kept cold.

When I mean multiple I mean atleast twice. Sorry for clarification. My mom usually feeds in the morning while I am at work and I feed when I get home. On weekends they get fed 3-4 small amounts.

Idk how I would feed if I had my own place.. But I am only 22 so IDK when that would be so i am not going to worry about that at this moment ol

 

[FishDooD65]

I had five in my 55 and im down to one lol. I guess it was survival of the fittest in my aquarium

 

[shred5]

Green and blue Chromis in a normal reef kill each other eventually...

They only seem to survive long term in a very large tank in large numbers..
They will pick on the smallest fish till it dies and then move on too the next.. This is the case with some anthias too...

 

[tlove]

I had 7, 1 dissappeared , never seen any aggressions among them and I've had them for 1 yr, in a 180g along with 22 other fish.

 

[FishDooD65]

I agree. Youd have to have quite a few of them to keep them together. They are quite the hit and miss fish, ive had 6 at one time, now none. Id say if your going with a Chromis, id definately get the peaceful ones and not the semi aggressive.

Which ones are the peaceful ones? I thought chromis were all the same?

 

[Reefing Madness]

No, not by any means. There are a few Chromis that are fine together, as stated though, the blue and green ones tend to kill each other, its hit and miss with most.
Black and White Chromis
Black Axil Chromis
Lightning Double Bar Chromis
Orange Line Chromis
Sunshine Chromis

 

[vtecintegra]

Kworker hit on it back in the beginning. I've snorkeled/swam with schools of chromis in the wild. Most of the schools I've seen have literally been a few hundred taking up the space of my kitchen or bigger that drift around. They're usually fairly well spaced, a foot or so, and hang out in the open above coral. Squeezing a handful, even into a 4 foot tank, is probably highly unnatural for them and is why they don't do well. I don't think they are a particularly good fish for captivity. I've read story after story of how groups in a tank slowly die off one by one. Even a group of 20 that would seem like a lot to us is no where near the size of schools I typically see them in, in the wild. I think the aggression is a result of confinement in a tank. They obviously don't kill each other off in the large schools I've seen out on reefs.