Anyone have a school of chromis?

[cimbpin]

I keep wondering why they sell so cheap. They have such a pretty color, stay small and seem to be very hardy. We only have one now. We had a second but it got picked off by our Cocoa Damsel before we gor rid of the damsel. When we had the 2, they schooled together (as much as 2 fish can) and I was thinking of adding a few more to the tank. Anyone else have more than 2? What else do you keep with yours?

[snow_man84088]

I haven't actually had more than one, but from all the reading I have done they suggest groups of 3 or more, usually for a schooling fish 5 is a good number.

[Jnicho]

I have 4 currently...have had as many as 8 when I had more room...Sometimes they school and sometimes they don't...seems to depend on their mood...and whether they feel threatened.

[scootingblenny]

often times you'll find that all the chromis in a school will pick on the least dominant of them to the point that it will die. thats why it can be hard to keep a school going because one by one they will continue to kill the most submissive until there is only one left.

About three months ago i bought five chromis. about a month ago i found the smallest and weakest one dead. at the time the remaining four seemed equally strong and healthy. then a distinct runt was chosen and even now it looks more scrawny and weak then it was. its amazing how much it has changed. right now he eats and seems fine but it seems all too similiar to the last time when the other one died. i hope he doesn't die; they look so nice.

however its behavioral. there's not much you can do. i have a 75 gallon tank. maybe in a bigger tank this behavior will ease up? i dont know. Best of luck if you try it

[Hop]

Nope. Had 11... They worked their way down to 6 as they occasionally kill the weakest members of the group. They don't shoal unless my hand is in the tank. If I could do it over again, I never would have got them.

[crvz]

Originally Posted by Hop

Nope. Had 11... They worked their way down to 6 as they occasionally kill the weakest members of the group. They don't shoal unless my hand is in the tank. If I could do it over again, I never would have got them.

Yeah, they're neat, but I'm thinking of trying to catch mine also. I'd prefer to use the bioload for a different fish. And once they get comfortable, they don't shoal near as much as they used to.

[Hop]

Originally Posted by crvz

Yeah, they're neat, but I'm thinking of trying to catch mine also. I'd prefer to use the bioload for a different fish. And once they get comfortable, they don't shoal near as much as they used to.

I call them the plain old lab rats of my tank. One day I'm going to fish them out and give them to the not so LFS and either get about 20 of these cool cardinals that are only available a few times a year or a few anthias

[aquawolf]

Originally Posted by Hop

I call them the plain old lab rats of my tank. One day I'm going to fish them out and give them to the not so LFS and either get about 20 of these cool cardinals that are only available a few times a year or a few anthias

I agree, they are just a little less agressive damsel it seems. I am still kicking myself as I had 3 Bangaii Cardinals and 2 of them paired off. I traded them to the LFS and they went into the show reef and have babies all the time now. Unfortunately none of the babies ever make it because of the Anthias and other fish in the tank. It would have been cool to still have them and see if I can get the babies to survive, but what can you do. I may have to buy some more of those again later.

[Hendersonracing]

I have had 3 for over a year...they are pretty big and school together!

[pastina]

I bought 13 awhile ago, i still have the same 13 til this day. They stay in a fairly tight school, always together. They all sleep in the same dead coral head.
They "bicker" a little bit, but because theres so many the one being harrassed gets lost in the crowd quickly and is easily forgotten by the other chromis.
I keep them in a 220g
A few years ago i used to have four chromis in a 55g, they killed each other off within a few months, so im guessing the reason ive been successful in keeping them from killing each other is either 1. I have alot of them or 2. its the size of the tank
I used to hate chromis, but now that i can finally keep them without bloodshed they have become one of my favorite fishees

[DaveTheReefGeek]

Originally Posted by Hop

Nope. Had 11... They worked their way down to 6 as they occasionally kill the weakest members of the group. They don't shoal unless my hand is in the tank. If I could do it over again, I never would have got them.

Good to know, as I was considering purchasing some when my build was done.

[pastina]

all 13, lower left side, always together the blue tang stays with them alot, i think he feels safe with them or something

[Sun-n-Fun]

I have 4 green chromis and 1 blue - I had hopes that if I introduced just 1 blue it would school with the green and I thought maybe if I only added one blue at a time, i could ultimately get a school of blue and green mixed. It didn't work though - the blue one doesn't school at all with the green. My blue tang did school with the 4 green chromis for a few months, but doesn't anymore. I've had my 4 original green chromis in my 150 for 8 months - no deaths.

[rwlancaster]

chromis have become my favorite fish in my 75. I have 7 and they school about 75 percent of the time. Not sure if schooling is the right word for a home tank, but they all hang together in the mid to upper range of the tank.

they constantly move too. At around $5 each, its a great way to add a little color and the schooling effect.

Mine havent killed each other off yet. But I did buy a tang from petco, which caused an outburst of ich and I lost 3 chromis. sadly, the tang went too.

A great and fun to watch hardy little fish. My lfs has a show tank with 2 1/2" chromis, really cool to watch!

[jadefox]

I have had very different experiences with different chromis species. While blues seem to be aggressive and kill off the smallest over time, I have sucessfully kept a shoal of sevel green chromis for extended periods of time. The continue to shoal (although they do have some perceived predators in the tank, which is probably why), and they have never killed one of their own. Lots of lip-locking behavior early on as they established their pecking order, but since then it's been, as they say, all good.

Shoaling Saltwater Aquaria Fish - Two Fish that Readily Shoal in the Saltwater Aquarium