Chromis! First Fish!

[Grouper954]

Added a single blue chromis to my 55g today, along with 10 turbo snails and 10 blue legged hermits. VERY excited about my first fish, but hoping he warms up to the tank soon. He hid all day long behind my largest rock, and I came home after class tonight to find him tucked away in a nice little hiding spot. He hasn't done any swimming around, but it's only the first day and he's also alone! Would you guys think it's ok to add maybe two more tomorrow? It'd be nice to see them school but I don't wanna over-bioload my tank.

 

[little_fish]

I would add a couple more than then keep a close eye on your parameters and be ready to do a water change if need be. Chromis are scardy fish and need some buddies.

 

[Smitty]

Yeah, it should be ok to add a few more. They're more of a schooling fish.

 

[MikeG]

+1 everyone. I would definitely add a small school of Chromis. They need a group to feel safe. I have had 7 in the school in my 180 for the last 5 months and everytime they get scared they group together as tight as can be.

 

[tubz]

I added one as my first fish to my 90 gallon and he hid and would never come out to eat. So I added 2 more about 3 days later and the 3 never schooled. The first hid most of the time and after maybe 2 months he passed away. I think from not eating much, he got really skinny. The other 2 are great.

 

[justanotherfishhead]

If you are going to get more try to get the exact same size. I got three and one was a little smaller. He got picked on and almost died before I exchanged him for a larger one. Somehow chromis find one they think is the weakest/smallest and that one gets picked on. I have 3 in my 55 and they do not school. I heard you have to have a larger tank for them to school. Or having a larger fish they may be scared of helps keep them together (safety in numbers).

 

[T Fades]

Regarding schooling fish, I have an opinion with some experience to share.

Besides my 28g JBJ, I have an 80g planted freshie (below pic). In it is a school of about 25 cardinals, along with other community type fish (scissortails, glass cats, skunk cories, pearl gourami (aka General Sherman), discus (aka Doc), otts, brisltenose pleco). The cardinals are great schooling fish, however they do not always school. What I have found is that if the environment is calm and no threats are around, the school will scatter and not swim together. Once they feel threatened/spooked/scared, that is when they school. It is their only defense, to take safety in numbers.

This is also true for SW fish such as Sardines/Anchovies. However, it takes a large number of fish to get them to school.

The reason some peoples chromis do not school may be due to:
- not enough individuals to school. Some people recommend at least 7, but I recommend at least 10 to see a natural schooling behavior, and/or
- their tank may not have stress, which means if your chromis are not schooling, they may feel relaxed, which is a good thing.

 

[Nonfamous]

I have 3. They were the first fish in my tank. Even when they had the whole tank to themselves, they stuck together. Sushi, Sashimi and Sake' are their names. One is much smaller than the others but seems to be the boss. All are peaceful and they don't pick on each other nor do they bother the others in the tank. IF.... I were to do it all over again, i think I would have gotten 5.

 

[little_fish]

love the names! I have found that making sure they have plenty of food has kept the bullying between my three a minimum

 

[justanotherfishhead]

The one thing I don't like about the chromis is that they are so fast that when I feed my tank they get most of the food before anyone else can. Maybe they are better for a tank with other faster fish. I feel like these three fish are 90% of my bioload. I'm toying with the thought of giving them away when I move everything to my new tank. Or maybe giving two away and just keeping one...anyone know if a single chromis will be aggressive towards other species? Or hide all the time?

 

[Nonfamous]

It could be okay as a single, but they really seem to prefer being in a group. I've read some that says they are "highlander" fish, meaning that they will start taking each other out until there is only one left. I have yet to see any aggressiveness in my tank from them.

Someone has taken a chunk out of my new royal gramma's tail though. Not sure who did it though. It's not scared of any of the other fish. But I digress. How big are your Chromis?

 

[Bifferwine]

They will get more brave the longer they are in your tank. And Nonfamous is right -- they have been known to pick each other off one by one until only the strongest remains. Sometimes, but not always.

 

[justanotherfishhead]

It's crazy how fast mine grew in 6 months. They were probably not much over an inch long, and now the two bigger ones are almost two inches. The two big ones pick on the smaller one sometimes, so he hides sometimes, but otherwise seems healthy. When I got them the smallest was only a hair smaller, now he is noticeably smaller than the other two.

 

[Nonfamous]

I have seen them as big as 6" long and 1 1/2" wide at the aquarium.

 

[little_fish]

I think you have them confused with another fish, chromis dont get that big.

 

[Nonfamous]

I was unsure and asked. This was at the Atlanta Aquarium. They were reef Chromis and were HUGE! The Foxfaces and several other species they had there were also massive. I may have a picture. I'll take a look and post it if I do. I wasn't able to photograph behind the scenes but I did snap a few in the display area.

 

[mono19]

I would say that a chromis of that size could easily be possible. It all depends on the size of the water source and the amount of food that is available. Fish just grow continually through out their lives...they have no stopping point. So if they are in a big tank and given plenty of food they could get pretty big..

 

[little_fish]

That isnt true, fish do stop growing at a certain point

 

[mono19]

Nope it's true. I've studied marine biology all my life, even wanted to work at a an aquarium. I have read many things that scientist say "The generalized growth pattern in fish is different from that found in higher vertebrates.
In mammals and birds, subject to individual variability, there is a characteristic rate of
growth and ontogeny for each species and a characteristic adult size, which normally
coincides with sexual maturation (Asdell, 1946). In contrast, organismic growth in fish is
demonstrably plastic in nature. Growth in fish is essentially indeterminate, to the extent
that it is difficult to establish the ultimate maximum body size of individuals of a
particular species. Fish appear to continue growing for as long as they live."

They go on to say that while it's possible that they will reach a maximum size, they do not really know a maximum size of fish. They go on saying that this is due to food sources, water temperature and the metabolism of the fish. They studied Salmon in this one study and showed that many salmon were continually growing even up until the day they died.

 

[FishyReef]

Not really going to get into this, but if you are taking that quote from a 1946 reference, it's really best to keep in mind how far our understanding of marine biology (and all biological sciences for that matter) has come in the last 65 years.