Chromis

[Ted]

Has anyone kept multiples of different chromis before? I love how the blue/green school and i was looking online and there are many more brightly colored chromis out there. I was thinking it would be cool to have different colored ones.

 

[MarineMan]

You need to keep 5+ to have a school. I have been doing lots of research on these little guys.

 

[Ted]

I know that but do they all have to be the same color...there is green, blue, agile (which is a orange) and lemon. was thinking of a combination. If they all schooled and where different colors would be friggen cool. Like three of each....they are small after all....

 

[MarineMan]

No, any species can be combined. Doesn't madder if your doing blue/green chromis, with blue chromis, and lemon chromis!

 

[Northstar24]

In a large enough tank they may co-exist but I wouldn't think that they would school together. They can be pretty aggressive towards others of the same species, I expect that the aggression would carry over to other types of chromis as well (they're damsels afterall...)

My school got smaller as they bullied the smallest one until it died, then moving on to the next smallest, until there was only one left

 

[SarahSmile]

Yup, +1 Northstar. A few on here have had success but many of us have not. I have tried twice now to get a trio of chromis going and they pick on each other endlessly until one is left and he's all beat up and too weak to make it long term.

 

[little_fish]

I have had success with just a school of 3, where as others have failed to keep a school of 5. I think success depends on so many other factors than how many you purchases, although buying an odd number does give you better odds.

However, I think the issue is that once you get away from the blue/green is that you end with a more and more damsels like behavior. Most of my research on the other chromis species suggest that they are pretty nasty buggers

 

[MarineMan]

Now, that has been different for me and in other peoples tanks I've seen. They lived peacefully and schooled together in a different specie chromis school of 5.

 

[SarahSmile]

You had 5 different chromis in your 40 gallon? For how long?

 

[MarineMan]

A few months, then I started more rock and such so I gave them up. They were great though!

 

[Nonfamous]

I've had 3 in my tank for over a year. They do not show aggression towards each other. (Blue/Green) However, it appears that the largest one is beating up on my Maroon clown and I've seen it dart at the Snowflake clown, the Flame Angel and even the One Spot Foxface!

 

[Ted]

hmmmm. well since my tank is to small for the really cool fish I was debating just having some chromis. Even though of a damsel tank...main focus will be on the corals anyway. I just wanted something with color and easy.

 

[little_fish]

What about the flasher or fairy wrasses? Those guys are really very hardy and lots of color and flash with those guys

 

[Ted]

What about the flasher or fairy wrasses? Those guys are really very hardy and lots of color and flash with those guys

I will look into them thanks.

 

[MarineMan]

+1, look into the McCosker Flasher Wrasses. They are the best imo.

 

[FishyReef]

Hey MarineMan, I don't want to hijack this thread, but I do want to point out that "success" with a fish in this hobby is measured in years, not months. I think its pretty misleading to say that you had success with multiple chromis species schooling together when you are really only referring to a few months time...

 

[MarineMan]

Well, in those months it worked fine. So, it is possible that it could work for him. And it's not only years of experience, its also going the extra mile and backing up your actions with years of research in which I have done. About a year and a half before I was ever going to attempt to convert to Saltwater I had been looking stuff up for days at a time. So I do know what I'm talking about, yes, sometimes I will get some people that disagree with what I say, but it is all based on experience and research.

 

[little_fish]

Considering that you lost almost all of your fish, I would say your research didnt help you much and you havent got much experience that is worth speaking about.

 

[MarineMan]

That was something I couldn't control. Yes, I knew about QT's and treatments but at the time money was hard. But now I have it and my Qt's almost done. Remember, I'm only a Middle Schooler.

 

[little_fish]

Yes, and you are acting like one!!!

And what exactly killed your fish? I find it impossible to believe that it was something you couldn't control.