is there a trick to keeping Chromis alive?

[firecrackerbob]

Ive had tanks for about 10yrs now.  ive had ups and downs with the hobby, times when the tank looekd better than others, fish that have lived for months and fish that have lived for many years... one thing seems to remain constant though- chromis dont seem to do well in my tanks... as in they usually die within 2mo of putting them in... what the heck am I missing here? 

 

I know thats pretty general, but any thoughts?

[roni]

From a lot of people's experience, without a predator threat, chromis, especially viridis sp, tend to kill each other off until there is only 1 left.  

 

Some people report better success with black axil chromis, which look nearly the same but for the black dot (and supposed nicer color...though that may be people trying to justify them being 2.5x more expensive). 

 

I've personally had pretty high mortality initially as well.  Had a batch of black axil not do well, with only 4 left from two batches totaling 15.  

 

My thought is that if you can get a sufficiently large school (greater then 20) and have some larger fish that act as threats, they may divide their aggression better.  It may be similiar to freshwater cichlids which you have to overcrowd to keep aggression down.  I think that may be one of the problems we have with schooling fish in captive systems, as most schools in the wild are much larger.

 

Anyways, I'm slowly trying to build up a good sized school.  Will let you know in a year or so.  

[Integral9]

Yup they just beat on each other constantly.  I bought 5 once upon a time.  After a couple of weeks, 1 was obviously the odd man out.  Named him #5, because I would always count the chormis when I went over to the tank and I would always go, 1,2,3,4.... where's #5... oh, there he is hiding behind the rocks.   Eventually it became a game of finding #5.  Then one I day I only got to 3, then 2, then 1...  Not sure what happened to #1.  But #5 was still in the tank...   He lived for about 2 years alone.  I don't recall what happened to him.  It's been several years. 

 

So IME to keep Chromis alive, only buy 1.  Also, having a coral large enough for the school to host in might be helpful.   They like to host SPS.  Mine hosted my GBN once it was large enough (baseball). 

 

fwiw:  there is a very cool but short shot in the Planet Earth series of a school of chromis synchronously bouncing in and out of a coral the size of a car.  There must have been 5000 fish in the school.  It was as if the coral had sprouted minions and was sending them out to collect food and bring it back in some kind of aquatic ballet.

[Coral Hind]

What size tank are you putting them in? They have a fast metabolism like an anthias and benefit from more than one feeding a day. I have kept them in multiple tanks over the years without them killing each other but my tanks were all 120g or larger. I have my current two together since December and they are like best buddies sleeping together in the same coral.

[YHSublime]

I have had 5 for almost 6 months now. I started with 6. First one just went missing within in the first month. The other 5 have a very distinct pecking order. You could literally put them in a line from smallest to biggest no problem. They all chill out in my huge monti cap. They also stick together, or shoal if you will. Granted, I got them from Quantum Reefs, and they said they started with 20! No real signs of aggression towards each other or other fish in my 57 gallons.

[treesprite]

Are we talking any chromis or the common blue-green pale ones? If talking the blue-green ones, they would always just vanish on my one by one. I never saw them fight and never saw them dead. 

[firecrackerbob]

thanks for the replies everyone!

yes, I should have been more specific- I am mainly just talking about the common blue\green.  though I have tried reef cromis ( I think they were called) before as well. 

 

Ive tried them in a 20, numerous times in a 55 and currently bought a couple for my 75.  within two days one croaked.  the other seems very happy. I have had similar experiences to most of you I guess... it has just alway seemed strange to me!  Ive kept damsels, clowns, and dottybacks for years without problems... 

ive always wanted to have a school of them, but such is life I suppose...too bad damsels behave the way they do, I would gladly get them again if they werent so obnoxious