Chromis ( KILLING)

[foundnemo11]

I started with 2 clowns and then bought 4 chromis. After the first day of them being a little shy they came out. Then I noticed 1 was verticle in the corner but eating when fed. He was being bullied by the other chromis. I took him back to LFS and then the other 3 seemed fine. Woke up today and seen one at the bottom of the tank as a crab feast. The chromis seem to be bullying eachother 1 by 1. I have 2 left and they seem fine for now but Im sure the pattern will continue. I read that these fish tend to do this until 1 is left. Is this a common chromis problem?

I was also worried about the clowns. Will the chromis attack them? or jus its own kind? I am really bummed they 4 chromis looked really good swimming around together. Too bad they wont last.

1 More question. I have an condy anemone and I have been feeding him a little piece of raw shrimp from the store every 2 days. Is this good way to feed them? He seems to love it!

[Sugar Magnolia]

Yes, that is a common issue with chromis. They will often seem fine for a time but then they begin fighting until there is just one left. In your size tank, the clowns probably will leave the chromis alone.

Feeding the condy that way is fine.

[Playa-1]

It's not uncommon for the Chromis to slowly kill each other off but I would not expect them all to be gone in a few days. Healthy clowns will likely be able to take care of themselves. Unfortunately it's also not unlikely to introduce a disease into the Tank and kill all of the fish in there. And that's where a good QT program comes into play. Nothing like watching all of your fish die because the local fish store sold you a sick fish.

I suspect that the Anemone will be happy with the piece of shrimp that your feeding it.

[foundnemo11]

ok thanks. I think the smallest chromis has little man syndrome. He is the one I believe to be causing this. He sometimes gets close to the clowns and sort of takes a bite but i dont think he actually does. I am not sure if he is just being an a-hole or if this is normal.

[FlyTekk]

I started with 14. Ended with one. Than he died as well even though there was no other chromis to pick on him. They are reffered to as schooling fish. But if you buy a school they pick each other off in competition of food. and then when one is left he dies cause of stress for not being in a school.

INMHO i feel if they were fed small amounts multiple times a day every day they would be fine. But reef tanks usually get 1-2 feedings a day and thats when they start competing for food. Especially at night when they go hours without eating. So they do belong in a school but feed lots all day. Since neither of the 2 is usually possible in our tanks.....

Also i hear they are caught and sold in bulk using who knows what to make catch them and are poorly treated since they are so cheap and many are easily caught. This doesnt help the situation.

One of my fav fish.

[snorvich]

It is what they do. Sorry.

[Reef264]

My Trio of Blue Reef Chromis Get along, I found it to be odd myself.I figured they would
Fight, but they don't.Fish are weird!

[thor109]

I bought a tank with a 3 year old chromis in it. I added 5 more and all died within a month. The original one is still doing good 6 months later. I have 7 other fish and be does not bother anyone.

[snorvich]

My Trio of Blue Reef Chromis Get along, I found it to be odd myself.I figured they would
Fight, but they don't.Fish are weird!

Depends on time frame.

[mudcat1]

I added 5 blue/green chromis to my 120 gal and each night I would lose one. The chromis were picking on each other and my blue jeweled damsel would finish them off after they were injured. I was finally down to one chromis who lasted a few days longer but eventually died. I think from guilt.

[Reef264]

Depends on time frame.

I agree with you there, mine have been together about 5 months.

[1pix4c]

i just got 7 chromis, next day i had 6 ang the net day i have 3 im sure there dead but i cant find them

[NatureNerd]

My group of five coexisted peacefully for over a year. Then the same pattern occurred. I bought them when they were pretty small. My theory was that once they got to adult size, the fought for dominance. Really a shame as I loved the way they swam together.

[foundnemo11]

well atleast im no where alone on this one. It seems as if this happens to almost everyone. Next time I buy fish I will start a thread about them and see. Every book and info I read on these fish is that they are friendly, reef safe, energetic, and school. Since I will never buy this fish again anyone have and tips about adding blue hippo tank and yellow tangs?

I heard that I should add these last so that they are not aggressive. Any luck with these fish?

[00Warpig00]

Most will say the hippo tang will get to be way to big for your 75, and many will say the Yellow will get too big too.

Nick

[Saadatski]

the first saltwater fish I ever owned was a chromis. I bought another one last year to accompany it. They were perfectly fine for the longest time together, then two months ago I noticed aggression during feeding. Just yesterday I found the poor fish in the powerhead. I was sad as my first saltwater fish died.

[Jeffp]

Thanks for this thread! I've tried chromis several times with the same results. I thought I was doing something wrong. Now I know - it's their thing.

Thanks to this thread, I won't make that mistake again.

- Jeff

[djatl]

Based on this recurring theme, I think I may stay away from Chromis. It's a shame, they look great at the LFS. Time to rethink my stocking list.

Why do all the books fail to mention this when it seems to be common knowledge? I can understand why the LFS wouldn't bring it up. I was actually told that if I wanted to have 5 (so they would school), that I should buy 7 because some wouldn't make it.

[NatureNerd]

Just to throw another data point in the mix...

A very large aquarium I saw in Australia had 30 or more Green Chromis. Reportedly, they don't have this aggression problem. There were even a couple spawning pairs. So, is it because it was a 400g or larger tank, or was it because they had so many of these fish, or feeding several times per day, or was it something else?

[mori]

i have 2 green chromis and 3 white tails.... they all get along fine,,, so far after a few months.. they may chase each other here and there, but mine are fine so far

[Reef264]

With what I said about mine not fighting, I do keep them very well fed.3 Times a day minimal.

[NatureNerd]

These fish should live at least ten years. Has anyone kept a small group a couple of years? Again, mine were great for the first year then one by one they were killed off until only one was left. Is this how it always goes? Does anyone have a different story?

If any of you have had long term success please post and indicate number of fish, size of tank, and how often they were fed.

[reefereef]

i have around 16 chromis in my 220g, plenty of room for them and i feed around 6 cubes of frozen food a day along with nori in the tank, which they pick at all day long. i started with 22 and have lost a few due to stress from my new tank, added all of them ater the tank was up for about a month. I have never seen any real dominance or bullying issues.

If you feed enough they shouldnt have a problem. In my last tank i kept about 12 of them for 2 years and they did just fine, in that tank i fed like crazy too.

[bobears03]

I've had my 6 blue/green for almost two years. I originally had 10, but it wasn't from fighting they just don't ship well.

They seem to be like freshwater neon tetras, if you want to keep 10 buy 20.

[sslak]

You don't have to worry about your clowns if they are anything like mine, they have the courage of a 15 foot tiger shark. They would destroy any chromis that tried to get aggressive with them.

I swear mine tries to take my arm off every time I try to glue corals or clean anywhere near "her area".

[cjk76]

In larger tanks, especially with larger fish, they will depend on numbers to protect them. They won't fight as much. Even if they do, there are more hiding places and room to run away in a larger tank.

I have 2 in my 55g. I only got 2 in case my HH pistol shrimp took one out (again...). One is about 2x the size of the other. They get along OK, but the larger one still chases the smaller one away sometimes.

A couple of things I think people forget:
Just because they are a schooling fish doesn't mean you can keep 10 in a 55g. The shoal or "school" would be like having a small leopard shark in the tank. Because they would be fighting for room/food/shelter.
Numbers are only necessary when there is an aggressive fish that would challenge individuals. No large fish and numbers become a disadvantage for food.
Fish have their own pecking order. I think mine get along OK because the small one knows it is never going to be able to take on the big one. It hangs out with the big one, but runs at the first sign of aggression.

And my clown is a much bigger bully than my large chromis. He even carries around snails when he is angry. I would watch the clown, just in case.

[sanchoy]

Yes. Pecking order will start until there is only 1. I had 10, 4 years later only 1. Some say theirs co-exist fine. I differ.

[1pix4c]

im on day 4 started with 7 now down to 2

[supervdl]

I had the same issue in the past but the 7 I have now have been together for a very long time w/o problems.

[liverup]

I started with 5, two weeks later 4, two weeks later 3, and until zero. So I guess its pretty common.

[geaux xman]

I bought 7 before and they just dwindled down til i had zero left. They're not even worth the trouble of QT-ing. IMO.

Putting them in the DT, you just run the risk of introducing a parasite.

[andy13]

I started with 6 the size of a small finger nail. 18 months on they are all different sizes but still all alive . There is deffinalely a boss who fertilises the eggs the largest female lays every few days but apart from the odd bit of chasing all doing well

[davocean]

These fish should live at least ten years. Has anyone kept a small group a couple of years? Again, mine were great for the first year then one by one they were killed off until only one was left. Is this how it always goes? Does anyone have a different story?

If any of you have had long term success please post and indicate number of fish, size of tank, and how often they were fed.

I have had 6 in one tank that I had 6 years w/out issues and only lost them from equipment failure.
They started in my 90g and then went to my 180g no problem.
After my loss I got 5 replacements that I had for about a year and a half till I had to downsize, again, no issues.
Right now I have 7, have had them a couple months, no problems.
My present 150g gets several feedings due to my anthias(which are always tight w/ my chromis, and to me looks awesome) but all my previous tanks were only fed once a day and still no issues.
I know a number of people that keep them long term successfully, have no idea why so many have a negative outcome w/ them.

[davocean]

Here's pics of my 6 I had 6 years.
You can kinda get an idea of age by their size, that tang was about 3" at time of pic.
I always buy them very small, not sure if that makes a difference.
I have lost some at time of purchase, I think they are either poor shippers or not handled w/ care due to how cheap they are maybe?
But cheap or not, they are still one of my favorite, and mine swim in a pretty tight group most of the time.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/mermail/new180090.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/mermail/new180118.jpg

Not the best pic, but these are my present chromis hanging w/ my anthias.

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e141/mermail/tank006.jpg

[csmfish]

I believe they are parasitically disease ridden from the start. There was an article somewhere stating that you had to formaldehyde them or something to get rid of it.

[Lofty]

I have had the same issues every one is repeating here. I started with 6, went down to 2, bought 4 more from a different LFS.. thinking thate was the problem, now down to 4, but these 4 seem to be getting along pretty well.

I may start feeding smaller amouts of flake more frequently as, I only feed once a day currently. I just dont want to pollute the water, so just a tiny pinch every time I think about it and when I feed the marine cuisine in the evening. I might got to every other day on the marine cuisine though, it doesnt seem that all gets eaten and I only feed a small shave off a block.

That being said.... they are one of my favorite fish and I hope to be able to add more someday, but if I do, I will add more than what is in the tank at that time and similar size to bigger then what is in the tank at that time.

[NatureNerd]

I would really love to try them again, they are a beautiful addition to a tank. I used to call them my poor man's Anthias. I fed twice a day but had a small/medium size tank, 75g, and no bigger fish to threaten them. I had lots of hiding places with numerous caves.

Once they got to adulthood, after about a year, the problems started. So in my case, probably not parasites or shipping issues. The smallest would simply get picked on until it wasn't feeding enough. Then it would just disappear.

[Reef264]

They seem to do better in odd numbers, I.E...1, 3, 5, I've seen 10 before that we're together for a long time in a very big tank.

[davocean]

I've heard both odd and even theories, had both long term myself, so I don't put much stock in that myself.
Normally I see more people chiming in that have good luck w/ chromis, but overall I think it's just a cheapo fish that not many seem to care much about.
I also think pics don't seem to do them justice, as they're colors seem to really shift and radiate in person.
I also call them poor mans anthias, but I know a couple anthias fans that don't really dig that!LOL

[csmfish]

I also call them poor mans anthias, but I know a couple anthias fans that don't really dig that!LOL


{chuckles to himself with a wry smile}

[rogersb]

I tried 3 years ago and all died shortly after introduction to the dt. I have 1 in my current set up that has been in there atleast a year. Very nice looking fish, one of the few fishes that I wish I had more of the same in the tank.

[NatureNerd]

I didn't understand why odd or even would matter. I'm not sure fish can count. But just to be safe, I got five when I had them. Didn't work for me.

I really think they are beautiful in the right lighting. I am tempted to try again seeing that some folks had success. Maybe more feeding, maybe a common enemy (bigger fish in the tank), or maybe starting out with smaller ones.

[Alex T.]

I started with 5 3 years ago and now still have four. The one that was getting picked on was smaller and I pulled him out and gave him away. I found that if they're all around the same size that the killing off isn't as much of an issue.

Then again, a lot of people think that because they're small they can keep a school of them in a 30 breeder and wonder why they're killing each other. Regardless of tank size, feeding them well can quell some of the aggression.

[joejoe1055]

just lost mine chromis as well, bought 6 then i was down to 4, then 3, 2 hang around for a few days, had 1 lone one and it was gone after a couple of days :(
all this took place in about 2 months they where the only fish in the tank
just glad it just not me

[defchild84]

I wonder.... would their survival rate be better, if they have hiding places as inside of sps colonies? The abilitiy to jet in and out of sps colonies seem as though the probability of their survival might be better- granted they could do the same with LR, but.... in the wild, I recall seeing them dashing in and out of colonies, which might help out with escaping from the " larger" chromis, if you are a smaller chromis and can dash into a tight spot..... ??

[dirtyBit]

These were some of my first fish. Started with 3 then 1 died so I bought 3 more. I kept losing 1 everyday until I had one left (which is doing fine). The LFS seems to have A LOT of them in a small (about 30g) tank and they seem fine. Maybe you just have to have a lot of them to avoid problems.

[rich19020]

chromis will pick on the smallest chromis. I bought three a 1 one them was in hiding for about a month. I thought it died and was consumed by the cuc. After a few weeks of hiding it came out, got picked on by the other two. After a few more weeks of being picked on it was finally accepted and now them will stay all together.