Quote:
Originally Posted by der_wille_zur_macht
Interesting discussion on Chromis groups and I'm happy that it's gone beyond the usual "it works!" "no it doesn't!" bickering.
I've kept groups of chromis many times in many tanks. Sometimes it's been smaller than the magic numbers mentioned here, but only in very large tanks. I accept the logic presented here, and I'm wondering if this forms a second "how to get it to work" argument - small groups can work, in large tanks. Medium sized tanks need the larger number per the above post.
I recently tried to keep 3 in a small tank and I had my first ever chromis failure. Two of them are now living in (separate) sump compartments, they got there on their own by jumping into the overflow trying to avoid fights with the dominant fish. The dominant fish is still in the display. In 25ish years of reefkeeping, this is the first time I've had significant aggression.
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I had success keeping two in 40 breeder (and for some time in 20g for qt),but one was 1.5 times larger than the other when i first got them and they came from separate tanks of the lfs. So they saw each other for the first time in my tank and the size difference pretty much dictated the hierarchy without any fights. As of today the size difference is smaller but they dont fight, there is occasional chasing but that is all. And based on my success with mixed schools, I keep them with a single male lyretail anthias.
I think with a pair, in damsels, it is better to have a certain size difference. This was the smaller fish submits without fighting. When these fish fight, whether chromis, clown or bluedevil, they tend to really hurt each other a lot (like missing scales, riped fins etc.) and than get 2ndry infections and etc.
But with a pair of chromis, it is also worth mentioning, the sex of the fish might dictate long term success. A male and a female might work better than two females or definitely two males. Unfortunately, it is hard to determine the sex of these fish.