Where do the damn things go??

[Aquattro]

Well, my school of green chromis is back down to one member. This really diminishes the whole schooling effect!!
It takes months and months, bt they alway disappear. One at a time, the school gets smaller. It's been this way for years.
If anyone knows where they went, please let me in on the secret!! :razz:

[Seamonkey]

:confused: I've had the same problem with the green chromis. Couple months later there are none left. Never figured out where they went. I don't bother with them anymore. I added 6 yellowtail damsals to my reef tank on June 10, and they are all still there. :biggrin: This is the first time I've had these damsals, so far so good, and they seem to get along well together, and with the rest of the tankmates too.

[Aquattro]

Ya, it's a common problem. Last time the topic came up, everyone responded with the same experience.
However, I really like the schooling thing, so I'm waiting for J&L to get a new batch in this weekend.
I thought about damsels, but never owning any, I wasn't sure about the aggression thing. What tank mates do you have yours with?

[Canadian Man]

I have had the same thing happen twice now and I am always left with one. The one I currently have in my tank has been there now for almost 2 years. I do know that mine get eaten by my carpet anemone(along with many other fish I once owned :rolleyes: ). I saw one chromis get stuck in between a few branches on my huge montipora colony. I found him dead and stuck the next morning.

[reefhawk]

I thought i had it bad, but have never been reduced to a single green chromis. At one point i had as many as 18 schooling up really nice but i find i lose? about a third of the maximum number. currently sitting at 8, down from 12 when i combined two tanks about 3 months ago. Have noticed they have a bad habit of going trancelike at night (sleeping behaviour) agianst the wierdest things like anemones and intakes ect. I think that is where they go. Once hade the most beautiful blue carpet that kinda faded a bit when i ran out of chromis - coincedence or not?

[smokinreefer]

lol.
i had a bunch too.
ive only had the sole survivor for the last while, and i leave him be.
alien abduction?!?!? :lol:

anyhow, yeah i'd like to see how many people have been able to sustain a school of them for a long period of time. i'm talkin more at least more than a year.

anyhoo... i wish i had a digicam 5 yrs ago... crap, i wasnt even into sps that long ago, but when i was in Fiji it was sooooo cool to see schools of chromis swarming around sps colonies... and to see tiny pinky nail sized babies ducking in and out of the branches as you approach.

[Jason McK]

I went running to the LFS one day trying to find screens for my PHs the first thing the guy behind the counter said was " you need some more Chromis to go with those screens" I'd never met the guy before.

I had 3 green Chromis school right up into the power Head. And there was very little left of then, could that be the cause

J

[Cap'n]

I tried schools of chromis twice. Quite successful.

First time I got 3, soon down to 2. They lasted for many, many months. Thought two really wasn't a school so I eventually added 2 more. They looked the same size when I was in the store but when I got them home it was obvious they were much bigger. They bullied the original 2 into hiding most of the time until I saw them no more. Down to 2 again. They are always together, get along great. Must be close to a year now that I have had them. If I hadn't pressed my luck I bet I would still have the original 2.

[smokinreefer]

sorry dude, but 2 is a pair, not quite a school. but good to hear they are doin well! :mrgreen:

[ed99]

I've had 2 chromis living together for probably a year now, but that was down from 5 or 7. I'm pretty sure mine were KIA in their civil war.

[AJ_77]

Started with 3 (no, not a school) and then there were 2 - for quite a while.

Sounds like they may have been eaten tho, :eek: over at CanMan's...

[StirCrazy]

hmm I haven't lost one sense I moved over a year ago.. I thought I did but he showed up again... I think you have part of the Bermuda triangle in your tank. oh have you looked in your sump lately? :mrgreen:

Steve

[Cap'n]

sorry dude, but 2 is a pair, not quite a school.

What if they are in a 55, is that a small enough tank for 2 to be considered a school?

[Aquattro]

nope, 2 is a pair. To be a school, there needs to be 5. (Ya, I made that up) :razz:

[EmilyB]

I had four for a long time. I guess they are in Jon's carpet as well....

[Canadian Man]

I had four for a long time. I guess they are in Jon's carpet as well....
:rolleyes:
YUP along with Alan's most recent 2 :confused:

[Beverly]

The only two fish in my 120g are a blue chromis that schools with our blue sided fairy wrasse. Darnedest thing to watch all day and night :lol:

Was hoping to to get maybe 4 more chromis, but would I be better off bringing home yellow tailed damsels instead? Don't have any anemomes in the tank, so that should eat any chromis (or damsels). Would appreciate stocking suggestions from the masters out there :mrgreen:

[kuatto]

Almost sounds like they need to be in a tank without anemoneis(sp?)or powerheads.Maybe a drilled tank with an overflow and a few returns drilled in.

[Bob I]

would I be better off bringing home yellow tailed damsels instead? Would appreciate stocking suggestions from the masters out there :mrgreen:

It appears some people have luck with large numbers, but I have never had luck with three. One always gets picked on and killed. Then the remaining two fight until only one is left, unless they pair off, but that seems to be rare. In a real long tank (six foot), they will set up individual territories, and more than one will survive. That has been my experience anyway, :rolleyes:

[smokinreefer]

my experience with chromis has not been great...

started with ~7

lost one, then another... finally i ended up with 2 pairs...

1 dominant pair which quickly outgrew the other pair...

then the dominant pair took out the smaller pair...

the the remaining pair had a domestic dispute...

thus i have 1 guy remaining.

and NO, 2 in a 55 is still just a pair, you could put them in a goldfish bowl and theyd still be nothing but a pair! :lol: :mrgreen:

personally i consider ~5 to be a school, no i didnt make that number up... i just trust Brad! :lol: :mrgreen:

[Cap'n]

I tried schools of chromis twice. Quite successful.

First time I got 3, soon down to 2. They lasted for many, many months. Thought two really wasn't a school so I eventually added 2 more. They looked the same size when I was in the store but when I got them home it was obvious they were much bigger. They bullied the original 2 into hiding most of the time until I saw them no more. Down to 2 again. They are always together, get along great. Must be close to a year now that I have had them. If I hadn't pressed my luck I bet I would still have the original 2.

I would like to post the following slight revision to my initial statement.

I tried small schools of chromis (3 to 4 fish) twice with no success. It seems to me that if there is not a large enough population to spread the aggression around then one single fish becomes the target. This continues until a pair or a single, dominant fish remains. I consider myself lucky that I have a happy couple.

[kari]

I had four for a long time. I guess they are in Jon's carpet as well....
:rolleyes:
YUP along with Alan's most recent 2 :confused:

That carpet sure eats good.

As for the green fish, same story here. Had 5 when tank was new and only one original left 5 years later. Lives in a bird's nest. Looks very natural :confused:

[MitchM]

I've had 5 chromis for over a year now.
Lots of squabbling, no deaths.

Mitch :smile:

[Jaws]

What size tanks are you putting your 5 chromis in? Large/Small?

[MitchM]

72L x 22H x 30W, with an open top.

Mitch

[Stirfry]

my theory with not much to back this up with but i do have evidence and i have also studied them for a while

they have almost a want to play with anenome's and the problem is(and they dont know this) but they have no potective mucas so they dont survive long.

i have also seen them get "stuck" in rock and corals just like triggers like to do but when they try to get out they cant

and a few other small thing that are in my "theory"(which means it might not be right)

might help??

let me know??

[Seamonkey]

Hi Brad,

My 6 yellowtail damsals are house in the 45 gal reef with a sixline wrass, 2 clowns with anenome, yellow watchman gobie a royal gramma, 2 hermit crabs and a cleaner shrimp. ( It amazes me that the anenome has never eaten anything in the tank, except the odd krill I hand feed it once in a while) how do they survive in the wild!! :confused:

[Bob I]

Hi Brad,

My 6 yellowtail damsals are house in the 45 gal reef with a sixline wrass, 2 clowns with anenome, yellow watchman gobie a royal gramma, 2 hermit crabs and a cleaner shrimp. ( It amazes me that the anenome has never eaten anything in the tank, except the odd krill I hand feed it once in a while) how do they survive in the wild!! :confused:

As I said I have tried to keep three, but that never worked due to aggresssion. I am wondering how it works with six :question: Are there not dominant ones that always chase the smaller ones, and beat them up :question: :confused:

[Doug]

I once seen one of my cleaner shrimp running across the reef with a chromis under his arms. Seemed to be looking at me and laughing as he ran into the boonies with his prize. :lol:

[Beverly]

how do they survive in the wild!! :confused:

Well, to say something VERY obvious, in the wild there is boundless space for them to claim as their own territory. Not so in our tiny tanks by comparison :frown:

[MitchM]

Beverly, even though it is an obvious point, I think that it's something that we need to keep reminding ourselves of.
The fish we keep normally squabble and fight in the ocean, and have no limits of where they can flee, the only limitation is their own size and speed.
IMO, fish that we sometimes call "carpet surfers" are simply fish that ran out of running space. :frown:

Mitch

Also - if they can jump out of the tank while "fleeing", then it makes sense that they could also run into something like an open, waiting anemone. I'm pretty sure that they don't normally hang out in the ocean 10 or 12 inches from dangerous anemones.