Blue Reef Chromis (Chromis cyaneus)

[Myka]

I am contemplating adding 3-5 Blue Reef Chromis to my reef. Not to be mistaken for the Green or Blue Green Chromis. I am under the impression that these Blue Chromis are more docile than the typical Green Chromis, and are a peaceful choice for a shoal. I have a couple small Gobies in my tank, so I need peaceful fish. What is the biggest you guys have seen them? Some sources say they get to 5", but I have never seen one over about 3 1/2" (not including tail fin). Any thoughts or suggestions?

I can't keep Anthias because I don't feed my tank often enough, and I already have plenty of yellow and pink in my tank.

http://www.aquariumdomain.com/images/fish_marine/bluereefChromis4.jpg

[The Grizz]

I have 2 in my 165 gal as well as 2 BG Chromis and they spend most of there time swimming together. Mine are about 2 1/2" and are a great addition to any reef IMO.

[amoreira]

I have 3 in my reef tank. Have had them for almost 3 years. I have also seen them SCUBA diving in the Carribbean. They are not shoaling fish. They are solitary and territorial fish, just like any other damsel. These ones though are not as aggressive as your typical damsel. They do make a great reef fish. The other blue chromis is shoaling.

[The Grizz]

Both my BG and BR chromis play what I call the bubble game with my Regal Tang. My Regal likes to go to the top of the tank for air then dive to the bottom making bubbles as it dive's. Then all my chromis try to pop all of them before they hit the top. Rather comedic and can last for as long as an hour. :biggrin:

[Myka]

Thanks for everyone's information!

They are not shoaling fish. They are solitary and territorial fish, just like any other damsel.

:question: All the literature I have read, and all the pictures I have seen of them on reefs have been huge shoals. Most shoaling fish tend not to shoal very well in our small tanks though because we don't have room for enough of them, and we can't keep predators in our reefs to convince the fish they need to shoal. Hehe.

[sphelps]

I put four of these in a larger display once and they fought until only one survived. The remaining one was always aggressive towards newer fish but not too bad. They also got big and ugly fast turning almost completely black and around 3"-4" in only a couple months. I personally would never purchase these again.

These also use to be in the DT at Bayside which ended in similar results as far as I remember.

[Myka]

Argh...that's no good. No perfect fish is there? :lol: