I've brought this question up before and one answer that popped up repeatedly from experienced reefers was that the chromis shoal because of predation. With no threat they revert to their damsel-like territorial urges and pick on one another until only one survives. Horge over on the reef tank has a lot of experience with this species. There are two similar species in my reference book; Chromis atripectoralis and C. virdis. The difference is a black mark at the inner part of the pectoral fin.
I have C. virdis and added three to my 155. I'm down to two. The largest of the three is the one that went missing. I believe he went MIA when I added a flasher wrasse (Paracheilinus filamentosus). The remaining two are extremely timid but are nicely coloured and healthy.
__________________
Troy
lusus naturae
|