Green Chromis questions

[Bob I]

I had always thought that Chromis were a schooling fish, and did not terrorise each other like other damsels. That appears to be wrong. I recently got three green Chromis, and have found that the bigger one terrorises the smaller ones to the point of damaging them. How he knows he is bigger befuddles me. Does anyone have similar experiences? Would it be better to get a couple more? :x :x

[Canadian Man]

Hey Bob,
I had a similar experience with my chromis when I got them from Alan
We could only catch 3 of the 4. The 4th was the smallest and when I put him in my tank a few weeks later. The biggest one beat up on him for a few days but they are all good now.
Now it's just my Bangai's that chase the chromis. Go figure

[StirCrazy]

I had 3 and they all schooled togeather, now I have 4 and they still hang out togeather.. no fighting or anything.. well the ocasional game of tag but thats it One thing I have notices (even with my freshwater schools) is that the more secure the fish feel in there enviorment the looser the school becomes..

Steve

[smokinreefer]

i have a 135gallon, 6' long.
i had purchased 7 small green chromis.
they schooled very nicely initially.
some got bigger. some got bullied. small ones got killed.
ended up with a dominant pair, and a smaller pair.
smaller pair got bullied by bigger pair and died.
remaining pair got big. just lost the male?(BIG one)to carpet surfing, guess something startled it.
though i would have liked to still have a nice school, the pair was cool, as they would hang out in the branches of my stag, just like they do in the wild.

FWIW, i believe i had read a few posts where people were able to successfully keep a handful of them together in a single tank.

[Aquattro]

I had 7, then 6, then 5......added 4 more to make 9 and now I have 3. Most I found outside the tank. They were chased by bigger ones or a tomato clown I had.
I found when I added the second 4, they schooled away from the original group, giving me two schools of chromis. In time they merged, but again, the big ones chased the smaller ones out of the tank.

[ed99]

My experience is the same. Started with 5 now have 3. The first died quickly- he just never seemed to settle in. The second died a couple of weeks later. Same symptons- shortly before they died they both looked like they had a few nipped fins and even though they were part of the feeding frenzy and were getting some food, they just wasted away over a few days. The 3 left seem to be ok though the big one does nip at the other 2, plus at my 3 ocellaris. I've read that clowns can harass the chromis, but in my tank now it seems to be one big free for all. I only ever saw schooling behaviour in the first couple of days.

Not sure adding more would help. I bought 3 initially and then added another 2 about 2 weeks later. They mixed quickly but then the big guy (who came with the second 2) started flexing his muscle.

One thing to add- I never did see the big guy actually getting a piece of the smaller ones, and the two remaining smaller one are still ok. The damage seemed to occur over night.

Interesting thread- I was not expecting this behaviour either.

Ed

[Dorkel Marine 1]

Is there any record of a successful chromis school. The way its sounding here all there good for is cycling a tank. Which I of course don't agree with. However, I tried 3 in a 30 gal. One became dominant and eventually the other two died and then the big one must of died of lonliness or something.
They're a beautiful fish when the sun hits them and they're schooling. That's why I was wondering if anyone has had a successful school in a larger tank maybe.

George Muller

[Canadian Man]

I plan on adding to my school when I get the 230 going.

I have a question for everyone that hasnt been overly sucessful with chromis.

- what were your feeding habits whith your fish. Did you feed everyday or a couple times a day or every second day?

Thanks

[Dorkel Marine 1]

I fed mine once everyday and occasionally twice a day



george

[Aquattro]

Mine feed 2 or 3 times a day. Since they've been in a bigger tank, the seem to school better and don't chase each other. I only lost one since going to the 155g