[RudeBoy]

I've read that the Green Chromis is a fish that is normally found in schools but hat it does well in reef tanks. Does anyone know how these fish adapt in tanks where they are not paired with other Chromis???

[PDDII]

RB,

My only concern is that they may be too timid depending on what other fish you have. Tank mates would be?

PDDII

[icemark]

They school best if they are the only fish in the tank, and you have at least 7, more is better

[chromis]

I had one chromis and a clown in my 10 gallon and they both did fine. If your'e going to buy chromis make sure you get net caught. Im pretty sure my chromis died of syanide.

[scubadude]

I started out with 2 chromis in my 20 gal tank but one died shortly after....now I have 1 chromis and 1 pistol shrimp and 1 jacknife....did have a citron clown gobie in there to for a while......The 1 chromis has faired very well in the tank....he is pretty much the boss (biggest) FWIW they are a nice schooling fish...I think im gonna get rid of my Tangs in my big tank and go for some small schooling fish

[RudeBoy]

Well as far as tank mates are concerned, I have two Perculas, one Flame Angelish, a Yellow Tang, one cleaner Shrimp and a Sally Lightfoot. I've been told that Yellow Tangs don't do well in Tanks under 90 gallons and I beg to differ. My tang is tiny (about 2") compared to the average size of Tangs and he does just fine. I ppan to give him back to my LFS when he appears to be getting to big for his surroundings. Out of all the fish I have, my Flame and my Tang seem to act more like 'reef fish'. They do a lot more grazing and exploring of the rock structure than the Clowns. They just seem to hover in front of the tank and beg to be fed. I've been doing a lot of reading on the Chromis and I felt it could add to my reef but I didn't want to buy it if it'd be unhappy and not mesh well with my other fish. I'm still a newbie to this so I have a lot to learn yet so any opinions and advice are well appreciated.

[Marcel]

Hi,

I've had a Chromis in my 150 for at least 3 years now. Started out with 5 little ones, but within a month, one by one they started disapearing (think something got them at night while they were holed up). Anyway, I've had this one for quite a while now and he practically eats out of my hand when I feed the fish.

His tankmates include 3 yellow tangs, 1 purple tang, 1 cole tang 2 scissor tail gobies, a 6 line wrasse, and a Percula. I've seen the 6 line chase him around the tank a few times (maybe looking for parasites). Of course they don't recommend putting 3 yellow tangs together. It's better to have just one or odd groups of 5,7 or more (if the tank is big enough). But these have been doing fine. They first fought a little but once the pecking order was established they all tolerate each other and are nice and fat. In any case, I don't think 90 gallons is too small for a Yellow Tang.

Marcel

[RudeBoy]

Thanks for the knowledge, you have a pretty good size tank. I actually have a 29 gallon reef and this is why I was a little concerned at first about adding the Tang. I've read many posts begging reefers not to put Tangs in tanks smaller than 90 gallons. But, my Tang is so small and he's doing great. The minute that I see that he's uncomfortable, I'll trade him back to my LFS for something else.

[kimmeewoo]

I was planning to add 3 green chromis to my tank. Why are 7 considered to be a good number? I can't spare that much room in my 55g. Will 3 still school?

[icemark]

Again with my experience: for schooling 7 seems to be the magic number. Anything less than that, typically one becomes the dominant Damsel (they are Damsels after all) of the group and harasses the others and kills them (typically at night).

[kimmeewoo]

That's disappointing. Do you know of any small schooling fish that will school in a group of 3?

[icemark]

The only ones I have seen that school with just three are Sargent Majors.

The draw back is that they will out grow your 55 gal in a couple of years. (I have seen them as big as 8 inchs in the wild and 6 inches in tanks)

[Wind]

How much GREEN CHROMIS should I get for my 55 which currently has 2-CLOWNS..

These clowns seem to be the bully. They bully every and all my fishes. I think none has survived. They are TANK BRED. PERCS.

[Marcel]

Are you saying your clowns bully all your fish to death?

If that is the case, then none.

Do the clowns stay in one location, and just chase away the fish from their territory? I have one that hangs around an Elephant Mushroom. He sleeps in it at night, and doesn't tolerate any fish around the shroom. The shroom is on the bottom of the tank and the Chromis hangs out near the upper portion. So he never gets in the Clown's way.

So if your clowns hang out near the bottom and are territorial only in that area you might be able to get 7 small ones (Provided you have adequate room and filtration, etc.).

Actually I've gone through 2 sets of Chromises, and always ended up with one Chromis that lived for a number of years. The lone survivors always looked happy (nice and fat, and always out in the open looking for food). So I don't think it would be inapropriate to get just one if you want the fish and don't care about the schooling part. They are real easy to take care off and will eat anything you throw in there (including your fingers).

Of course if you want them to school and have that "natural" look then you might want to follow IceMark's advice.

[schrocat]

Originally posted by kimmeewoo
That's disappointing. Do you know of any small schooling fish that will school in a group of 3?

Black Dartfish...at least my 3 do.

[thezookeeper]

Hi there. FWIW, I do believe that golfish has a school of green chromis in his tank. I'm not sure of what other tank inhabitants are. HTH


Joanne

[Wind]

Well, I have a 55.

I can tell, a firefish was dead cause of the punishment it took. My pygmy angels also.