I recently added a trio of blue chromis. I read they are peaceful and reef safe...hogwash. It took me a few weeks to discover the turmoil they are causing. My yellow tang was looking stressed, lots of red on its fins, not acting right. I thought it was perhaps water quality or diet. then I noticed my clowns were acting odd. So over the weekend I saw the chromis biting the tang, I mean really beating it up. The tang can only hide, but the clowns and basslet bite back. Now to build a fish trap and get them out. Anyone else have a similar experience with them?
blue chromis, the worst fish I've ever kept
- Thread starter dmh41532
- Start date
Dmorty217
Saltwater Addict
Not with them attacking other fish but I had a group of 25 in my tank and 6 months later took back 12 to the store because they kept picking one another off, so I can verify they are mean little SOBs but I have only seen that with one another. How large is the yellow tang? All of my fish were significantly bigger than the chromis were
acrohead500ppm
New member
Never really heard of chromis being bastards to other fish?
Here is the deal with Chromis,
Keep them in odd numbers
Feed them 2-3x a day or more (this is often overlooked)
lastly, realize that if you want a nice school of 7 or so in your display long term, you are going to go through 12-15 chromis before you have a nice group of long term troopers
Here is the deal with Chromis,
Keep them in odd numbers
Feed them 2-3x a day or more (this is often overlooked)
lastly, realize that if you want a nice school of 7 or so in your display long term, you are going to go through 12-15 chromis before you have a nice group of long term troopers
Last edited:
acrohead500ppm
New member
I still think 90% of the the people who try to keep a school of chromis and constantly fail really don't realize how often they need to be fed. 3x times a day being ideal, even more if they are new or you are adding more to the group.
Also, just feeding a crap load 1x a day wont work, chromis's stomachs are about as big as their eyeball, and they have incredibly high metabolisms.
Also, just feeding a crap load 1x a day wont work, chromis's stomachs are about as big as their eyeball, and they have incredibly high metabolisms.
We feed the fish three times a day, I've found that several small feedings a day is better for the tank than one large feeding. I was surprised to see the chromis beating up the tang and it didn't bite back. I'm not really sure what i'll do with the chromis when I catch them, maybe i'll put them in the sumps or feed them to the cat. Either way, they aren't going into another display. But catching them is going to be a headache
acrohead500ppm
New member
curious, when you say blue chromis, do you mean real blue black axle or carribean reef chromis??
Or are we actually talking about common green chromis?
or are you mistaking blue devil damsels with chromis
acrohead500ppm
New member
Green chromis then
BrownFinger
New member
I have a 55 with 2 blue green chromis, a dwarf lion fish, a clown fish and a lawn mower Blenny. The chromis was the first fish I put in when I was cycling the tank and I've had no problems with them. They are friendly and cause no problems. He swims around with my clown fish all day and theres no fighting during feeding time.
Yeah, blue green chromsi are a pain in the petard. They're mean, pick each other off, and carry uronema. I do have pair in my tank that have grown quite large, but when they go there won't be a replacement. FWIW, I do think part of the group problem with these fishes, is feeding frequency. I think the only reason I have a pair, rather than one, is that I keep anthias so the tank is fed 4-5 times per day. It's funny, my kids often observe that the chromis are 'kissing' and I don't have the heart to tell them the fish are tying to kill each other :lol:
we've observed the three chromis, which we've named moe, curly and larry, biting the yellow tang, all at once. Earlier I noticed one nipping at a snail on the glass. It seems they've established a territory in the corner were I generally put the food. That may be one reason for their aggression to everything. So today I put the seaweed clip on the other end for the tang atleat until I can catch the three stooges. My wife said how pretty they are...I had no idea. lesson learned!
Similar threads
