Chromis Dieing off????????

[DeepSeaBeauti]

Last week i picked up 6 blue/green Chromis after a day i noticed one of the fish acting a bit strange, would not eat was stairing at the rock. By morning it was dead. Today during my regular tank duties i noticed another one acting strange. What's going on? The rest of my fish look normal, everyone is eating, swimming and showing normal behavior.

My water parameraters are pritty good.
Aug 26, 8pm
Calcium Ca 460.00ppm
Phosphate Po4 .3mg/l
Alkalinity 8
pH 8.40ppm
Ammonia Nh3/Nh4 0.00ppm
Nitrite No2 0.00ppm
Nitrate No3 0.00ppm
Salinity 1.024ppt
Vodka 3.0ml

I stoped vodka doseing today, and did not add my usaly 2-part Ca/ Alkalinity. I dont know what else to do.

 

[MatthewN]

Are you seeing any aggression? Do they seem to be picking on one another?

On the dead ones did you see an marks or wounds? And by acting strange what exactly are they doing?

 

[DeepSeaBeauti]

Are you seeing any aggression? Do they seem to be picking on one another?

On the dead ones did you see an marks or wounds? And by acting strange what exactly are they doing?

No aggression, everyone in the tank is getting along great.

The one that died did not have any marks or wounds the night it passed. By the morning my cuc already made a meal out of him.

The acting strange is, Stairing at the live rock, swimming in one place on a slightly tilted up angle(almost like if it stoped swimming it would sink like a stone), breathing heavy, not eating, not schooling with the rest.

 

[phiber_optikx]

Chromis seem to die off until you only have 2 left. I believe it to be a pecking order but who knows....

 

[rireuter]

chromis seem to die off until you only have 2 left. I believe it to be a pecking order but who knows....

+1

 

[ocellaris123]

Where they newly shipped? Newly imported chromis have poor survival rates compared to those which have been in captivity for a while. They also imo need frequent feedings to fare well. I have a group of six which I picked up a while ago, which were at the LFS for a while before I picked them up, and i feed frequently and have not personally seen major aggression in the group.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

Newly imported chromis have poor survival rates compared to those which have been in captivity for a while.

This has been very true in my experience.

Chromis seem to die off until you only have 2 left.

This has also been my experience with these fish. Every time I have ever attempted a group I end up with a pair that lives for years.

 

[SDguy]

The LFS near me guarantees all SWF for 24hrs except green chromis. I think that says something.

 

[2006]

Chromis seem to die off until you only have 2 left. I believe it to be a pecking order but who knows....

Does this mean you add any two chromis or do they have to pair up from a group?

 

[petlaur]

Just wondering if the problem is from how chromis are collected in the first place. Read from another forum that they are cyanide caught so many of them maybe doomed even before they reach your LFS. Maybe that is why the stores don't guarantee their survival, of course a lucky few may survive.

 

[capecoral]

I too read that they start dying. Makes me mad because they are so cheap.

 

[Kahuna Tuna]

The longest I have ever kept a group was for about a year and a half in a rough and tumble 180 that had enough aggressive tankmates (big angels and tangs) that the BG cromis would actually shoal. Once they got to a larger size the bigger ones started picking on the more passive ones unitl I ended up with two and I kept that mated pair for several more years.

Most of these fish come in to the country in just terrible shape and mortality is very high. It has also been my experience that the black-axil chromis is a much stronger fish than the blue green, they look nearly identical except the black-axil's black spot at the base of the pectoral fin and are a better choice if you can find them.

 

[DeepSeaBeauti]

Well im down to 4 now. The rest look well. I do find that they eat, and eat. Other then that it looks like there doing well.

I picked them up from my LFS, they were there for about a week. They were not showing any signs of strange behavior.

Right now im hoping for the best, These are cool fish when they roam the tank together.

 

[capecoral]

I wonder if there are different species of chromis that do better

 

[oceangor]

I have a school of 15 in my 400 system for almost a year now. The little ones dont fair well. I only bought large ones.

 

[TripleT]

What are you feeding them?

Are you using supplements like Selcon/Zoe/Zoecon?

Did you QT them? QT is always a good idea for helping fish overcome the stresses of capture and transport.

Chromis benefit from *loads* of hiding places. Do you have a lot of rock in the tank?

 

[lars on live]

I still have 9 in my 120 that I put in there a year ago. I do have a lot of rock though so there is lots of places to escape.

 

[1boatnut]

Also may be flukes..

 

[oceangor]

Its a full blown reef with hundreds of lbs of rock and of course corals including SPS which they go and hide in at night. In the AM it looks like I have only one lol. I feed 3 to 4 times a day at least all my fish. I do NLS flakes, pellets, PE misis,baby misis, 50/50 by O.N. frozen and some rods food. The NLS I just put a couple pinches in,, Now the other foods I made a feeder. Its a round pipe that I think goes into a over flow? I found it at the LFS its like a large diam. screen tube. I made end caps for it and put fishing line to get it in and out. I pack that full of food and drop it in. I built it for my CB butterfly but now all my fish use it. It keeps them grazing for a while. It releases justenough food for them to eat and doesnt go into my drains. It also allows small fish a chance to get stuff. Twice a week I will add supplements to the frozen and pack it.

 

[capecoral]

Maybe size is the factor... I read a few places that the bigger ones are the ones that live.

But still maybe there are different species that all look the same.