Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Chromis pix
- Thread starter Gary Majchrzak
- Start date
Capt_Cully
Active member
Those are a recent addition? Or was I just in a trance when I was there, and missed them completely?
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
Conesus_Kid
Premium Member
Do you think you're eventually going to end up with one chromis? I started with five, and it took a few years, but I ended up with one. 
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
last time I did this I ended up with 3. Two were males and one female. She would spawn with one and then go off and spawn with the other. No commentDo you think you're eventually going to end up with one chromis? I started with five, and it took a few years, but I ended up with one.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
I have 6 in my 360g. They're very appealing visually in a large tank like this, help to take up some space and fill things out. Granted they haven't been in there long but I have seen no signs of aggression to date.
Gary, am I counting 10?
Gary, am I counting 10?
Conesus_Kid
Premium Member
last time I did this I ended up with 3. Two were males and one female. She would spawn with one and then go off and spawn with the other. No comment
You may be on to something in terms of achieving the correct M/F ratio (and it may be different than the male/harem of females that one might expect) for long-term survival in the aquarium.
I agree with your take on the visual appeal of these guys. The chromis I had were in an 8' long tank and I never witnessed any aggression between them. Occasionally over the course of a few years, I would just happen to notice that there was one less chromis than there was yesterday. :lol:
windyridge
Fish Mother
I still have my same 7. No aggression noted yet other than the first day when they were presumably establishing their pecking order.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
It seems like that's the case for many of the "they'll kill each other off" reports. Most people don't actually SEE them killing each other off. Makes me wonder if perhaps they're just not long-lived in captivity? Or there are other factors? How many people that only have ONE chromis keep it alive for more than a few years?
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Also - are they easy to sex? I can't see any differences in mine.
St.james of reefdom
New member
The same thing happened to me I bought 12 and it seemed they went to 3 quickly (1 female and 2 males). Now I am at 1f/1m
I may try it again when I get the 300DD setup
I may try it again when I get the 300DD setup
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
the 3 that survived my last bunch lived for over 5 years and spawned constantly
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
Did you sex them by observing the spawning behavior or via some other method?
I can pick out individuals in my group but it's based on seemingly random and subtle differences in body size. I can't see any consistency that would divide them into two groups (male/female).
I can pick out individuals in my group but it's based on seemingly random and subtle differences in body size. I can't see any consistency that would divide them into two groups (male/female).
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
yes. My males created a nesting area and drove the female to it (assuming I sexed them correctly. I based my sex decision on the spawning behaviors of my Clownfish.) Adult male Green Chromis develop long streamer like tails. At this point in time I really don't know if they can change sex like anemonefish do. My big interest/ challenge at this point is to see how many of these I can keep alive for several years instead of losing them one by one. I think the extremely strong water currents in my aquarium help to disperse fish aggressions.
der_wille_zur_macht
Team RC
I agree with this. It seems like the few times mine will chase each other, they give up as soon as they hit a different current in the tank. I've never seen outright aggression or damage on any of mine. I've heard about other observing them lock lips and that seems to be what people describe as their method of showing aggression.
Mine seem to alternate between the following behaviors:
1) Lose "schooling" i.e. swimming in a group. Mostly around feeding time, or when I walk by the tank, but observed from across the room from time to time. Probably 25% of the time they're doing this. There's a strong end-to-end current from left to right along the front pane of my tank, and when they school they usually alternate between swimming against this current and swimming against the return pump's current, which is right behind this current and right to left.
2) Random swimming around the tank, mostly on their own. Probably 70% of the time. Sometimes it seems like there will be one or two swimming together but it seems like random chance. I'm trying to figure out if certain individuals are claiming certain areas but it's hard to tell.
3) Very casual "chasing" - A chaser will dart towards a chasee. The chasee will dart away. I've never seen them touch and it doesn't seem any more aggressive than what you typically observe between any fish in a closed system. Probably 5% or less of the time.
Most of the time mine sleep "together" on the same rock outcrop. Once in a while one or two will be elsewhere in the tank when the lights start to ramp up.
Gary, I'd be interested in seeing a detailed log of behavior from your fish over time. Maybe if we all share notes and try to pick out trends we can help discover the best way to keep multiples alive longterm.
Gary Majchrzak
Team RC
I don't keep written notes but as you can see... I've managed to keep a NASTY Powder Blue with an Achilles for several years now.
naprestsleep
blank
Nice addition I do remember it being you Gary that told me they would kill each other off and in my case I went from 3-2-1, seems in my tank they would keep one cornered until it starved off. I removed one but it was too late.
block head
New member
i like chromis= poor man's anthias. the little guys seem tougher to keep alive. a lot of fish for $3.
