green chromis question

[e048]

So I have had a school of 5 chromis in my tank that I initially used to test my tank for sustainability, a few days ago a friend of mine took down her tank and gave me some fish,coral,etc

she gave me two smaller chromis that I thought were going to be fine, but now I have two separate schools of chromis in my tank, a school of 5 and a school of 2, theyll mix when food is present but as soon as its gone they each go to their corners. will they ever man up and mix?

so far I havent seen any agression from them towards each other, my kole tang breaks up fights in my tank so far I havent seen anything aggressive, just this odd seperation of the schools

 

[jraker]

So I have had a school of 5 chromis in my tank that I initially used to test my tank for sustainability, a few days ago a friend of mine took down her tank and gave me some fish,coral,etc

she gave me two smaller chromis that I thought were going to be fine, but now I have two separate schools of chromis in my tank, a school of 5 and a school of 2, theyll mix when food is present but as soon as its gone they each go to their corners. will they ever man up and mix?

so far I havent seen any agression from them towards each other, my kole tang breaks up fights in my tank so far I havent seen anything aggressive, just this odd seperation of the schools

how big is your tank? unless your tank is huge. the chromis will whittle themselves down to 1.

 

[e048]

It's a 90, I've had the school of 5 for over 2 years

 

[jraker]

It's a 90, I've had the school of 5 for over 2 years

they will probably be fine

 

[e048]

Thanks I just thought it was weird that they don't mix, probably has something to do with the social hierarchy of my existing school

 

[Perth_reefer]

It's a 90, I've had the school of 5 for over 2 years

I'm glad you said this. It gets posted all the time on here that they whittle down to one but it's not always the case.
I have 7 that school really well together and its a great addition to the display.

 

[e048]

When I worked at a pet store and we'd get different shipments of chromis they would sometimes dwindle down to one or 3 but maybe it's because they were from different groups and the only things in the tank, my tank has somewhat bigger fish that tend to keep them in line

 

[e048]

Mine will school when the 6-line or the kole tang are out and about, they tend to each sleep in their own places though, I did some reading online and it looks like if there are active somewhat larger fish in the tank the chromis usually keep themselves in "schooling" mode, it's when they're the only things in the tank or when they're the only planktonivores that they fight to the death

 

[Reefnub]

My anthias and chromis have always shoal together. These are the conditions I believe are required to have them shoal and prevent aggression.

1. A lot of available territory for each individual to hide/sleep
2. A lot of flow in the tank for them to just swim against the current
3. A lot of swimming room (100g+/4ft+)
4. No food competition(multiple feedings throughout the day)
5. Large fish to scare them once in a while

 

[Perth_reefer]

My anthias and chromis have always shoal together. These are the conditions I believe are required to have them shoal and prevent aggression.

1. A lot of available territory for each individual to hide/sleep
2. A lot of flow in the tank for them to just swim against the current
3. A lot of swimming room (100g+/4ft+)
4. No food competition(multiple feedings throughout the day)
5. Large fish to scare them once in a while

I 100% agree with this!

 

[e048]

Today my largest chromis and my clownfish got in a little squabble over a rock that fell over it was funny watching them fight over a rock the size of a golf ball