Which Chromis to choose?

[andrejka]

My tank is 40G with 20G sump/refugium. Live sand, live rock, LPS and soft corals. I currently have a pair of Percula Clownfish and a Yellow-Bellied Damsel. Thinking about getting a mini-shoal of Chromis (4 fish?). Which are better for a reef tank: Blue, Blue-green, or Green?

Any advice is appreciated.

Andrey

 

[adwilk420]

Cant give you any advice on a choice but I've been told by a number of people that you should get odd numbers.

 

[desktopsilver]

I have 5 chromis blue ish greenish,,,I used to have two they would dart around alot,,,then i got 3 more and now i have that shoal efect i like ,,,,,ive read somewere that usualy if you get a shoal 1 will hide out usualy,,,,,,all of mine stay together so im glad

 

[EmilyB]

It's probably best to identify them by Chromis viridis, Chromis cyanea, etc. I am not aware of significant differences, but I've not kept them all.
My chromis (viridis) levelled out at four...go figure... :roll: They are with yellow tail damsels, but in a large tank. I don't know how that would go over in a tank your size.

 

[AbelaJohnB]

I prefer what are commanly called 'green' Chromis, but this is just a personal opinion.

I try to keep 6 of them in my tank, at all times. Nice little pack of fish swimming around.

 

[DrGrotto]

I have a 58 gallon tank and I started out with three green chromisand I am now down to two. I believe that there was a pecking order problem and the little one was killed. The remaining two appear to be doing fine. The only problem is that they don't school as much.

I have read from others on this board that if you don't keep a large amount of Chromis then they will fight with each other to establish dominance.

IMO they are great starter fish, but I would not recommend more than two or three for your size tank.

Just my opinion, not the rule.

 

[andrejka]

Thank you for the input, guys!

I'll get 5 Blue Green (Chromis viridis). Will remove the damsel if it doesn't get along with Chromises.
I also read that one should get odd number, but does anybody know why?

 

[Anonymous]

Just don't be surprised if you lose some. In the past we would usually get in quite a few i.e. 40+ but the attrition rate was usually high because they came from questionable collection sources and always seemed underfed and thus didn't fare well - even after quarentine and heavy feeding.

recently I've been able to get in batches of net caught chromis and they are phenominal - a bit bigger than normal but I've had a 0% mortality rate with them.