'Aggressive' Chromis?

[richl]

Can Green Chromi's be aggressive towards other fish or do they only fight among themselves? I bought 9 from SWF but one died a few days after appearing to have been bitten by one of the others. I have a picture posted in thread "Dark Spots on Chromis" under the Fish Diseases section. Beth said the picture looks like an attack from an aggressive fish. They are in a 20 gal QT by themselves, so it had to be another Chromi. This past weekend I was away for 2 days and found that 3 other small ones had dark marks on them that might be bruise marks from someone nipping at them. I didn't think there would be a problem with not feeding for 2 days, but maybe one of the larger Chromis attacked or tried to eat the smaller ones. They will all finish their hypo and QT period in about a week and then move to a 125 DT with plenty of rocks for hiding. Should I be concerned about a possible aggressor Chromi? My DT has 1 Heniochus and 2 Klein's Butterflies all of whom are much larger than the largest Chromi. I also have 3 cleaner shrimp and 1 CB shrimp. Eveyone is peaceful and I want to keep it that way. Any suggestions will be appreciated. Thanks

 

[alabama reefer]

They are very aggressive towards each other but not towards other fish species. It is very difficult to keep a group that size because of the attack among themselves. They will try to keep themselves in odd numbers which is how you started. Keeping them well fed does help but does not always prevent them from preying on each other. Don't be surprised if you only end up with three(or even one in worst case) when all is said and done. At least it will be the strongest of the rest. Good luck in your efforts.

 

[jimmy40741]

I disagree with the odd number theory on keeping chromis. I had 3 in my tank with no problems and then was given another one with no problem. But to stay with what I had read on here about keeping odd numbers I went out and bought another one which was a mistake. The last one I bought was very aggressive and nippled the tails of the others one by one until 2 of them died. Of the 3 left the aggresive one would harrass one other to the point that it would stay hidden behind one of my powerheads, but never messed with the 3rd. The one that stayed hidden died about a week or two ago and now I have 2 that seem to get along fine.
So the odd number theory is not true in all cases. I beleive that it depends on the temperment of each individual fish.

 

[gio28]

i have 3 in my 36 gallon...they pick at the weakest one. but they all school together sometimes. none of them are hurt or are under stress from the...i guess i could call it friendly conflict. they nip but not too agressively to hurt eachother.

 

[zmydust]

Originally Posted by gio28
http:///forum/post/3078859
i have 3 in my 36 gallon...they pick at the weakest one. but they all school together sometimes. none of them are hurt or are under stress from the...i guess i could call it friendly conflict. they nip but not too agressively to hurt eachother.
This is exactly the situation in my 35g as well.

 

[gio28]

there will really always be an aggressor chromi IMO because the biggest one is the most dominant. im kinda surprised that he is picking on the rest so hard. the more chromis to pick on the more spread out the picking on will be. but they will def leave any other non-chromi tankmates alone

 

[tizzo]

I call them disposable fish. They are so cheap because they constantly need replaced.
No matter how many you have, odd number or not, they will most likely pick on the weakest one. When that one dies, another becomnes the weekest, and so forth and so on...
If you want the schooling effect without the aggression, spend the extra $ and go with anthias.

 

[drtito]

Originally Posted by Tizzo
http:///forum/post/3079551
I call them disposable fish. They are so cheap because they constantly need replaced.
No matter how many you have, odd number or not, they will most likely pick on the weakest one. When that one dies, another becomnes the weekest, and so forth and so on...
If you want the schooling effect without the aggression, spend the extra $ and go with anthias.
***************************************
+1 on that. I had 10 then 9....7 after awhill all I had was 3. (now 1 after the leak)
Bought 10 more QTed them I went threw a long acclamtion of no light, news paper covered glass over night , still they would fight. No matter what I tried. I do still have an order pending for ten 2 inch green cromis.
Next time I will try anthias .