Blue Green Chromis aggression?

[USMA36]

I had 5 blue green chromis 2 black ocelaris clowns and a magnificent foxface. I added the clowns two days ago from qt. One clown was dead yesterday morning as well as one chromis. Todya after work I found he other clown dead. The Foxface is a baby and hides from everything. Is it possible one of the chromis is a bully? My parameters are Ammonia 0 nitrates 5 Alk 9.5 PH 8.0 not sure about phosphates as I don't have a way to test. The tank is 90 gallons. I also have maybe 10 Snails of assorted types and 4 soft/lps corals. Both fish were fine in QT.

 

[mtraylor]

Chromis are aggressive and are bully's. They will chase other fish out of the aquarium. Not sure if they did the damage you are talking about...but if you see them they will not be shy around you either. That is picking on the other fish.

 

[USMA36]

Ok. I thought they were peaceful. I lost about 100.00 worth of fish in two days. How do I prevent that from happening again?

 

[mtraylor]

Get rid of the Chromis. They are listed as peaceful, but they are not. I had some and they bullied allot of the small fish and they would also knip at the fins of fish that were at the top of the aquarium and make them jump out. 4 dollar fish cost me allot. I eventually got so made and had to take the reef apart to get that __$)(*$er ;Brb

 

[USMA36]

After watching the chromis one is a bully. Any ideas how to get him out of the tank?

 

[Robink]

you can make a fish trap out of a water bottle. Put some food in the second compartment and hopefully you catch him first.

 

[USMC 4 LIFE]

Chromis occasionally pick on one another but I have NEVER heard, seen or read about them being aggressive towards other fish. I seriously doubt they killed the clowns.

I have some Blue green Chromis in my tank and they keep to themselves.

 

[USMA36]

The clowns I had were very small. I don't know what else could have killed them. They were fine in QT tank.

 

[rygh]

I have had Chromis for 10+ years.

Normally very peaceful.
They also act as dither fish, swimming in the upper water column, making other fish feel safe.
So a bonus.

However...
Every few years, one of the larger ones will claim a spot in the aquarium.
My theory it is some sort of spawning behavior.
When that happens, it will chase off pretty much anything. Full size foxface, big cuban hogfish, big tangs.
Feisty little guy.
But that is really rare.

Oh, and they are not always so nice to each other. If you have less than 5, the little one
can get picked on badly.

My guess: The clownfish were the aggressors, a big fight broke out, and both lost.

 

[mtraylor]

If the Chromis are picking on the other fish they will do it all the time. I originally purchased about 8 of them. They slowly dwindled down to 1. The one chromis just killed the others or made them jump out of the aquarium. They didn't bother any other of the fish at that time. Once he was done killing the colony, he started picking on the other fish in the aquarium. It was the biggest grown alpha male that took everyone out. Once it got real big it was relentless. ONe of the worst fish I have ever had.

You can find a fish trap or find where it sleeps and suck it out in the middle of the night. I would get rid of all of them. JMO

 

[shred5]

Yea I have 8 of them and when they were in the large tank with large fish peaceful as a matter of fact chickens.. Now since the move and they are in a smaller tank with small fish they are aggressive as can be and have chased several gobies and chalk bass on to the floor.

 

[petemichelle]

try an in tank hang on acclimator. I put the new fish in there and watch them for a few days to see who is going up to the acclimated and showing aggression. also put some PVC fittings in there large enough for the fish to hide in. it'll be like a little cave for them, so they can get out of view. I've taken fish out of the acclimated in a day, some a week. also, you can make sure they are eating. quarantine is one thing, burt once they get into the display with population, it's a lot of stress. and if you want to take somebody out, use a fish trap. they sell them and work okay... takes awhile though. patience.... in the long run, adding fish is like a 50/50 thing, even after all the homework and prep, acclamation, quarantine, etc... a lot of hoping and praying.

 

[shred5]

try an in tank hang on acclimator. I put the new fish in there and watch them for a few days to see who is going up to the acclimated and showing aggression. also put some PVC fittings in there large enough for the fish to hide in. it'll be like a little cave for them, so they can get out of view. I've taken fish out of the acclimated in a day, some a week. also, you can make sure they are eating. quarantine is one thing, burt once they get into the display with population, it's a lot of stress. and if you want to take somebody out, use a fish trap. they sell them and work okay... takes awhile though. patience.... in the long run, adding fish is like a 50/50 thing, even after all the homework and prep, acclamation, quarantine, etc... a lot of hoping and praying.

Really good advice and can help sometimes.....

 

[USMA36]

I noticed 1 of the chromis was acting as a bully. Chasing and hitting the others non stop. Luckily I caught him easily while feeding and banished him to my sump.

 

[shred5]

I noticed 1 of the chromis was acting as a bully. Chasing and hitting the others non stop. Luckily I caught him easily while feeding and banished him to my sump.

The next largest will just take its place. Most people can not even keep chromis in schools/shoals because they kill the smallest or weakest first than work their way up the ladder till one is left just like some anthias do..

 

[murraya8922]

I will never own a blue green again. I've had them as a single specimen, and in a group of three...they were always causing trouble. Hardy? Heck yes. But worth the aggravation and stress tank inhabitant? No no. And good luck catching them to tank them out buddy. I tried for HOURS. Finally a few days later, I took out ALL of my live rock and snagged them. Good luck.

 

[action21]

Definitely the bully of the tank. Bought the trap but it is so large and bulky it will take a while to catch it

 

[mtraylor]

JMO. Take the rock out if you have to and remove all chromis.

 

[AndreaWilson78]

Or separate them with a divider then remove your rocks. I too bought 6 green chromis I have 3 fish left it's killed my female clown (of 5 years) all but 1 other chromis killed both pairs of baby rays and 2 angels (of 3 years) my tank isn't small there are plenty of hiding spots I am very disappointed with this species.

 

[George Willings]

This makes me wonder now. As I am missing a bubble tip brittle star, and 2 shrimp. One of the shrimp I just got over this last weekend, and I had a diamond watchmen goby jump out in the middle of the night. I do have 1 blue green chromis. I was thinking that I might have a gorilla crab somewhere, now reading this I want to make my chromis go MIA.