Blue/Green Chromis

[JumboShrimp]

@StPatrick89, 'Yes'-- if you at least want to increase your chances of a successful outcome, an odd number will likely work best. And I like your idea of "3" because honestly, again, except for in a very large tank, 10 will turn in to 3. (And these are no longer $3.99 fish, from what I can tell these days.) Best wishes, and keep us updated on your personal experience.

 

[Tamberav]

The success stories don’t seem to be from recent chromis that are now showing up in the chain would be my only concern. You can start to treat for urenoma before you seen signs.

 

[brmc1985]

@StPatrick89, 'Yes'-- if you at least want to increase your chances of a successful outcome, an odd number will likely work best. And I like your idea of "3" because honestly, again, except for in a very large tank, 10 will turn in to 3. (And these are no longer $3.99 fish, from what I can tell these days.) Best wishes, and keep us updated on your personal experience.

I agree. It really does depend on tank size too in addition to food and other tank mates.

 

[brmc1985]

The success stories don’t seem to be from recent chromis that are now showing up in the chain would be my only concern. You can start to treat for urenoma before you seen signs.

I would say within the last year is fairly representative of the current situation.

 

[Dan_P]

So what’s a cap number? I heard to keep them in odd numbers. I had 3

I have 7. I also read an odd number was important. I feed them well and there aren’t any issues.

 

[brmc1985]

I have 7. I also read an odd number was important. I feed them well and there aren’t any issues.

Just a thought from the odd number thing. Most people like even numbers so they buy 4 or 8 and one eventually dies just from the odds(no pun intended) of it so they are left with an odd number. No science or anything behind this. Just a thought

 

[JumboShrimp]

(For hardiness and temperament, I like Talbots personally; and Azure Damsels. But I must admit that that green color in the Chromis is very appealing in a tank. Yellow Tails are probably my favorite, but there you go again-- without a large tank, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...?)

 

[Smite]

I had 6 for the majority of the time I had my 180g set up. I Qt'd most everything in that tank, BG chromis included. I did a full quarantine on them with chloroquine phosphate followed by prazi-pro. One did have a suspicious looking spot when I started to process but healed. up. I want to say I started with 8 and ended up with 6 after QT.

I plan to do it again for my upcoming 205g. I haven't seen them locally in some time though.

 

[brmc1985]

(For hardiness and temperament, I like Talbots personally; and Azure Damsels. But I must admit that that green color in the Chromis is very appealing in a tank. Yellow Tails are probably my favorite, but there you go again-- without a large tank, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3...?)

Agreed. You put 9 chromis in a 40 and you will have a countdown faster than SpaceX. And you will probably end up with 3. The lone male wants at least two females so maybe there is something to that odd number for smaller tanks

 

[Dan_P]

Just a thought from the odd number thing. Most people like even numbers so they buy 4 or 8 and one eventually dies just from the odds(no pun intended) of it so they are left with an odd number. No science or anything behind this. Just a thought

Maybe clever marketing. If you want 4, then buying 5 would be better

 

[brmc1985]

Maybe clever marketing. If you want 4, then buying 5 would be better

bUt ReTaIl sToReS wOuLd NeVeR dO tHaT. Lol. It’s a good idea though. You want 4. bUt YoU hAvE tO hAvE 5 oR tHeY wIlL dIe. And lots of new reefers would believe that. Good thought

 

[brmc1985]

I had 6 for the majority of the time I had my 180g set up. I Qt'd most everything in that tank, BG chromis included. I did a full quarantine on them with chloroquine phosphate followed by prazi-pro. One did have a suspicious looking spot when I started to process but healed. up. I want to say I started with 8 and ended up with 6 after QT.

I plan to do it again for my upcoming 205g. I haven't seen them locally in some time though.

I want to add another 5 to mine and you can’t find them anywhere. Even online they are sold out. It’s crazy!!

 

[JumboShrimp]

"Buy 1... get the 9 that will die absolutely FREE!" Ahahahhahaha

 

[brmc1985]

"Buy 1... get the 9 that will die absolutely FREE!" Ahahahhahaha

But I just got done cycling my 20 gallon!

 

[brmc1985]

"Buy 1... get the 9 that will die absolutely FREE!" Ahahahhahaha

That will be $120…

 

[StPatrick89]

Have them keep them at the store for a week so you can see if they live and you are basically 90% of the way there. Lots of fish die within the first week from all the stress.

Bet

 

[jdiefenbaugh]

Tank size and odd/even number do not matter. Once they realize there is no threat of predation, they will slowly whittle their number down, to whatever they deem acceptable (usually single digits). I have kept them in 20K+ gallon tanks in groups, over years, guerrilla warfare will always occur.

As far as uronema goes, I always treat new chromis with formalin baths, and just expect they have it straight from the wholesaler.

 

[brmc1985]

Tank size and odd/even number do not matter. Once they realize there is no threat of predation, they will slowly whittle their number down, to whatever they deem acceptable (usually single digits). I have kept them in 20K+ gallon tanks in groups, over years, guerrilla warfare will always occur.

As far as uronema goes, I always treat new chromis with formalin baths, and just expect they have it straight from the wholesaler.

How do they do it in the wild then? I still have a feeling that it’s all about food competition

 

[DrZoidburg]

@ original question. A QT period of 11+days would be a great idea using a anti protozoa med.

 

[Sharkbait19]

As far as numbers go, they’re like any semi-aggressive shoalers. In too small numbers, they’re more likely to kill each other until there’s one. Kind of like tiger barbs. In large numbers and a large tank, aggression is more dispersed. As far as three goes, it’s not unlikely that you’ll end up with one, simply due to aggression. There are success stories with small schools, though.