Kissing Chromis? Is this normal?

[fishbox]

I been trying to get pics all freaking day but can't seem to catch them. I added 5 of them to my tank two days ago. It's overload for my 40B but from everything I've read, I expected 2-3 of them to die off from fighting each other or I expected my sixline to get aggressive with them and take a couple out. Instead, my sixline is remaining to be a perfect gentleman in my tank and the chromis are freaking making out with each other lol. There's no chasing each other or any signs of aggressiveness when they do this so I do not believe it's a fight of some sorts. They can literally be just floating cordially next to each other and turn around look at each other they will both open their mouths wide and then swim close together and locked lips for a second or two and then they go their separate ways. I've watched this happen about 7 times today. It's very cool.

 

[EriksOasis]

That’s how fish fight. Locking lips like that is aggressive I have a 90 gallon cichlids tank and have seen that behavior plenty times. Could also be breeding behavior as well I have seen that with my cichlids.

 

[Reef Monkie]

I been trying to get pics all freaking day but can't seem to catch them. I added 5 of them to my tank two days ago. It's overload for my 40B but from everything I've read, I expected 2-3 of them to die off from fighting each other or I expected my sixline to get aggressive with them and take a couple out. Instead, my sixline is remaining to be a perfect gentleman in my tank and the chromis are freaking making out with each other lol. There's no chasing each other or any signs of aggressiveness when they do this so I do not believe it's a fight of some sorts. They can literally be just floating cordially next to each other and turn around look at each other they will both open their mouths wide and then swim close together and locked lips for a second or two and then they go their separate ways. I've watched this happen about 7 times today. It's very cool.

I have kept cichlids for a very long time and locked lips in these fish is either courtship behaviour or heavy aggression. This type of aggression is unusual because generally one fish is dominant and the other fish accept that dominance after a while. I don't have any experience with Chromis but I would keep a eye on this behaviour. If you can tell their sex apart then perhaps you can judge if this is courtship behaviour or not.

 

[fishbox]

How do I figure the sex of these guys?

 

[Oldsalt]

I have 7 Chromis in my 340 gallon that have been together for over a year. They started kissing recently and I watched one of them very closely as I dimmed the lights last night. I put on the lunar blue dimmable LEDs and gradually reduce until their off Then I go to bed. The one of the pair that are kissing has been only recently coming out of a very protected area of rock to feed. When the food is gone 20 seconds later, he or she goes right back under that safe spot. Well, last night I watched intently that one fish and he/she is fanning a globule of what appears to be eggs! I know very little about the breeding habits of Chromis but this fanning is something that I watched decades ago when I had fresh water fish. Ciclids and many others do that hover thing over their eggs. Why they fan the area with the tail is beyond me, but it appears to be a very natural act. I doubt that I'll get to see any fry because my old female Molly gave birth to dozens last week and every one was eaten up by the parents and other Chromis. Because this is an upgrade tank (last one was much smaller) that had these 3 acclimated Mollies (2 female) were the first to go into this 'monster' (6x2x2.5') tank to get the cycle started. This particular female is mottled white with black and she regularly gives birth every 28 to 30 days. As much as I want to catch her before her next batch, I miss the opportunity probably because I'm lazy - compounded by the thought I have that nobody will want a bunch of salty Mollies anyway. Anyway, it'll be interesting to see if my affectionate (or bickering ) pair of Chromis will eventually have a spawn that makes it past a few days. I'll keep you posted for sure.

 

[Oldsalt]

How do I figure the sex of these guys?

Good question!!! I wonder how they even know. It's got to be something or an action that we can't see but they can. My oldest pair now kissing each other after a meal look almost identical. I posted about this a few minutes ago. One is now hovering over a globule of what appears to be eggs. I need to try to get a photo of this somehow but it's very difficult due to the position under the rock. I can't get good focus plus I'll need to try an extended exposure with just the dimmed lunar blue lights on. A phone camera won't cut it I'm afraid.

 

[User1]

How do I figure the sex of these guys?

See what bathroom door they enter /rollseyes - I'm teasing. Some fish it is known and readily available - for example Flame Angel. Others not so much. Some change - the dominate one switches from female to male. Chromis have a bad rap for fighting and killing until one or two are left over time. Which sadly means nothing ever good comes from a pack of chromis but wanton death and destruction in home aquaria. Not a huge fan of that fish but that is just me.

 

[ca1ore]

When they were little, my kids would always say that ‘the green fish are kissing’. Never had the heart to tell them it’s how fish show aggression. It’s just what chromis do. No idea how to tell gender, but if males/females exist in 50:50 ratios, then with 7 you’ve less than a 1% chance of them bring all of one sex. Too much ‘kissing’ and you’ll be on your way to having 6 ..... then 5 .....

 

[Oldsalt]

My 6' x 3' x 2.5' tank is pretty darned big. Maybe, just maybe that will prevent them from killing each other. They all have their own retreats spread apart far and wide. All my Chromis were advertised as "captive bred". Could that be stretching the truth? It's hard to prove false advertising in this hobby! I'd have to go to Singapore and see for myself how their captive breeding system works. I'm thinking of putting in one dominant fish as a referee!! My LFS just got in a bunch of small Picasso Triggers. Asking price is $45 Australian dollars (approx $US30). But I'm working (very slowly) towards integrating coral. A trigger will tear up the place. They're all absolutely beautiful and very tempting, but... My wallet stayed in the pocket. This 340 gallon set up is only 3 months post cycling. I need to take things slowly and planning is vital if I'm going to be successful. I checked all the water parameters this evening. No ammonia, no nitrite, 2ppm nitrate but I do have a very slightlt bluish tint for Phosphates - according to the colour card it's less blue than the lowest on the card. < .1... I did the phosphate test first because I'm starting to get a slight algael bloom - not brown diatoms like I had into the 3rd and 4th week (that's mostly gone) but a greenish algae that the sea stars, (one is a sand sifting type), hermits, snails and the lawnmower Blenny (who got taken by the gorilla crab day before yesterday - I caught him yesterday in a baited jar and stuck him in the sump) are eating up quickly. I do have a full bottle of Red Sea NO3-4; PO4 - X and KH Coralline Gro on hand but don't have enough PO4 to warrant the use of the former just yet. I might dose the latter conservatively though. I'm nearly finished building a DIY algae scrubber that's going into the 2nd sump compartment by the end of the week. I'm seriously considering scrapping the 6 filter socks in the 4th sump compartment - the 5th and last compartment has the return pump in it. Not sure what I'll replace the socks with at this juncture - probably a medium to fine pad mat. Theses socks get blocked up too quickly for my liking. I throw them into the washing machine with just RODI water maybe once every 10 days or so. I'll keep them on hand when I want to polish the water. Because I have a thriving clam, I like to have some turbidity for his diet. He loves to open up when there's detritus or freshly scraped algae and microscopic hydroids floating around. It's very early days as yet so I'm just going to watch things. Trying to "fix" problems that don't exist have almost always caused heartache in the past. My signature is based upon past experience. If it ain't broken, don't try to fix it.