Vanderbuilt Chromis - how many in a 46 gallon bowfront?

[adittam]

I've had a couple threads previously about stocking advice for our tank, but since this question centers around this species of fish specifically, I'm hoping that this post will get a little more input.

Here's our revised stock list, based on continued research and input from those other threads:

pair of occy clowns (juvenile Amphiprion ocellaris)
bicolor blenny (Ecsenius bicolor)
red-lined wrasse (Halichoeres biocellatus)
carpenter's flasher wrasse (Paracheilinus carpenteri)
vanderbuilt chromis (Chromis vanderbuilti) - number to be determined

I've read that the vanderbuilt's tend to be more shy and peaceful than other species of chromis, and we also like how they look. All chromis are billed as a shoaling fish, but obviously our space is a little limited by our 46 gallon tank and the other fish on our wish list (the only fish we currently own are the clowns). I've also read that many species of chromis tend to weed out the weaker members of their school and whittle their numbers down to 1 eventually, so if that's the case, I'd rather just get 1 specimen off the bat and save the death and dismemberment than try to see if a small school of 3 will be happy in our tank. Advice?

 

[Haydn]

I have kept vanderbuilt's and I am now of the opinion that they need a species tank, with small, peaceful tankmates. If I were to get more I would suggest seahorses may be good tankmates. They do not do well in tank with 'busy' fish. I suspect your wrasse and clowns will stress them and they won't do well.

 

[N3mo]

i had 5 and eventually ended up with 1, my one is extremely aggressive towards other fish its size .

Now there are 7 blue green chromis with 1 vanderbilti in a 160G tank and he still keeps going for them however there is more space for them to hide and get away.

 

[adittam]

I have kept vanderbuilt's and I am now of the opinion that they need a species tank, with small, peaceful tankmates. If I were to get more I would suggest seahorses may be good tankmates. They do not do well in tank with 'busy' fish. I suspect your wrasse and clowns will stress them and they won't do well.

i had 5 and eventually ended up with 1, my one is extremely aggressive towards other fish its size .

Now there are 7 blue green chromis with 1 vanderbilti in a 160G tank and he still keeps going for them however there is more space for them to hide and get away.

I greatly appreciate both of you taking the time to reply! However, it seems like they are polar opposites of each other. One says they are extremely aggressive and the other says they need to be with small, peaceful tankmates. I understand there is individual variation, so are there others who have kept vanderbuilts so I can figure out if there's a consensus?

 

[dedragon]

they tend to kill each other... i would love to keep a couple too but it seems too expensive to risk it with these guys as they arent the cheapest chromis

 

[dedragon]

I have kept 4 before a couple years ago, they all killed each other and 1 was left

 

[SaltyT]

I've had similar experiences to Haydns. I tried keeping a group of Vanderbilts twice. First time I put a group of them in with a Smith's Blenny and a Coral Beauty. The Vanderbilts just huddled together on one side of the tank and died off. I tried again years later and was able to keep a group of them by themselves for over a year in a 40b. You could tell the pecking order, but they showed no true aggression towards each other. Then I added a tiny blue tang to their tank to grow out and afterwards the Vanderbilts once again huddled together on one side of the tank and died off. It's a bummer bc they're the prettiest chromis IMO, but for me they've been very timid.

 

[adittam]

Would an agile chromis be any better (or worse) than a vanderbuilt?

 

[Haydn]

Would an agile chromis be any better (or worse) than a vanderbuilt?

I have never seen an Agile Chromis in any LFS let alone kept them, so I can't comment.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I've had similar experiences to Haydns. I tried keeping a group of Vanderbilts twice. First time I put a group of them in with a Smith's Blenny and a Coral Beauty. The Vanderbilts just huddled together on one side of the tank and died off. I tried again years later and was able to keep a group of them by themselves for over a year in a 40b. You could tell the pecking order, but they showed no true aggression towards each other. Then I added a tiny blue tang to their tank to grow out and afterwards the Vanderbilts once again huddled together on one side of the tank and died off. It's a bummer bc they're the prettiest chromis IMO, but for me they've been very timid.

I have one Vanderbilt and would like to get more. My question is will they school in a 40b? I have 2 clowns and a royal gramma also.

 

[adittam]

I have one Vanderbilt and would like to get more. My question is will they school in a 40b? I have 2 clowns and a royal gramma also.

I had two vanderbuilts in my 10g QT tank, and the more aggressive of the 2 killed off the less aggressive before their copper treatment was done.

My impression is you need a large school to distribute the nipping among many fish and minimize the chance that the least aggressive members get picked off 1 by 1, and even then, it may happen anyway.

 

[SaltyT]

I have one Vanderbilt and would like to get more. My question is will they school in a 40b? I have 2 clowns and a royal gramma also.

They won’t school in a 40b they’ll just huddle together. Beautiful fish! just make sure you QT them or at least observe them for uronema for a few weeks before adding them to your tank.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

They won’t school in a 40b they’ll just huddle together. Beautiful fish! just make sure you QT them or at least observe them for uronema for a few weeks before adding them to your tank.

Yes, I certainly did that with the one I have. It may be funny to ask the question about schooling, but I have neon and cardinal tetras in a FW tank and they swim together most all the time. I love them for that and the color. Sounds like it's best to just have the one Vanderbilt.

 

[SaltyT]

Yes, I certainly did that with the one I have. It may be funny to ask the question about schooling, but I have neon and cardinal tetras in a FW tank and they swim together most all the time. I love them for that and the color. Sounds like it's best to just have the one Vanderbilt.

As long as your lone vanderbilt eats well and doesn’t retreat into the rocks all the time keeping it alone should be fine. If it’s not eating well and hides I would consider getting a few more as they do better in small groups than most chromis.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

As long as your lone vanderbilt eats well and doesn’t retreat into the rocks all the time keeping it alone should be fine. If it’s not eating well and hides I would consider getting a few more as they do better in small groups than most chromis.

He is an very active fellow going all over the tank and seldom in the rockwork. I am so glad the LFS was able to order him.

 

[adittam]

He is an very active fellow going all over the tank and seldom in the rockwork. I am so glad the LFS was able to order him.

I absolutely loved watching our vanderbuilt while he was in QT (after he murdered his tankmate, he committed suicide by jumping through a tiny opening in the back of the tank hood). Absolutely gorgeous and so active. Unfortunately, they just seem like a pretty fragile species. Between the endemic uronema that you can't really do much about, and the well-documented intraspecies aggression issues, I don't know that they'll be on my wish list again.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

I absolutely loved watching our vanderbuilt while he was in QT (after he murdered his tankmate, he committed suicide by jumping through a tiny opening in the back of the tank hood). Absolutely gorgeous and so active. Unfortunately, they just seem like a pretty fragile species. Between the endemic uronema that you can't really do much about, and the well-documented intraspecies aggression issues, I don't know that they'll be on my wish list again.

Well, I think you quarantine to make sure you don't have a disease and get only one fish like I have done. I had an upfront agreement with my LFS. If it has uronema, I am bringing it back for a refund.

 

[adittam]

Well, I think you quarantine to make sure you don't have a disease and get only one fish like I have done. I had an upfront agreement with my LFS. If it has uronema, I am bringing it back for a refund.

That's an awesome agreement that they gave you; unfortunately, I don't know a ton of LFS that would make that guarantee. If you aren't lucky enough to have a LFS that will make that promise, and you get a fish that has uronema, it's not really treatable.

 

[Fishfreak2009]

I kept a group of 5 in my old 380 gallon with 9 green chromis, 3 staghorn damsels, and 3 bicolor chromis. They schooled pretty well with various fairy wrasses, some Chrysiptera and Pomacentrus damsels, a group of 7 dispar anthias and a trio of pink square anthias. Everyone behaved and they were always out and about. But I had a 10" niger trigger, 5" pinktail trigger, 4" bluethroat trigger, and a bunch of other bigger fish including a 15" vlamingii tang that kept everyone shoaling pretty well. Having a big fish that occasionally shoots towards the group without actually causing harm (like large well-fed planktivore triggers) goes a long way toward keeping all the little ones in line. All my fish were formalin dipped for Uronema, and the tank was fed 4-6x daily with a combo of NLS pellets and various frozen foods, with live copepods dosed twice weekly.

 

[Sebastiancrab]

That's an awesome agreement that they gave you; unfortunately, I don't know a ton of LFS that would make that guarantee. If you aren't lucky enough to have a LFS that will make that promise, and you get a fish that has uronema, it's not really treatable.

Another option is for them to hold the fish for a period of time to make sure it is disease free. With the Vanderbilt, I made them hold it for six days. You could suggest a deposit with that condition. I have brought home sets of Talbot damsels from two different LFS in the last few months only to have them die within 3 days of velvet. Both stores gave me a credit.