Kessil

Who did it?

Roc

Roc

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After the last swap I added 4 green cromis to my tank. I currently have 1 yellow tang, 1 blue hippo tang, 2 false percs, 1 royal gamma, 1 engineer goby, 1 yellow tail damsel, 1 cleaner shrimp and 1 coral banned shrimp.

All these guys (with the exception of the coral banded shrimp) have been living together peacefully for over 6 months.

So aclamation goes fine, cromis are schooling.......great.

2 days later the smallest cromis is missing. I remove my filter sock and find him dead, looked to have been beat up pretty bad, small areas look to have been nipbled on.

3 days after that the next smallest cromis is missing, only this time I can't find a body. I'm thinking that whomever killed it, did so and maybe one of the larger nem's got ahold of it, I know the bigger of the two could handle a fish this size, and it stayed closed up the next day, which is what it has done when munching on a silverside in the past.

So who do you think is killing the cromis.


***side note, the 2 lager cromis I got are fine and have bben for the last week, I'm thinking if I go get some more I will pick slightly larger ones like the ones I have now.
 
I concur with Tim but I think the Chromis did it, not the cromis :p

They are known for having a pecking order, quite well known.
 
This is the funny thing about doing your research on the web before you buy. I was told to always buy schools of chromis as they are only happy in schools. They actualy went as far as to say always buy in odd numbered groups, which I didn't do (I bought 4) as that part seemed a little silly.

How come the chromis don't kill each other off in the LFS' tanks?
 
It takes time plus the more you have, the more diffusion there is. It takes much longer to create a pecking order. Never and I mean never take what a store is doing in there holding tanks as what is possible in a small tank. I used to keep 100+ fire fish in a tank while in wholesale but i'd never do such a thing in my home tank.

It's not a given they will wipe each other out. My friend has had his B. Chromis school for well over a year now. They have a pecking order but they never do any damage.
 
I don't use the LFS as a guage of how many fish I can keep, I just was wondering how come they don't swim around killing each other, but I guess it makes more sense when there's 20 fish in a 20 gal vs 4 fish in a 120 that the real pecking order could begin........
 
It's a misconception that they are a schooling fish, in reality they are still a damselfish that shoals, so in a group you may have one jerk or you may get the gang mentality. They really do tend to drive each other into overflow boxes though.

The only times I've ever had success with groups of chromis has been in large tanks in the 6' plus range where they can escape one another then move back into the group with out having to take a beating or go bonkers trying to evade the attacker.
 
[quote author=tuberider link=topic=6077.msg76969#msg76969 date=1232997914]
It's a misconception that they are a schooling fish, in reality they are still a damselfish that shoals[/quote]

:) ... I was waiting on that... LOL.
 
1 have had 10 for a couple years - they do fight on occasion, but I have lots of room for them to hide. I loose like 2 a year so I try to add like 4 new ones each year- always small ones and they get attached for the first few days. then they settle down.
 
[quote author=Natterjak link=topic=6077.msg76921#msg76921 date=1232990470]
Yup, I've heard chromis will often eventually kill each other off until there's only one left.
[/quote]

"There can be only One!"

The last Chromis will win "The Prize" - Ultimate knowledge of everything in the Aquarium.

:p

V
 
[quote author=tuberider link=topic=6077.msg76969#msg76969 date=1232997914]
The only times I've ever had success with groups of chromis has been in large tanks in the 6' plus range where they can escape one another then move back into the group with out having to take a beating or go bonkers trying to evade the attacker.
[/quote]

+1. I have 6 in my 180 and they do fine- shoal most of the time, occasionally 1 will separate. they've been together for 6 months, no problems. Funny thing is my 1st batch of chromis, 4 of 5 died in 1 week, right after I got them (cyanide?). don't know why but the 2nd batch is going strong without any deaths- same tank, rockwork, feeding, no predators.....go figure.
 
Well I might try getting another 3-5 and see how it goes, I know a lot of ppl keeping 3-8 chromis and they never reported a lot of deaths.

I will try and pick ones that are roughly the same size as the 2 that are in there now.

They were really cool for the 1st couple of days, added some well needed movement to the top half of my tank.
 
Sorry no cyanide needed to catch a fish like that. It costs more then they could sell the fish for (a penny or so each). The problem with them is the condom shipping bad used and starvation!

[quote author=Roc link=topic=6077.msg77020#msg77020 date=1233012128]
Well I might try getting another 3-5 and see how it goes, I know a lot of ppl keeping 3-8 chromis and they never reported a lot of deaths.

I will try and pick ones that are roughly the same size as the 2 that are in there now.

They were really cool for the 1st couple of days, added some well needed movement to the top half of my tank.
[/quote]

Roc I must say that type of attitude is what major problem with the hobby and one of the reasons why people hate it so much. Let's try and see if *these* don't die like the first ones. You basically aren't listening to many of us that have quite a lot of experience (between Jeremy and I your looking at 30+ years combined and the handling of tens of thousands of not hundreds of thousands of fish). If and when it fails you find many of us won't offer up help as you blew us off. I'm not trying to be a jerk but rather telling it like it is...keeping it real.

Damsels are like clownfish in more ways then one but I will leave it at that and not waste any more time with this thread.
 
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=6077.msg76924#msg76924 date=1232992097]
It takes time plus the more you have, the more diffusion there is. It takes much longer to create a pecking order. [/quote]

This is very interesting... can you think of an example in your experience??? For instance... a dozen chromis that where fine for X number of months but after X amount of time the pecking order took it's toll and they started taking each other out? ... hope that made since.
 
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=6077.msg77021#msg77021 date=1233012200]
Sorry no cyanide needed to catch a fish like that. It costs more then they could sell the fish for (a penny or so each). The problem with them is the condom shipping bad used and starvation!

[quote author=Roc link=topic=6077.msg77020#msg77020 date=1233012128]
Well I might try getting another 3-5 and see how it goes, I know a lot of ppl keeping 3-8 chromis and they never reported a lot of deaths.

I will try and pick ones that are roughly the same size as the 2 that are in there now.

They were really cool for the 1st couple of days, added some well needed movement to the top half of my tank.
[/quote]

Roc I must say that type of attitude is what major problem with the hobby and one of the reasons why people hate it so much. Let's try and see if *these* don't die like the first ones. You basically aren't listening to many of us that have quite a lot of experience (between Jeremy and I your looking at 30+ years combined and the handling of tens of thousands of not hundreds of thousands of fish). If and when it fails you find many of us won't offer up help as you blew us off. I'm not trying to be a jerk but rather telling it like it is...keeping it real.

Damsels are like clownfish in more ways then one but I will leave it at that and not waste any more time with this thread.
[/quote]

Gresham, slow down a bit. I am not in anyway saying, let me see if I get somemore and they die like the 1st ones. Yes you and Jeremy have a lot of experence, as does Jim whom I got them from in the 1st place. There are also several other ppl who have said they keep them without issue, and this isn't the only forum I go to and ask questions. I am ONLY drawing a conclusion based somewhat on what you and others said about a pecking order, frankly I am a little offended that you would liken me to someone who just runs out buys fish with no concern for there livelyhood and quality of life within my tank. I have taken over 2 years to gather the small group of fish I do have because I do the exact oppsite of that.

Also to even imply that I blew you or anyone else in this thread or any other thread I have posted in is rediclous, frankly you are again making me out to be some bull head who runs through the forums looking for ppl to co-sign what I think myself. You are a smart man, do a little more reseach regarding my posts, BAR and members such as yourself have guided me through almost every desision I have ever made with my tank.
 
[quote author=Roc link=topic=6077.msg77020#msg77020 date=1233012128]
Well I might try getting another 3-5 and see how it goes, I know a lot of ppl keeping 3-8 chromis and they never reported a lot of deaths.

I will try and pick ones that are roughly the same size as the 2 that are in there now.

They were really cool for the 1st couple of days, added some well needed movement to the top half of my tank.
[/quote]

How else could I take this post Roc? Boil it down and you have what I posted. The first didn't work so your gonna try more and see *if* they work. Maybe that is not what you intended but it sure reads that way ;)
 
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=6077.msg77040#msg77040 date=1233015552]
[quote author=Roc link=topic=6077.msg77020#msg77020 date=1233012128]
Well I might try getting another 3-5 and see how it goes, I know a lot of ppl keeping 3-8 chromis and they never reported a lot of deaths.

I will try and pick ones that are roughly the same size as the 2 that are in there now.

They were really cool for the 1st couple of days, added some well needed movement to the top half of my tank.
[/quote]

How else could I take this post Roc? Boil it down and you have what I posted. The first didn't work so your gonna try more and see *if* they work. Maybe that is not what you intended but it sure reads that way ;)





[/quote]

I would read it as I know of ppl with experence keeping more then 1, several of which posted in this thread (are you seggusting that none of them know what they are taking about) and I would be willing to pick ones that stood a good chance of not being way smaller then the others, thus less chance of getting picked on (this taking from your post about the biggest beating up the smaller ones)

I however don't see how you would make what I posted equal "whats wrong with our hobby today" can you imange if you got a SPS from someone and it died and you asked someone else for one and I came in posting how what you are doing is whats wrong with our hobby and you should stay away from SPS.................It's rediclous. You have seen enough of my posts that you should know I am not ignoring experenced reefers and looking for ppl to co-sign bad pratice.
 
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