Green Chromis questions

[TimT]

Hi Troy,

I've brought this question up before and one answer that popped up repeatedly from experienced reefers was that the chromis shoal because of predation. With no threat they revert to their damsel-like territorial urges and pick on one another until only one survives. Horge over on the reef tank has a lot of experience with this species. There are two similar species in my reference book; Chromis atripectoralis and C. virdis. The difference is a black mark at the inner part of the pectoral fin.

I have found that the C. atripectoralis have a lot of blue spots/dashes on the head while the C. viridis are green. Burgess's Marine Atlas has some good pics.

Chromis will school if they feel threatened. Once they no longer feel threatened school is out.

As with most fish, if they are not hungry they are much nicer, kinda like some people(me), they get grouchy when they are hungry. Feed them plenty, at least twice a day, three times is better. You also have to feed a lot at once so the less dominant fish can eat while the dominant ones have their mouths full. Chromis are an active fish and have high food requirements.

Cheers,
Tim