Fish Focus - Blue Chromis - Chromis cyanea

[Cougra]

Well it's been a while since I've done one of these Fish Focus threads. I needed to take a short break for a while when I had a major disaster in my tank and was taking time to rethink what I'm going to do with it. This fish focus is a little different as I am seriously considering buying some as a first purchase as I start to restock my tank. The more information people can provide the more they will help me get going again!

This weeks Fish Focus is on the Blue Chromis - Chromis cyanea. They are members of the family Damselfish family (Pomacentridae) These chromis aren't seen in the stores very often however are very spectacular looking specimens.

This picture was taken by Witful and is in our photo gallery. (I hope you don't mind me showing off your fish Dave.)


Origin/Habitat
Western Atlantic: Bermuda, southern Florida (USA), and the Caribbean Sea. Including the Bahamas, Gulf of Mexico and Antilles

Size
4"

Sexing/Breeding
I haven't been able to find out much information about these fish in regards to determining sex, if they have been bred in captivity or even their breeding habits.

Notes
This Blue Chromis is a supposedly hardy specimen that does well in captivity. It's possible to keep them in groups as they are one of the more peaceful members of the damsel family.


Have you had any experience with the Blue Chromis?
What size tank would you recommend for a small group of about 5?
Do you have any photo's of your Blue Chromis that you would like to share?
Would you like to have one or do you find them boring?
Have you found them peaceful or aggressive towards other tank mates?
Are they good for a fish only tank or a reef tank?

Please share your experiences with them! Remember the more information you can provide the better as I am seriously considering getting some within the next couple days!

[Woodstock]

Beautiful fish! I like these better than the blue/green chromis!

[Cougra]

I agree. I saw some in the store two days ago and thought they were amazing. I wanted to do some research on them before purchasing though because I currently have a small tank. I would love to get 4 or 5 of them but am wondering if my tank can handle them.

The best part is that the store manager thinks they are a regular type of damsel and is selling them at damsel prices (~$10) instead of the $30-$40 each they normally go for!

I would really like to know how hardy they are or if they are like the blue-green chromis which take a bit more time to acclimatize.

[aquaman3680]

My parents just bought a school of seven of them from Live aquaria... They seem to be very hardy and eat well, non aggressive and constantly out. I would recommend them to anyone.

Matt

[SueT]

I had bought a small school of these for my 180g reef when it was up. The school of 5 ended up pairing off the top 2 and stressed the others til they died or jumped. The 2 left then began laying eggs like mad. They became extremely aggressive when eggs were coming like propelling themselves at me when I'd walk up to the tank to feed the fish. They grew to about 3-4". They were a gorgeous blue but I'll never have any more of these. Wow, they were so aggressive.

[aquaman3680]

all chromis do this....the dominate ones will kill off all the weak ones its not just the blues....

JMO

Matt

[JFK_Jr]

My LFS sells them for $12.00. It's funny... no mater how many Chromis I have kept throughout the years... I always end up with three!

[SueT]

my green chromis do not do this. I have had this current school for close to 2 years now. There is not 1 dominate pair, they school together, the eat together. When I first set my current 120g up back 9 years ago this month, I cycled it with a school of green chromis and still have 1 from that original school. I was concerned when wanting to add to that but it's been a breeze.

[sasquatch]

Cougra, Great article! never liked any chromis until they were out of my tanks, they seem to start off nice, then kill off the weakest, and hassle everybody else, are these going to be the only fish? Steve

[Cougra]

After reading some comments here and whatever information I could find around the web, I purchased three of these Chromis for my tank. I realise there is a risk for aggression but it's one I'm willing to take.

So far I've noticed that they are able to change colouration very quickly between their bright blue and a dark grey/blue stress colour. I can't wait until they settle in and regain their brilliant colours. I was a little worried about introducing them to the tank with my completely docile A. ocellaris however she seems to have a backbone and chanced them out of her cubby hole! I will keep people updated on them.

[bluespotjawfish]

I agree with SueT, the only chromis I will allow in my tank are the Green Chromis. I've had blues get nasty! The Greens have been wonderful and peaceful for years and years and years. We have one called "Lucky" who is quite the survivor.

[BoomerD]

My experience is that the blue "chromies" are more aggressive than the green "chromies", but still considerably less so than most other damnsels. Another favorite damnsel is Chrysiptera talboti, (Talbot's Damselfish)
Considerably less aggressive than most damnsels, (on a par with the green "chromies", and stay pretty small.



From our friend Bob Fenner:

"Chrysiptera talboti, The World's Best Reef Damsel

What makes Talbot's stand out amongst the more than 325 described species of Pomacentrids (the family of Damselfishes) are several outstanding characteristics. It's small size (a giant one attains two inches overall length), easygoing disposition (not mean in the least), it's ease of being trained to take any, all prepared, frozen/defrosted foods of small size, the fish's lack of predation on sessile invertebrates, its inherent toughness/resistance to disease, damage through the supply side, oh, and Talbot's beauty , behavior and grace of movement."

[cheeks69]

Have you had any experience with the Blue Chromis?

Yes I've kept them before a group of three I bought from liveaquaria.

What size tank would you recommend for a small group of about 5?

These guys get big the one's I received were adults and were in the 4 to 5" range so for a group of five I would recommend a 75gal tank.

Do you have any photo's of your Blue Chromis that you would like to share?

Unfortunately I had no digital camera when I kept them and no photos available.

Would you like to have one or do you find them boring?

I really didn't like them they in fact were very aggressive towards each other and the dominate one killed the other two and eventually died of an ich infection.

Have you found them peaceful or aggressive towards other tank mates?

I didn't notice aggression with other tankmates they were so busy bullying each other.

Are they good for a fish only tank or a reef tank?

Yes they are, I noticed no harm done to sessile or motile inverts.

[lgerold]

Great article! Thanks!

[meandean45]

IME I've had both Blue and Green Chromis. I let the LFS talk me into the "dither fish" idea, and bought 4 small Blues and 4 small Greens (90 gallon tank). I brought them home,and introduced them all at the same time. Everything was great for a while,the shy fish did indeed come out more, etc.

then they started to grow.

At first it was group violence, the Greens chasing the smallest Blue to death, Repeat, repeat, repeat. At this point, I had no more Blues for them to chase, so the Greens started chasing the smallest Green to death, three dead Greens later, I have one large Green Chromis that's about 5 years old whom I would gladly throw in the trash if I could just catch him. While he can't kill them, he hassles my Perculas, my Flame Angel, my Mandarin, and even tries to beat up on my Hippo Tang! What an obnoxious PITA. Needless to say, I'd never reccomend ANY Chromis to anyone. Just my 2 cents worth.

On another note, here's wishing you the best of luck rebuilding, Cougra!

Regards,
Dean