My 4 chromis keep fighting

[Parfitt1234]

Hey

 

i have a tank with two clowns and 4 chromis in a 110L. My clowns are fine but the chromis keep on chasing each other constantly. I’ve heard they can start to pick on each other. There isn’t one hiding in the corner. They are all active but two of the bigger ones especially keep chasing each other and flaring up and it looks like they’re almost kissing because they come face to face and I’ve heard this is some kind of dominance behaviour.

 

What would you suggest I should do? Do you think I should take them back to the store because I can’t add any more due to being fully stocked. Or is there anything else I can do?

 

thanks 

[Matteo]

110L? As in 26 gallons? 

 

Way too small for a schooling group of chromis along with a pair of clownfish. 

 

Chromis are mean and very territorial and will kill the weaker ones until they have their dominance. 

 

Let alone you have two clowns who are also meaner fish. 

 

That's your issue basically. 

[RedCrow]

Only a matter of time until you have one chromis or a pair. 

Chromis live in massive groups in the wild (sever hundred). They’ll kill each other in small groups. 

[Parfitt1234]

Okay. I’ll take them back then

[Biconia]

i have 4 Chromis current and there very peaceful on my 50G tank 

first added 2 Chromis and then added 2 more after month, soon as added 2nd pair they started Schooling right away 

 

try to separate 2 Chromis to other tank and try to add later on 

Good luck 

[Parfitt1234]

Do you think I could keep one chromis alone with my two clowns? 

[Matteo]

10 minutes ago, Parfitt1234 said:

Do you think I could keep one chromis alone with my two clowns? 

Most likely yes. 

[DSA65PRO]

They aren’t being fed often enough. I have Four and they do have an alpha fish but they don’t fight and they school. Supposedly an odd number is better. I have the Zacro Feeder and it is the best I’ve had. I recharge the battery and reload it about every three months. I have it set for the smallest feeding four times a day. Also I used blue masking tape to secure the food amount setting. 

[Tired]

Feeding helps, but won't fix the problem. The problem is their instinct for how to interact with each other. I expect you'll see fighting in the future. 

[DSA65PRO]

So “Tired,” when do you think they will start fighting again? It’s been 16 months since I put the  Auto feeder on the Aquarium, and NO Fighting since then.

[RedCrow]

1 hour ago, DSA65PRO said:

So “Tired,” when do you think they will start fighting again? It’s been 16 months since I put the  Auto feeder on the Aquarium, and NO Fighting since then.

It’s not guaranteed that they’ll start fighting, but they unfortunately more often do than don’t. Chromis are one of those fish that while behave a certain way for years, then one day without warning one will just snap. (Another fish like this is centropyge angelfish and eating corals) Hopefully yours continue to get along great for you 

[Tired]

It's not like there's a certain amount of time, where if you put an auto-feeder on the tank you can buy a couple years exactly. Chromis kept in small groups don't work out long-term in far, far too many cases. Even if you can find a situation where a small group actually worked for their whole natural lifespan (which will take you some looking), that doesn't mean that it should be done. It almost inevitably ends in death for multiple fish, and isn't something that should be encouraged.

 

This isn't a husbandry challenge to be overcome, like non-photosynthetic gorgonians. This is a basic fact of their behavior. You could put a lionfish with bite-sized fish and have it leave them alone for awhile if you fed the lionfish well enough, but sooner or later, they're going to get eaten. Sooner or later, a small group of chromis will collapse. Better not to try it in the first place. Just get something that actually works in an aquarium-sized shoal- threadfin cardinalfish are nice. I don't think PJ cardinalfish shoal, but they generally seem to ignore each other. 

[Parfitt1234]

So I am going to return 3 of the bigger chromis to the pet store. I’m going to get one royal gramma then that’s my tank complete. Do you think two clowns, one chromis and one royal gramma will get on fine? 

[Tired]

Should work fine in a 30gal as long as you have plenty of hiding places.