Reef Discussion
Thanks matt - yea i am slowly widening their food intake. So far i am using a mixture of.
- Ocean Nutrition - Prime reef flakes
- Nutrafin - Mrine complete food
- Cyclop eeze
- and 100% Pure Artemia
I also feed brine shrimp to my corals and the fish get this aswell
Any other suggestions i should be feeding?
- Ocean Nutrition - Prime reef flakes
- Nutrafin - Mrine complete food
- Cyclop eeze
- and 100% Pure Artemia
I also feed brine shrimp to my corals and the fish get this aswell
Any other suggestions i should be feeding?
gday John :D
I have a chromis in my tank and when I only had the standard lights (white i think) all I was getting was the mettalic green, I got a actinic blue T5 the other day and now he has a "pearlescent" colour, going from the green to blue depending on how the light hits him, it has really raised my intrest in him as he was rather boring before. he is a single specimen in my tank, I know I should have a couple but havent been able to justify it as there is other things I want before more chromis.
its interesting his behaviour too, as in groups they are more schooling. but with it being by itself it has taken on an interesting cave dwelling habit, it has actually dug out some sand under some live rock and is basically acting like an ambush predator. he waits for the food to go past then WHAM! like lightning takes it and is back in the cave. it keeps its head out pretty much at all times.
I have a chromis in my tank and when I only had the standard lights (white i think) all I was getting was the mettalic green, I got a actinic blue T5 the other day and now he has a "pearlescent" colour, going from the green to blue depending on how the light hits him, it has really raised my intrest in him as he was rather boring before. he is a single specimen in my tank, I know I should have a couple but havent been able to justify it as there is other things I want before more chromis.
its interesting his behaviour too, as in groups they are more schooling. but with it being by itself it has taken on an interesting cave dwelling habit, it has actually dug out some sand under some live rock and is basically acting like an ambush predator. he waits for the food to go past then WHAM! like lightning takes it and is back in the cave. it keeps its head out pretty much at all times.
Long live chromis - the best little fish, tough as nails and beautiful to watch, they eat anything and breed freely (trying to raise fry without sucess). Chromis are ofter referred to (in my circles anyway) as dither-fish, that is they will all swim one way as a group, and then turn around and all swim the other. It has be speculated that this behaviour is to replicate the shifting light patturns that occur on the reefs where they are often found.
I have a large school of Chromis in my tank and I have found that when fed often, they will exhibit natural schooling behaviour. When not fed enough, the schooling behaviour ceases as each fish has to break from the school in search of food ( and to reduce compition for food).
Foods that are high is highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) are great for these fish as pankton upon which they feed in the wild are also high in HUFAs.
I have a large school of Chromis in my tank and I have found that when fed often, they will exhibit natural schooling behaviour. When not fed enough, the schooling behaviour ceases as each fish has to break from the school in search of food ( and to reduce compition for food).
Foods that are high is highly unsaturated fatty acids (HUFAs) are great for these fish as pankton upon which they feed in the wild are also high in HUFAs.
I probably should get a couple more chromis for my tank, Doc, how many do think would be necessary to get them to start schooling? most fish that school look good in masses but I dont have a massive tank and dont want to overload it. would 3-5 chromis be enough to get them to school and swim together?
I had 5 of which 4 where the same size and all 4 swim together most times.
The 5th however was a bit smaller than the others and they all picked on him at various times, unfortunately I think they killed him.
The other four all being similar in size seem to be fine, I am told Chromis in the wild tend to group together in similar sizes.
I found frequent feedings 3 times a day tends to stall the in fighting
The 5th however was a bit smaller than the others and they all picked on him at various times, unfortunately I think they killed him.
The other four all being similar in size seem to be fine, I am told Chromis in the wild tend to group together in similar sizes.
I found frequent feedings 3 times a day tends to stall the in fighting
yes, frequent feeding is the trick with chromis. Intraspecific aggression is the process which determines sex in all damsel fish, as well and clownfish, wrasses and many others. The most aggressive in damsels (excluding clowns) and wrasses will become the male and all others, female. With Chromis, the trick is to get a school large enough to spread out the agression, but not too large to overload your tank. They say odd numbers are best.
its interesting you say that Doc.
odd numbers always seem to be more balanced then even numbers when it comes to artistic impressions. in Bonsai (my other passion) odd numbers are key when it comes to group or forest style settings. the same rule applies with multiple trunked specimens other than a twin trunk. 2,3,5,7 trunks all work. 4,6 etc give a really unbalanced impression.
sorry to go to bonsai, it just seemed like the right thing to bring up :D
odd numbers always seem to be more balanced then even numbers when it comes to artistic impressions. in Bonsai (my other passion) odd numbers are key when it comes to group or forest style settings. the same rule applies with multiple trunked specimens other than a twin trunk. 2,3,5,7 trunks all work. 4,6 etc give a really unbalanced impression.
sorry to go to bonsai, it just seemed like the right thing to bring up :D
All helpful information ;) I have 5 - 4 of which are the same size and have been together for years a 1 very small guy that came from my tank when the two tanks merged. He seems to get along well with the others and doesnt get picked on yet. I agree with you Jashay- they look so good when there is a school of them.
I think my problem with colour is light based - i moved the light around and when it reflects off the right point, their colours look a lot nicer and brighter - even more reason to hope these LEDs arrive soon:D
I think my problem with colour is light based - i moved the light around and when it reflects off the right point, their colours look a lot nicer and brighter - even more reason to hope these LEDs arrive soon:D
spot on champ. lighting will increase fish colour amazingly, especially if the right spectrums are used. using blues and purple specturms help bring those colours out. another colour that I have used with great success in the past mostly for fresh water, but i cant see why it wouldnt work in marines is the pink spectrum. in freshwater fish like some of the chiclids like the firemouths and kadango and those with reds and blues in them, it brought out some fantastic colour. I havent tried it in marine yet as when I had my fresh water 3 footer it was in that when I sold it. I dont know if the T5 sizing has the pinks either. but I cant see why not. maybe one of the LFS owners might be able to confirm that?
