Are green chromis a bad choice for a nano ?

[JakeKM]

They are a shoaling fish right ? you cant keep one or two i need some help here because my lfs said they would be fine in a pair but they have sold me a tank that is not at all suitable for marine and told me it would be fine e.g the tank has the wrong spectrum light, the undergravel filter requires corse material...and said that crushed coral would be ok for the substrate.
I was new to saltwater so i didnt know
And i realy do not trust them anymore.
So please a little help

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Not really suitable for a Nano. They are schooling fish, especially when younger. Because they are extremely hardy and will put up with almost anything without dying, it is probably true that one or two might live for a long time in a Nano, but you will never see their great behavior unless you have five or more, and it is not really fair to them to keep them in unnatural circumstances like in ones or twos.

 

[JakeKM]

Thanks kapenta kid
I have got 2 from my lfs because they said it would be fine i don't trust them now.
I have had them for about 2 months now they seem to be doing ok i will be getting a bigger tank soon so will they be ok till then ?

 

[The Kapenta Kid]

Oh sure.They are very hardy fish. They will live in a small tank as a pair or even a singleton for years. But since they are schoolers you don't see their natural behavior in such small numbers, and they are probably stressed in such circumstances (safety in numbers is their thing) so they probably don't color up as well either.

 

[JakeKM]

ok then thankyou

 

[MikeShook]

Hmm...In my experience I would whole-heartedly disagree. Chromis species are NOT schoolers they are Shoalers and there is a marked difference between the two. The primary being that they view each other as intense competitors and only come together for saftey reasons when necessary. Their behaviour exhibits a true desire to be dominant over it's colleagues and would be very happy being the only one in a tank w/o predators. They do colour up beautifully when alone. The worse scenario would be to purchase only 2 as the dominant one will bully the less dominant one until it dies, especially since there isn't adequate enough Chromis to distribute it's dominance against.

 

[mrfipp]

I agree that they are shoalers, and will be content in small numbers. I disagree however, that they are suited to a nano tank. This is a fish that spends a lot of time swimming, not just popping in and out of rocks. I dont think that a small tank will give them the tank space they need to "stretch their fins."