myenigmaself
Fishaholic
In short, yesterday I bought two red (orange) chromides from my LFS. They've immediately become the life of the tank, and I'm thinking about buying some more. My LFS rarely gets brackish fish so I don't want to miss this opportunity, but I want to make sure the tank's big enough and that they'll all get along first.
My current setup is as follows.
55 Gallon Top Tank
6 Bumblebee Goby's
1 Unidentified Goby (LFS didn't know what he was, he was a trade in. About 3" long and brown. Had been "thriving in brackish water for years" before the trade-in and seems to be doing well so far. He's definitely more of an inactive ambush predator, hiding in a pot until a bloodworm floats by)
4 Pleasantly Plump Figure 8 puffers
2 Orange Chromide's (about 1" long, one is dark orange, slightly larger, and has a red stripe running down the top of its dorsal fin. The other is less dark, slightly smaller, and has no stripe. They chase each other around the tank in what seems to be a pretty playful manor. This leads me to believe that I've got one male and one female, and they're getting along well so far)
A little grass (very little, a few sprouts)
29 Gallon Sump
2 Adult Sailfin Mollies
~25 Juvenile Sailfin Mollies (that I'm trying to get rid of, if anyone is interested)
8 Bumblebee Goby's
2 Ghost Shrimp
Many Ramshorn and Malaysian Trumpet Snails
Tons of surface pond plant growing
I also have a patch of what looks like moss, but might be green algae. I've tried to get it to grow more, but it grows pretty slowly. It's about 4" by 4" and 1/2" thick. I've actually moved this a couple times to different spots in the tank, but only seems to do well nearest the surface (partially exposed seems best)
Java fern growing very slowly.
So in the day I've had them I've really liked the Chromides. They're much more active then everything else in the tank (not that everything else is inactive, just the chromides are super fast/active).
Concerns and Thoughts:
The 55 Gallon isn't big enough for another pair or two. I have tons of hiding places (about 15 pots on their sides with some grass in the center area) though, and right now the chromides frequently lose each other in the tank.
The chromides are pretty fast, so I worry the bumblebee goby's won't get fed. The bumblebees get fed plenty these days. They eat until their bellies are bulging and the puffers go around and clean up after them. I don't think this should be a real issue, but worst case I can move the remaining bumblebee goby's down into the sump with their brothers/sisters. I'm really trying to get rid of the Mollies anyway, so the sump could become an all bumblebee tank if need be.
Water quality. The chromides are pretty small, and as I understand it they won't get larger than 3" or so. My amonia/nitrite are 0 all the time, and nitrates are typically less than 10ppm. I've got tons of water flow between the sump and main tank, with sponge filtration as well as a section that goes through tons of crushed coral. I don't think this additional bio-load would be a problem.
So does anyone have any thoughts? I think the biggest issue is just space, will 55 gallons be enough space for the chromides to co-exist? I've read that they do best in pairs, so I'm looking to get two or four more.
Thanks!
-Mike
My current setup is as follows.
55 Gallon Top Tank
6 Bumblebee Goby's
1 Unidentified Goby (LFS didn't know what he was, he was a trade in. About 3" long and brown. Had been "thriving in brackish water for years" before the trade-in and seems to be doing well so far. He's definitely more of an inactive ambush predator, hiding in a pot until a bloodworm floats by)
4 Pleasantly Plump Figure 8 puffers
2 Orange Chromide's (about 1" long, one is dark orange, slightly larger, and has a red stripe running down the top of its dorsal fin. The other is less dark, slightly smaller, and has no stripe. They chase each other around the tank in what seems to be a pretty playful manor. This leads me to believe that I've got one male and one female, and they're getting along well so far)
A little grass (very little, a few sprouts)
29 Gallon Sump
2 Adult Sailfin Mollies
~25 Juvenile Sailfin Mollies (that I'm trying to get rid of, if anyone is interested)
8 Bumblebee Goby's
2 Ghost Shrimp
Many Ramshorn and Malaysian Trumpet Snails
Tons of surface pond plant growing
I also have a patch of what looks like moss, but might be green algae. I've tried to get it to grow more, but it grows pretty slowly. It's about 4" by 4" and 1/2" thick. I've actually moved this a couple times to different spots in the tank, but only seems to do well nearest the surface (partially exposed seems best)
Java fern growing very slowly.
So in the day I've had them I've really liked the Chromides. They're much more active then everything else in the tank (not that everything else is inactive, just the chromides are super fast/active).
Concerns and Thoughts:
The 55 Gallon isn't big enough for another pair or two. I have tons of hiding places (about 15 pots on their sides with some grass in the center area) though, and right now the chromides frequently lose each other in the tank.
The chromides are pretty fast, so I worry the bumblebee goby's won't get fed. The bumblebees get fed plenty these days. They eat until their bellies are bulging and the puffers go around and clean up after them. I don't think this should be a real issue, but worst case I can move the remaining bumblebee goby's down into the sump with their brothers/sisters. I'm really trying to get rid of the Mollies anyway, so the sump could become an all bumblebee tank if need be.
Water quality. The chromides are pretty small, and as I understand it they won't get larger than 3" or so. My amonia/nitrite are 0 all the time, and nitrates are typically less than 10ppm. I've got tons of water flow between the sump and main tank, with sponge filtration as well as a section that goes through tons of crushed coral. I don't think this additional bio-load would be a problem.
So does anyone have any thoughts? I think the biggest issue is just space, will 55 gallons be enough space for the chromides to co-exist? I've read that they do best in pairs, so I'm looking to get two or four more.
Thanks!
-Mike
