starving chromis

[Mihai]

For some reason one of my four chromis starved to death although he
was eating just as much as the others when I was feeding the tank. The
problem is that when I was not feeding the tank he was hiding
somewhere in the rock work, while the others were out and about eating
stuff coming from the fuge and having nice big bellies (see the first
pic). I guess that it was missing the extra feedings that the others
were getting. It progressed as follows: first the belly went flat,
then a bit concave, then the back got pinched, then it died. All this
took some 2-3 weeks. Now I have another one of the remaining three
chromis with a flat belly. Both the others still look good. None of
the other fish (Yellow tang, royal gramma, mandarin and clown pair)
show any sign of sickness.

Thus, I'm not sure what happened. I start to suspect that there were
something wrong with him (sick at the stomach) and now the other
chromis got sick as well... is there such a sickness that makes fish
starve to death? If yes, can I save the other one (assuming I can
catch him)? Any medication I can give him (garlic?!).

If it is a sickness, how did they get it? There was no fish
getting in the tank since March, and the chromis were with me for
more than a year without any problems.

Thanks,
Mihai

 

[Anonymous]

The last pic looks like Ick.

 

[Mihai]

I know, but it's not. The white spots you see are water bubbles. I have a micro-bubble problem (for a long time now). I'm thinking some internal parasites (worms?)...

Thanks,
M.

 

[Anonymous]

I've studied my Chromis very closely. From my observations I can see why 4 Chromis is a bad idea. In my group I purchased all juveniles. Two turned female (got larger) and then one of the females turned male (darker coloring) then another juvenile turned female (got larger). The male is constantly picking on the females. I assume this is a social cue that he's still dominant. The two females are constantly harassing the juveniles. Since I have 4 juveniles no one single juvie get a lot of attention.

If, in my case, I only had four Chromis and only one juvenile I would guess that it would perish from the constant harassment from the two females.

Just a guess from the observations of my Chromis.

 

[Anonymous]

Hierarchy aggression or old age. The odd male/female out is shunned by the others in the school. You stated that the fish was hiding in the rockwork leading me to believe in stress from aggression or possibly weakness from old age setting in.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Mihai]

I don't believe old age is an option here: one year ago they were all juveniles. It's probably in the hierarchy: the two that are doing best are the two largest ones. I can't tell a clear color difference between them, so they may both be females. When they were all small they used to school together, they stopped that a few months ago. I thought that the lack of an aggressor (my yellow tang is cool with them) was the cause, but it may be that two matured and two didn't.

I had no idea that they behave similar to the clowns (with hierarchies and sex changes). So now I have two adults (probably females) and a small one... is the small guy doomed? He's not hiding like the deceased, but is not hanging out with the others either. They don't seem to pick on him (at least as long as he hangs out where he does (middle of the tank, close to a LR).

Thanks,
M.