Black-axil chromis

Care at a glance

Overview

The black-axil chromis is a peaceful, hardy schooling damselfish for a community reef tank. It is easy to keep.

Caring for the black-axil chromis

Give black-axil chromis a tank of at least 30 gal (115 L). The water should run at 75 to 82°F (24 to 28°C), with a pH of 8.1 to 8.4. They eat frozen and prepared foods eagerly.

Keep them in a group of six or more, so aggression stays spread across the shoal. Small groups tend to develop a pecking order that thins the group over time. The black-axil chromis behaves much like the green chromis, and it ignores corals and inverts.

Males guard demersal eggs, and the larvae drift in open water. Breeding them is hard.

Good to know

The black-axil chromis, Chromis atripectoralis, is a damselfish in the family Pomacentridae. It grows a little larger than its close relative, the green chromis, Chromis viridis.

In the wild

The black-axil chromis lives in shoals over branching corals across the Indo-Pacific, in lagoons and on protected reef slopes. It shares these habitats with the green chromis. Groups hover above the coral, picking plankton from the current, and dive down into the branches for cover when threatened.

Common questions

Related species

• 

  Blue chromis

  Chromis cyanea

  5.1 in (13 cm) · 53 gal (200 L)

  5.1 in (13 cm)53 gal (200 L)73–81°F (23–27°C)

• 

  Green chromis

  Chromis viridis

  3.1 in (8 cm) · 30 gal (115 L)

  3.1 in (8 cm)30 gal (115 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)

• 

  Cinnamon clownfish

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• 

  Golden damselfish

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  4.7 in (12 cm)53 gal (200 L)75–81°F (24–27°C)

• 

  Saddleback clownfish

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• 

  Skunk clownfish

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  4.3 in (11 cm) · 26 gal (100 L)

  4.3 in (11 cm)26 gal (100 L)75–82°F (24–28°C)