Chromides

Who's kept "Chromides" before? I'm asking because I've just been to the LFS and saw they have two. I've been "googling" them because I really like the fish. I found out there are a few different Chromides available, and the guy at the petshop was unable to tell me which one exacly they are.

They do need salt added, and opinions seem to vary as to exactly how much salt.

At R130 each I don't want to buy them if they're blacklisted, extremely difficult to keep (as I don't have experience with them yet) or blacklisted.

Any info/past experiences shared will be appreciated.

I've attached a pic I found on the web of what they look like. The one for sale at the LFS are about 5cm long - really nice fish.

 

Thats WAY overpriced for them..i have seen them being sold for R40 each at 4cm size

 

Hey there

Firstly, as said above, that is definitely overpriced for that species. That's an orange chromide, and they should be much cheaper. Look elsewhere, they shouldn't be that rare. They're not blacklisted either, so it shouldn't be a worry.

They like to have enough salt in their water until it is what you can call 'brackish' water. To find out if your water has enough salt, you need to buy a hydrometer from your local pet store to measure your tank's salt content, or specific gravity (SG). A tank for an ornage chromide should have a reading of about 1.005.

As a whole, they aren't that hard to keep. They're just a small species of Asian cichlid, and really aren't fussy about their water. Even with regards to salt, they're happy enough to live in fresh water for extended periods of time.

 

SA - they arent cichlids

 

They are, they're one of the three species of Asian cichlids, unique to say the least.

Check it out here on fish Fishbase.

 

they have been reclassifide - they form part of a family now thats mostly marine fish

 

What family is this? And when was the revision done?

 

There was an article in one of the TFH about a year or 2 ago about it... i will have to go dig it out for you. i think - i speak under correction - it now form part of the Chromis and Damsels family - Pomacentridae

 

In reading the abstract "Phylogeny of the Cichlid Subfamily Etroplinae and Taxonomic Revision of the Malagasy Cichlid Genus Paretroplus (Teleostei: Cichlidae)"(follow link), which was written about a year ago, it links the subfamily Etroplinae with the Madagascan cichlids, providing anatomical similarities as well as showing divergences along the cichlid lines wich sets the subfamily apart from cichlidae, however, not so much so that they can be separated from the group. This places the chromides at a point where they're truly unique and distinct among cichlids, but can still be linked back to their family origins.

 

interesting.... its sometimes bit of a problem to keep up with all the name changes