Chromis delta

Randall, 1988

Deep Reef Chromis

Range: Indo-West Pacific Ocean: Maldives and Christmas Island in the eastern Indian Ocean, north to Taiwan and the Philippines, and south to Vanuatu and Tonga.

Size: 3 inches (8 cm)

Natural Environment: Inhabits steep outer reef slopes at depths between 35 to about 250 feet (10 – 75 m) and often found in caves in small or large shoals where it feeds mainly on planktonic crustaceans (copepods, mysis, and shrimp larvae), fish eggs, and algae.

General Husbandry: Rarely seen in the trade and quite drab, having a brownish black body with a white caudal peduncle.

Quite hardy, peaceful, and better maintained in small groups of at least five to seven members. Should be given wide-open swimming areas, yet an aquarium having caves and ledges to take shelter. This is also a low light/deep water species, therefore a dimly lit aquarium would suit this species much more than a brightly lit reef aquarium.

As to diet, will eat most regular aquarium foods, e.g., live fortified brine shrimp and/or finely chopped various frozen or fresh meaty foods such as mysis, squid, fish flesh, shrimp, clam, etc., and plant material, e.g., flake foods, especially those containing Spirulina and should be offered several times daily.

Taxonomy:

Order: Perciformes

Suborder: Labroidei

Family: Pomacentridae

Subfamily: Chrominae

Genus: Chromis

FYI: Even though quite passive and will ignore other fish in the aquarium, larger aquariums, e.g., 50 gallons and above for this species provide far more openness for small shoals to ‘peacefully’ coexist.

If maintained in groups of less than mentioned above, they tend to be over dominate of each other and may force some members into hiding. The bigger the group, the less intergroup picking on each other exists.

Experience Level: Beginner

Temperament: Peaceful

Diet: Zooplanktivore/Omnivore

Coral Safe: Yes

Invertebrate Safe: Yes

Acclimation Time: 30 minutes+

Aquarium Environment: Reef or fish-only aquarium

Tankmates: Peaceful

Minimum Tank Size: 50 gallons

Temperature Range: 74 - 84°F (23 – 28°C)

Specific Gravity: 1.020 - 1.026

pH: 8.0 - 8.5