Implementing Proper
Breeding Conditions for
the Blue Green Chromis
Mari Cole Knox & Morgan Sodel
Why Blue Green Chromis?
We chose the blue green chromis because we
knew that we weren't going to start learning
about fish until second semester, and we
wanted to get a jump start.
These fish are also really special because they
can change color depending on the light
intensity of the tank.
We think that the Blue-green chromis are
very pretty, and we know that they are the
least aggressive damselfish, and that they
reproduce in large numbers, so thats what we
decided we wanted to do.
http://www.jirehmarine.com/wpcontent/uploads/sites/26/2014/07/BLUE_GR
EEN_CHROM_4da9ba33d6246.jpg
Background
Blue Green Chromis:
-species of damselfish, but
are not aggressive
-found in large schools and
are usually found in the
Indo-Pacific
-this species only live for
about 5 years, so we
assume they reproduce
around 2 years old
Background cont.
-according to Reef Time, breeding would be encouraged if
the ratio was kept for 1 male to 4 females
-when they reproduce, one male makes the nest and
multiple other females lay their eggs
-the nest is usually an open area in the sand, on a rock,
and also frequently on the glass
-according to Fishlore, in order to encourage breeding in
the tank there needs to be a small shoal, so that was one
of our goals of our experiment
Initial Research Questions
1. how is the gender of a Blue-Green Chromis determined?
2. How would the two current fish in the tank react if another fish of a separate
gender was placed in the tank?
3. What types of conditions do the Blue-green Chromis need to mate in the ocean?
4. How can the conditions in the tank be altered in order to mimic the natural
conditions? Also, how can the conditions in the tank be altered to encourage
nesting activity?
5. If the conditions in the tank were changed in order to make an environment in
which the fish would most likely mate in, would the fish actually mate?
6. If reproduction is successful and the fish lay eggs, how will they develop and what
conditions must the tank be in for a successful development?
Background research
Caroline Morris & Taylor Montgomery’s project:
http://bluegreenchromisbehavior.wiki.lovett.org/October+and+November
we really used their project as a foundation for ours, because two of the fish that were in thier project are in ours
now. they studied only the behavior, and their project provided good background about our two fishes past behavior.
We haven't found much research on the breeding of bluegreen chromis currently going on, because it has become
something that is quite easy for experts to implement in
their tanks. Most of our sources state that reproduction is
most likely to occur when there is a large shoal in a tank.
Initial Hypothesis
When the conditions in the tank are
managed ideally to encourage
reproduction in the blue-green
chromis species, the fish will mate and
produce eggs.
Research Plan
supplies: 50 gallon tank, 2 blue green chromis fish, live
rock, sand, and necessary machinery to keep tank
conditions stable (i.e. filters, power heads etc.), binder,
ruler, thermometer, refractometer.
feeding:
-the fish are fed by the interns, but to help encourage
mating they must be fed properly.
-they eat Mysis shrimp
Research Plan cont.
-take daily measurements of the temperature, PH,
and salinity
-observed the behavior of the fish every day, in
order to determine the sex
We constructed an ethogram, which is just a chart to
record the behaviors, which eventually led us to
determining the sex.
(show video)
Ethogram
we had 5 different sections of our ethogram:
Hiding in Coral: when the fish are startled and are using the coral and live
rock to hide themselves from what they think are potential predators. Hiding
in coral can also be used for resting.
Hiding in back of the Tank: Fish hide in the back corners of the tank and are
acting skittish.
Out and swimming: If the fish are not being skittish and are out and
swimming in the general open parts of the tank.
Chasing: if the female is chasing the male fish or if the male is chasing the
female
Temperature of the tank
The temperature was collected every day that we observed the tank, and the temperature
was kept decently constant in order to create a comfortable and constant environment for
the fish.
PH of the Tank
The PH was collected every day that we observed the tank, and it was kept
pretty constant except for a few days over our thanksgiving break there seems
to be a few jumps, but we arent sure of the cause.
Salinity of the Tank
We also measured the salinity of the tank everyday, and there is one large spike in the
measurements on the first of December, and we arent quite sure why this occured. But
on that same date there was a spike in the temperature, so we think those two
measurements might have been correlated from the same event.
review of research questions:
how is the gender of a blue-green chromis
determined?
-this is very difficult to figure out, in fact, we still aren’t
100% sure the gender of ours especially because there are only 2! But by
observing their habits we made an educated guess that Fish 2 (the smaller of
the fish) was the male. we thought this because he commonly chased the
other fish and he was more bold and swimming out in the open water of the
tank.
Ethogram
questions continued
how would the two fish in the tank react if a new fish of a separate
gender are placed in it?
-we never got to get to this part because
the new fish came too late and they must
be kept in quarantine for a while so we
never got to test this. there needs to be
one male for every 4 females
questions continued
what types of conditions do the blue-green
chromis need to mate in the ocean?
-school of blue-green chromis, flat and
clean area to lay eggs on (they prefer flat
spaces)
mating behaviors video
questions continued
How can the conditions in the tank be altered in order to
mimic the natural conditions? Also, how can the
conditions in the tank be altered to encourage nesting
activity?
-moving around rock, for open area for nesting
-more often cleaning
Implementing the conditions
Before:
After:
October 29th, 2014
Implementing the conditions part 2:
Before:
After:
November 24th, 2014
questions continued
If the conditions in the tank were changed in order to
make an environment in which the fish would most likely
mate in, would the fish actually mate?
-we hypothesize yes, but we did not have a big enough
shoal (or school) of fish so there was not a significant
amount of eggs for our male
http://www.aquaticcreationsgroup.com/ed
ucation/
questions continued
If reproduction is successful and the fish lay eggs, how
will they develop and what conditions must the tank be in
for a successful development?
-we never got to this point but, eggs would have
hatched after 2-3 days
-we learned a lot about what happens to the Bluegreen chromis larvae once they hatch from this online
book about breeding your marine fishes
http://eprints.cmfri.org.in/4190/1/1.pdf
reflection on hypothesis
When the conditions in the tank are managed ideally to
encourage reproduction in the blue-green chromis
species, the fish will mate and produce eggs.
reflection:
we believe that we did provide the proper conditions for
breeding, but we did not have a large enough school for
the breeding and spawning to actually occur.
successes & failures
successes:
-we hypothesize that we
successfully determined
the sex based upon size &
behavior
-we successfully ordered
more fish
-we successfully created
a good environment
failures:
-ordering new fish on time
-moving things around might
have moved us back
because it made them more
skittish around us and might
have changed their behavior
Future
we hope that the 4 new blue-green chromis will be added
to Tank 4 later this month, and hope that next year our
project is adopted by someone else, and hopefully
breeding will occur.
we think that this project could be successful with the
larger school, and when the Blue-green chromis do
produce, they produce in large quantities, so this would
have great value for our tank systems, and they could
potentially be sold for profit.
bibliography
Our website: http://bluegreenchromis.wiki.lovett.org/home
(10 sources, 4 books/periodicals)
Allen. "Chromis viridis." Encyclopedia of Life. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://eol.org/pages/994436/details>.
"Blue Green Chromis." Aquatic Community. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Oct. 2014. <http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/Damselfish/BlueGreenChromis.php>.
"Green Chromis: Chromis viridis." Reef Corner. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2014. <http://reefcorner.com/reef-database-index/fish-index/green-chromis-chromis-viridis/#prettyPhoto>.
Brough, David. "Blue-Green Chromis." Animal World. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://animal-world.com/>.
Hemdal, Jay F. Aquarium Fish Breeding. N.p.: n.p., 2003. Print. Barron's Educational.
LaPan, Ann. "How to Breed Green Chromis." eHow. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2014.
Lieske, Ewald, and Robert Myers. Coral Reef Fishes. Princeton: Princeton University, 2001. Print.
Micheal, Scott W. Marine Fishes. Shelburne: Microcosm, 1999. Print.
Riesch, Eric, Ken Marks, and Tammy Marks, eds. Identification. Illus. Micheal O'Connell. Jacksonville: New World, 2003. Print.
"Spawning of Green Reef Chromis." Ithaca Reef. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 Oct. 2014. <http://www.ithacareef.com/chromis/index.htm>.