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Chromis and Damsels
Chromis and damsels belong to the same group of fish. In general, they are small-to-medium sized and form schools while in the wild. This is where all generalizations stop. Each species is unique in appearance, personality, and behavior.
Schooling: Even though most damsels form large groups in the wild, they are not schooling fish when kept in the aquarium. Most get very territorial and aggressive with other damsels and even other fish. As such, we only sometimes keep schools in tanks of 55 gallons or larger. In smaller tanks, we will usually only keep a lone individual, possibly two or three individuals of different species.
Blue-Green Chromis
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Not to be confused with the green chromis or the blue chromis, the Blue-Green Chromis is larger and somewhat hardier than both. In the tank, they will spend many hours just swimming from one end to the next.
Bicolor Chromis
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Don't let their muted appearance fool you. Bicolors school tightly and love to stay in the open, catching the eye from across the room. They tend to be the best schoolers on this list, and a little tougher than their blue-green cousins.
Blue Star Damsel
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Cameras can't do justice to the brilliant blue gems that are Blue Star Damsels. These are a new arrival to our list and are the most unknown in terms of behavior. So far, they seem to prefer being the sole member of their species in a tank.
Lemon Damsel
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
Damsels are the chihuahua of the fish world. These tiny terrors like to claim a territory and then spend all day chasing each other away. They won't school together and are fine living alone, but they are quite fun to watch interact when there's enough space to support a small group.
Ternate Damsel
Minimum Tank Size: 30 gallons
It's hard to fully capture the pearly blue and shimmering yellow of a Ternate Damsel. They tolerate more of their kind a little better than others, but still prefer to keep their own territory. As such, larger tanks can support a small group, but they'll be just as happy living alone.