azgard1,
My monos were acclimated to saltwater over a 6-month time period. At weekly water changes, their brackish water was raised in salinity until at the end of the conditioning, they were in 1.020 sp. gr. water.
My home system was set at 1.020 when they were introduced (after quarantine) into my system. I then allowed evaporation to slowly raise the salinity to 1.025 which is where I usually keep it. At each 10% weekly water change, I used 1.025 water to do the exchange so, between evaporation and the water changes, the final rise in sp. gr. took another 2 months.
None ever showed any signs of a problem. I may have/could have done it quicker. But, I am generally conservative.
The Chromis are usually poorly handled in the trade. Unfortunately, they are inexpensive and don't get much attention at each stop in the system. They may live 10+ years in the wild; up to 5 in captive life. That said, I know of a captive Green Chromis that is 18 years old this June. It was imported directly to me, caught with my directions and stipulations (as far as I know) then handled, staged, and packed as I specified (I hope). I acclimated it and trained it. It began at about 1/2 inch in length. It was 5 inches when I last saw it (2006).
Monos seem to go on forever. They are hard to kill. Mine were about 4 years old when I got them, they are now about 9 years old. I've known others to reach 15+ years in captivity.
