Adding juvenile fish to established tank?

[TheStrangler]

Ahoy all, I'm currently in the process of adding my last fish, a small captive bred multibar angelfish. The little guy arrived at maybe 3/4 of an inch long and has been in an acclimation box for a few days doing well. I've got a bunch of rubble and hiding spots in the box and there has been no interest from my other fish. What I'm looking for input on, is how long to keep it in the acclimation box? I'm stuck between the idea of keeping it in the box long term to keep it safe in a larger tank (150g) or letting it out so that it can pick and eat to its heart content.

Keeping it in the acclimation box would be ideal so that it can grow into its own and not get lost but I am concerned with the potential drawbacks of limiting it to the confines of the acclimation box namely nutrition and local water quality. I purchased the fish quarantined, and it arrived healthy. It appears to be eating but very slowly, preferring to pick at rocks and eat on its own time. I don't know for certain how much food it can actively get to before the food falls out through the bottom of the box. Even with waterflow completely off, it seems to just want to leisurely pick at rocks which the tank can easily support, but I don't know about long term inside of the acclimation box. The potential for aggression is there given the difference in size but there is ample hiding space. The last fish I added was a juvenile captive bred yellow tang and nothing bothered it. My tank boss is a 8 inch foxface and a swallowtail angel. If I release it, I sort of assume it'll just find a nice comfortable hiding spot and come out on its own time, but I'm figuring I probably won't see it much for a little while as a small fish in a big tank.

Does anyone have any input or experience with having juvenile fish mixed in with larger adult fish?

 

[vlangel]

Ahoy all, I'm currently in the process of adding my last fish, a small captive bred multibar angelfish. The little guy arrived at maybe 3/4 of an inch long and has been in an acclimation box for a few days doing well. I've got a bunch of rubble and hiding spots in the box and there has been no interest from my other fish. What I'm looking for input on, is how long to keep it in the acclimation box? I'm stuck between the idea of keeping it in the box long term to keep it safe in a larger tank (150g) or letting it out so that it can pick and eat to its heart content.

Keeping it in the acclimation box would be ideal so that it can grow into its own and not get lost but I am concerned with the potential drawbacks of limiting it to the confines of the acclimation box namely nutrition and local water quality. I purchased the fish quarantined, and it arrived healthy. It appears to be eating but very slowly, preferring to pick at rocks and eat on its own time. I don't know for certain how much food it can actively get to before the food falls out through the bottom of the box. Even with waterflow completely off, it seems to just want to leisurely pick at rocks which the tank can easily support, but I don't know about long term inside of the acclimation box. The potential for aggression is there given the difference in size but there is ample hiding space. The last fish I added was a juvenile captive bred yellow tang and nothing bothered it. My tank boss is a 8 inch foxface and a swallowtail angel. If I release it, I sort of assume it'll just find a nice comfortable hiding spot and come out on its own time, but I'm figuring I probably won't see it much for a little while as a small fish in a big tank.

Does anyone have any input or experience with having juvenile fish mixed in with larger adult fish?

It seems like you have thought this through carefully. Like you have surmised there is risks both with keeping it in the acclimation box and with releasing it into the tank. Given that your fish have not paid attention to it in the box, nor have they shown aggression prior to this fish I would lean toward releasing it just before the lights are off. Maybe feed the tank when you do so its current inhabitants are preoccupied with food when the angel finds its safe place. But like I said, there is risks.

 

[TheStrangler]

I appreciate the feedback. I am leaning towards releasing it but wanted a sanity check. I feel like the chances of me harming it with bad protocol is higher than fish being fish. I do think just before the lights are off is a great suggestion should I decide to do it. And I will feed the tank maybe 30 minutes beforehand for a little extra assurance. I have a lot of rockwork and tons of spaces for it to hide so I'd be pretty confident if the multibar has a little bit of time to scout around and find a comfortable nook. Most of my fish tuck in for the night pretty early so it would have a couple of hours to scan around and find a nice comfortable spot before it sees anything that might potentially decide to pick a fight.

 

[vlangel]

I appreciate the feedback. I am leaning towards releasing it but wanted a sanity check. I feel like the chances of me harming it with bad protocol is higher than fish being fish. I do think just before the lights are off is a great suggestion should I decide to do it. And I will feed the tank maybe 30 minutes beforehand for a little extra assurance. I have a lot of rockwork and tons of spaces for it to hide so I'd be pretty confident if the multibar has a little bit of time to scout around and find a comfortable nook. Most of my fish tuck in for the night pretty early so it would have a couple of hours to scan around and find a nice comfortable spot before it sees anything that might potentially decide to pick a fight.

Wishing you the best of luck. I have 3 fish in a QT that I will be adding to my established 75g. I also have a pretty big foxface, an old ocellaris and a 5yr old ywg. The fish I am most worried about is a longnose hawk who I only acquired a few months ago but he occasionally chases tankmates. However having 3 fish helps spread out bullying if that is going to happen. I also have an acclimation box that I will use for the new fish to see how my current residents treat the newcomers.