dottyback compatibility

[TankLife87]

I have a 120g established reef aquarium.

I got a gift from a friend being shipped to my house with 4 dottybacks. 2 solid purple and 2 bicolor( yellow/ purple).

Will 4 of these fish be compatible all together in this tank?
They should be very small.

Will it terrorize any existing inhabitants?
4” yellow eye Cole tang.
4” yellow tang
2.5” hippo tang
Hawk fish
Pair of clownfish with large bta to hide in
5” Melanarus wrasse
2 large cleaner shrimp
2 large coral banded shrimp
Few blue leg hermits

 

[Maritimer]

They're likely to be OK with the fish established _before_ them, but may not play nicely with fish added _after_ them. The size of your tank is in your favor, but the two pairs may not play very nicely together, either.

~Bruce

 

[Oshengems]

Fishes have different personalities like many say I have a purple dottyback, Royal Gramma than been together close to a year I have added several other fishes after them and the dottyback or gramma only fight fishes that want to settle close to their sleeping spots it’s a 75g but I do have tons of rocks with crevices and caves to hide for all my fishes I believe this helps aggression as well as being well feed, some are careful about over feeding and feed them minimal then they act like is the hunger games when new fishes are added because it’s More competition for food and also land. Btw I also have a pair of maroons with potters angel 4 chromis and 3 wrasses so plenty of fish to distribute aggression but mine is a model citizen.

 

[4FordFamily]

I wouldn’t keep pairs of gramma or dottyback. They’re likely to fight to the death. That could backfire badly.

 

[Jesterrace]

I agree that 4 dottybacks in the same tank is a bad idea, then again I would never put any dottyback that wasn't an orchid in my tank regardless of size.

 

[TankLife87]

I agree that 4 dottybacks in the same tank is a bad idea, then again I would never put any dottyback that wasn't an orchid in my tank regardless of size.

Can you elaborate why you would not?

 

[Jesterrace]

Can you elaborate why you would not?

Dottybacks are well known for being jerks to fish 2-3 times their size and given that 4 of them are going into the same tank, it's just more of a risk than I would take.

 

[Coralreefer1]

They can be very boisterous and to put them into a large tank could be catastrophic not to mention very difficult to remove.

 

[Waynerock]

My orchid dotty back is a total punk and that’s supposed to be the most chill of the lot. When I moved tanks she was so up In A rock I could not remove her, even out of the water and shaking that sucker she would not budge. Glad i kept her though cause they are pretty.

 

[Maritimer]

Many years ago, I had a purple dottyback and a tomato clownfish in a 55 gallon tank.

I was never able to add another fish - between the two of them, they killed everything I tried to introduce.

Dottybacks are pretty, but tend not to play well with others.

~Bruce

 

[garbled]

The bi-colors and diadema's are the worst of the lot usually. A single one will be the top dog in your tank. I can't fathom having two pairs, it would be madness. Adding one pair last would probably(?) be fine, but it will be the last fish you ever add.

That said, they are beautiful, intelligent, and a delight to watch and own. I kept a diadema for about 5 years, and absolutely loved it. It was my favorite fish by far, and I would absolutely get another one.

 

[User1]

Not to hijack but I thought keeping harems of royal gramma's are ok in general and similar with dottybacks? Or am I mixing the dottyback with the basslet species.

 

[Jesterrace]

Not to hijack but I thought keeping harems of royal gramma's are ok in general and similar with dottybacks? Or am I mixing the dottyback with the basslet species.

You are mixing Dottybacks up with Basslets. The Royal Gramma is a Basslet (although it's coloration is very similar to a Bi-Color Dottyback), hence why they are a very popular choice.

 

[User1]

You are mixing Dottybacks up with Basslets. The Royal Gramma is a Basslet (although it's coloration is very similar to a Bi-Color Dottyback), hence why they are a very popular choice.

Thanks. That is what I was thinking I did. I do have basslets on my stock list but later in its maturity. Still about another year off Thanks for clarification.

 

[davocean]

Even one doty in that tank is a risk, I no longer keep them

 

[mort]

As someone who loves dottybacks I'd like to stick up for them a bit as there is a lot of misinformation out there. With damsels people seem to be slowly getting the idea that there are some great ones and it's the same with dottybacks. Fridmani, sankey, springers and sunrise are all good species that normally play nice in most tanks. You can keep harems and pairs, plus they are readily available tank bred which means you can get them small.
I've bred all the above plus the neon so know them pretty well but have also kept quite a few other species which has led me to the conclusion that you'd be mad to add a pictichromis sp, a pseudochromis porphyreus or p diadema to a normal tank.