Fish against eels (3) aggression - please help!

jaihutcherson

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Hey all!

just finished the new 400 build. Lots of rock, lots of Tonga branch/plate, and lots of aggression from what we’re happy healthy tank mates for past 14 months in a 230g.

background: all tank mates were in a 230g. Had a bad breakout of ick and broke the group up into 3 separate tanks; eels, puffers, fish. Treateded, overcame, and built a new 400g system.

I finished tank, cycled, etc. and started the migration. Fish first (all about 6-8in except grouper 9in); clown trigger, sailfin tang, panther grouper, tuxedo tang. Then a day later the puffers (7in); dog face and porcupine. Then 3 days later the eels; black edge eel (22in), banded eel (20in), and snowflake eel (16in)

as soon as I dropped eels all fish (not puffer) have been very aggressive towards them; tail whipping, farting in and nudging, trying to cover them, etc. all eels for a day just laid there in phases. Today the snowflake not stopping trying to get out. If he lands out of water column the other fish all swarm him. He shoots back up to top looking for escape.

these fish and eels used to be good. Slept together, ate together, etccin 230g with no aggression what so ever.

I do not know enough to know what to do. What will help or how to stop all this aggression. Please help me help them.
Thanks
Jai
6C5C92FF-4CFE-4589-BFA0-B03BD55CC679.jpeg
 

i cant think

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Hey all!

just finished the new 400 build. Lots of rock, lots of Tonga branch/plate, and lots of aggression from what we’re happy healthy tank mates for past 14 months in a 230g.

background: all tank mates were in a 230g. Had a bad breakout of ick and broke the group up into 3 separate tanks; eels, puffers, fish. Treateded, overcame, and built a new 400g system.

I finished tank, cycled, etc. and started the migration. Fish first (all about 6-8in except grouper 9in); clown trigger, sailfin tang, panther grouper, tuxedo tang. Then a day later the puffers (7in); dog face and porcupine. Then 3 days later the eels; black edge eel (22in), banded eel (20in), and snowflake eel (16in)

as soon as I dropped eels all fish (not puffer) have been very aggressive towards them; tail whipping, farting in and nudging, trying to cover them, etc. all eels for a day just laid there in phases. Today the snowflake not stopping trying to get out. If he lands out of water column the other fish all swarm him. He shoots back up to top looking for escape.

these fish and eels used to be good. Slept together, ate together, etccin 230g with no aggression what so ever.

I do not know enough to know what to do. What will help or how to stop all this aggression. Please help me help them.
Thanks
Jai
6C5C92FF-4CFE-4589-BFA0-B03BD55CC679.jpeg
I would leave it for a few more days, they should then have calmed the aggression - It’s most likely still trying to get used to the new environment!
 

TheDragonsReef

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I think they just need some time. if you want to give the eels a break you can put up some mirrors and the tangs should be more focused on their reflection than the eel.
 

welsher7

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Looking at that picture I don't see enough coverage for the eels to feel safe or escape from the fish. Can you post a full tank shot?
 

i cant think

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Looking at that picture I don't see enough coverage for the eels to feel safe or escape from the fish. Can you post a full tank shot?
I agree with this, after seeing the back of it it doesn’t seem to be enough for 3 eels.
I recommend trying to stack more rocks around that to make a cave big enough for all three eels, and the other fish if there is no other cave.
 
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jaihutcherson

jaihutcherson

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There are a dozen or so caves throughout the rock work. At the bottom I have a large cave big enough for all the eels in the middle under a plating Tonga rock with sides, then I have a cave to the right under another plate and branches, as well as on the left. Then a layer up there are about three caves for the snow flake and two big enough for the banded. I’ll post as I can. 7A5CCAE0-FC90-40C6-A07B-425E07156A99.jpeg
 

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jaihutcherson

jaihutcherson

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The main rock wall behind branch is Fiji covering the return. In it I’ve made about five caves suitable for them. Then a bunch with the Tonga branch and plates hoping they would like those as well so I could see them. Lol what happened is putting fish in first; the grouper picked the big cave, trigger loves the smaller cave snowflake instantly went to and my banded went straight in the cave the tang took. Sorry bout the trigger “tuxedo” that is what my wife named him and I didn’t even notice. Lol it’s a Picasso triggerfish.
 

welsher7

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what happened is putting fish in first; the grouper picked the big cave, trigger loves the smaller cave snowflake instantly went to and my banded went straight in the cave the tang took.


sounds like you found your problem. It appears you need more real-estate to accommodate your territorial fish.
 
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jaihutcherson

jaihutcherson

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What are the dimensions on the new tank?
60”w x 36”d x 42”h = 392g
However, the over flow on this was massive and takes up a lot of space. I have a 70 gallon sump and when filling it I ended up with about 320g of water used. There is about 375 pounds of rock and branch.

I built in a lot of caves, holes, hide spots etc. but obviously didn’t get it right. To change now would be horrific. Almost impossible to get to bottom of tank or around a lot of the branches for that matter. I built in a closed loop system to help keep food etc up and moving through water column with such limited reach. I’m gonna make the best of what is turning out to be a bad situation. Such a let down after so much work into the aquascape and flow in this tank.
Jai
 

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