Holiday tension: How do you deal with conflict in your tank?

[nuxx]

Roll of the dice IMO.

Never know what is going to be aggressive. Had a bristletooth tang be the most aggressive thing in the tank. Smaller than the other tangs by a large margin and added in the middle. Also had a blue tang get super aggressive.

Having lots of areas in the tank for fish to "make their own" might help as well. I did this when adding the gem tang to a tank with a black, purple, black hybrid and three yellow tangs (not to mention other body shaped tangs), left him in there for months and 0 aggression when let out.

 

[steveschuerger]

Most of mine are at least semi aggressive except my bangaii but all have their niches and territories. 2 yellow tail damsels each take half the tank and my splendid dottyback takes part of the rocks and caves I’ve set up . My orange spot Blenny has several spots he hangs but isn’t really aggressive but will defend his space. My clowns, well they’re clowns. Tank is an SR60.

 

[AlgaeBarn]

I like to put zoas in between any coral that might throw off sweepers to another one close by -Raven

 

[vlangel]

Fish are my first love and it stresses me when someone is being bullied. I try to get fish that are compatible but a renegade can always turn up. I used to cross my fingers and hope for the best but now I actually will try to catch either the bully or the bullied. My display has a 30 gallon sump in the basement so I have banished bullies or given asylum to the oppressed. Right now only a re-homed Percula clown and a neon goby live there.

The display has lots of hiding spots to also help alleviate tension.

 

[Homey D. Clownfish]

I just started a 50 gallon mixed reef last August after a 10 year break and so far (knock on wood) everyone has gotten along splendidly. I admit there’s more information out there now to set people up for success than when I started this hobby in the early 2000’s.

 

[Charles Zinn]

I got so many replies from here and different subs, I don't know if I already asked this to you, but do you think I can get one now? Or should I wait longer than 8 months? My same bed definitely has crap in it because it's not pristine white anymore. I went through a Dyno outbreak then a green hair algae outbreak and now a diatom outbreak. The sand bed definitely needs cleaning. I manually siphon it but it doesn't stay white for long.

Try pods sand sifting starfish add to cleanup crew add bacteria worker fish for algae

 

[BuddyBonButt]

Try pods sand sifting starfish add to cleanup crew add bacteria worker fish for algae

Already in there. I have 1 star, 2 conch, I dose pods 4 to 5 times a week, 5 Nas snails, and an urchin lol

 

[TheDragonsReef]

For fish i try to plan for peace, but with tangs its always up in the air. Luckily if they dont work out i usually have another tank i can throw them in.

With corals, its inevitable in a mixed reef with certain corals. Its especially tough to keep zoas, encrusting montis, bubbles and other large lps from over reaching. Atleast with acros you can typically just cut them back.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

They also arent some mini or pico type goby, they get fairly large as far as small reef critters go. My large male is a solid 5 inches long and about as thick as a standard hot dog.

Mine as well - he's a beast. Chunkiest fish in my tank, lol.

 

[Gary67]

i had i largw devil damsel 1 dragon bleeny killed 2 watchmen damsel killed a few fish along with maroon clown i have a tang that kept poking at a wrasse i also lost a 6 line wrasse a chalk bass and a couple i can't count i am changing my tank over to a wrasse tank this week i hope. damsel and the female clown run most of them down also lost 2 yellow coris wrasse. Can't remember any others but i knoow there was a few them be the breaks i have 3 wrasse's left don't want to lose any more

 

[Mark Bradley]

I keep an eye on everything - I’ll frag things to make them smaller, I’ll chip away at something encrusting. If something just gets too big I’ll trade it. Works ok but not perfect.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Mine as well - he's a beast. Chunkiest fish in my tank, lol.

Yeah they dont do justice when they sell you a little 2 inch goby about the width of a colored pencil. In 6 months youve got a sand moving machine on your hands.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

As far as Aggression, fish do not read the compatibility book, you did. There are certain fish that you of course wouldn’t put together. I keep a couple of Acrylic Mirrors, set up to hang on the outside of the aquarium. Does wonders, for diverting attention off of a new inhabitant.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

Yeah they dont do justice when they sell you a little 2 inch goby about the width of a colored pencil. In 6 months youve got a sand moving machine on your hands.

Exactly! And I have a pretty deep, fine grain sandbed... Bob the Builder keeps it sparkly clean, but also moves mountains of sand back and forth every day so I can't really keep anything on the sandbed. I even have to blow sand off of my big leathers higher up in the tank every evening. He has a ginormous mouth too, lol - I've seen him suck up a snail and pass it through his gills like it was nothing, haha.

 

[takitaj]

I just hold one of these up to the glass

 

[Bucs20fan]

Exactly! And I have a pretty deep, fine grain sandbed... Bob the Builder keeps it sparkly clean, but also moves mountains of sand back and forth every day so I can't really keep anything on the sandbed. I even have to blow sand off of my big leathers higher up in the tank every evening. He has a ginormous mouth too, lol - I've seen him suck up a snail and pass it through his gills like it was nothing, haha.

And if they cant pass them through they grab em and play basketball with them. Poor hermits and snails are tossed around every day.

 

[Sink_or_Swim]

And if they cant pass them through they grab em and play basketball with them. Poor hermits and snails are tossed around every day.

Yes! He played a game of toss the shell with my jawfish one time - so did my bicolor blenny, lol.

 

[Bucs20fan]

Yes! He played a game of toss the shell with my jawfish one time - so did my bicolor blenny, lol.

My large male is currently in disarray because i have two very large nassarius snails, like they are huge, and he cannot get his mouth around them enough to toss em. so he just flips them over constantly.

 

[Treefer32]

The other night I saw my mimic Tang (transitioned to adult) and my large 14 inch creole anthia in a tunnel. All I saw were their tails sticking out and they just constantly flicked at each other for close to 5 minutes until they both swam out in opposite directions. Stalemate. . . 'till next time. Heh. In order to add more fish I need to add a lot at once I think. My Male Creole anthia (about 11-12" in length now) chases one of my little wrasses around the tank. I have no idea why other than he can. The dumb anthia hides under rocks and has only his head sticking out and then swims out at fish at times. Yes... everyone gets it, you're the largest fish in the tank... You don't need to constantly remind them. . . take a chill pill!

 

[glency]

I just added a @Biota_Marine captive bred Gold Lined Rabbitfish. My yellow tang is a punk. Put it in the sump. The blue hippo became a punk. Put yellow tang back in. Venomous spines will just have to do their job. ‍