Indigo Dottyback

[cristata.reef]

Has anyone had experience with the Indigo Dottybacks (P. fridmani x sankeyi)? Looking for a generally reef safe fish that won't get terrorized by my clowns (which already killed a firefish). Any other information will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance!

 

[mike werner]

got one.had him for 2 years now with Picassos that are richards.it's a great looking fish that should out swim and hide from your clowns.it is a hider in my tank but I have a lot of rock.kinda like my kids.only shows up at feeding time.i also have an orchid dottyback in the same tank.they get along just fine but I like the orchid dottyback a lot better.check them out they really do pop and keep their color as does the indigo

 

[mort]

I had a pair of these when they were first available in the uk. I also have a feisty clownfish pair and there was never any problems with these. In general firefish are really timid whereas these dotties have enough spunk to stick up for themselves if needed.
Mine patrolled the rockwork out of the reach of the clowns and we're constantly breeding. I lost the male after several years of near constant breeding as it was just warn out, the female lasted several years after that.

 

[cristata.reef]

Thanks @mort and @mike werner! Sounds like it might be more compatible with my clowns.

 

[mckinney0171]

i bought an ORA electric blue indigo dottyback about a month ago. since then i have had four mysterious fish deaths (sunrise dottyback, kole tang, coral beauty angel, and a randall's blue assessor) and have seen him ramming other fish. he cruises through the water like a barracuda and I am pretty suspicious that he killed the fish that turned up dead / missing. He doesn't stick to a particular region of the tank either and seems to think he owns the entire tank. At first possible opportunity I will be netting him and removing him.
Just wanted to throw you a warning about these fish.

 

[cristata.reef]

i bought an ORA electric blue indigo dottyback about a month ago. since then i have had four mysterious fish deaths (sunrise dottyback, kole tang, coral beauty angel, and a randall's blue assessor) and have seen him ramming other fish. he cruises through the water like a barracuda and I am pretty suspicious that he killed the fish that turned up dead / missing. He doesn't stick to a particular region of the tank either and seems to think he owns the entire tank. At first possible opportunity I will be netting him and removing him.
Just wanted to throw you a warning about these fish.

Yea that's kinda what I've been wondering too. I know dottybacks have a really bad reputation for being quite nasty to their tankmates, but I wanted something that could stand up to the clowns, considering the clowns actually followed the firefish into the live rock

 

[Jesterrace]

got one.had him for 2 years now with Picassos that are richards.it's a great looking fish that should out swim and hide from your clowns.it is a hider in my tank but I have a lot of rock.kinda like my kids.only shows up at feeding time.i also have an orchid dottyback in the same tank.they get along just fine but I like the orchid dottyback a lot better.check them out they really do pop and keep their color as does the indigo

I agree, the captive bred orchid dottyback would be a good balance. It generally doesn't seek trouble out but won't be pushed around either. Unfortunately people often confuse it with the Purple. . . .with disastrous results. :(

 

[mort]

i bought an ORA electric blue indigo dottyback about a month ago. since then i have had four mysterious fish deaths (sunrise dottyback, kole tang, coral beauty angel, and a randall's blue assessor) and have seen him ramming other fish. he cruises through the water like a barracuda and I am pretty suspicious that he killed the fish that turned up dead / missing. He doesn't stick to a particular region of the tank either and seems to think he owns the entire tank. At first possible opportunity I will be netting him and removing him.
Just wanted to throw you a warning about these fish.

From my personal experience with dottybacks that is very unusual behaviour. Neither of the parent species of the hybrid are known for aggression, actually quite the contrary.
I would think there was something else going on as well as unless the angel and kole tang were absolutely tiny, the dotty wouldn't be able to kill them unless it was fully mature (and even then I don't think it would). Assessors are more timid and it wouldn't surprise me that one of this suffered due to an indigo and if there was a large size difference between the dotty's then again could see a problem but a mature sunrise would always come out victorious ime as they are more aggressive than indigo.

 

[mckinney0171]

My sunrise dottyback was extremely timid. Scared of its shadow is how I used to describe it. I too had heard sunrise were more aggressive than indigo but have found in my case this was not true. Last night I saw the indigo go after my neon cleaner goby.

 

[mckinney0171]

Agree with the assessor. I have hopes that he is still around just too scared to come out. He had been known to disappear for days.

 

[mckinney0171]

The angelfish was a baby. It was a biota captive bred angel and used to roam the tank specifically in the cave region where the indigo goes to hide. Though I have no proof of it he is still suspect #1. The kole tang I have no idea what happened. It was a full grown kole. Perhaps you are right that he couldn’t take out a full grown tang.

 

[Jesterrace]

The angelfish was a baby. It was a biota captive bred angel and used to roam the tank specifically in the cave region where the indigo goes to hide. Though I have no proof of it he is still suspect #1. The kole tang I have no idea what happened. It was a full grown kole. Perhaps you are right that he couldn’t take out a full grown tang.

I would be more suspicious of disease given the number of fish lost and even though Dottybacks will challenge other fish I can't see how a Kole Tang could possibly be bullied by a dinky little dottyback, given the fact that they are big and assertive. That really sucks about the captive bred coral beauty as they are pricey and beautiful fish (the colors stand out more than the wild caught).

 

[mckinney0171]

yeah the Biota CB was the most heartbreaking one for me. It was a beautiful fish.

i suspected disease at first too. but, no other fish have shown any sign of distress. I see torn fins on my tangs but I think that is mostly tang to tang aggression. I hope you are right about the Indigo. He is a beautiful fish but really has a strange personality. I think I mentioned before that he goes all over the tank and acts really assertive / aggressive. Most of my other fish with that body style keep to their little region of the tank and stay pretty close to there. He has a cave that he hides in. But, most of the day he is out patrolling. Really beautiful fish though and I hope I can keep him. But, man he just has a nasty look on his face. LOL

Time for a bigger tank!

 

[mike werner]

you all got any idea how hard it is to get a good pic of a dottyback?them suckers are fast.anyway hears my best try at it.orchid and indigo at feeding time

 

[Jesterrace]

I gave up on fish pics after I got my melanurus wrasse. Like trying to get a toddler to sit still for the camera. I switched to videos and have been happier and much less frustrated since.

 

[mike werner]

I can't glue my dottybacks butt to a chair like my kid.video would be an option if I didn't have a flip phone.i've been avoiding it but it's time to make the leap and get an upgrade.maybe the kids will stop laughing at my phone if I do.

 

[CindyKz]

I have one in a 32 gal with a valentini puffer, gold midas blenny and flame hawk. They are all fine NOW but when I was quaratining the blenny and the dotty I treated with copper. The blenny didn't take to it well (I ended up discontinuing the copper) and while he was struggling the dottyback tore off his tail :(

Now that the blenny is back to normal health he stands up for himself.