dede
Active Member
I recently picked up a matted filefish, yellow tang and cleaner wrasse at the lfs on 11/8 and put them in a 10 gallon cycled tank with rock, corals, skimmer etc to observe the fish for the first week. They were all housed in the same aquarium at the lfs and seemed to get along in the quarantine tank.
On 11/17 I moved the fish into another 10 gallon setup for ttm with just a heater, pvc, air hose, temp monitor and ammonia alert. Everyone seemed the same for the first 3 days. I did cut way back on the Fish frenzy I am feeding them because the ammonia badge started to look greenish after the first day.
On 11/20 I moved them to another location with new ttm setup. This location was not as visible to me as the others but I checked on the fish regularly and noticed the cleaner wrasse scrunched down in one of the pvc pipes. I thought he was dead and moved the pipe around and he did come out and swim around a bit. After a while I checked on him again and he was again scrunched down in the pvc. He stayed this way for 3 days and did not come out to eat.
So today (11/23) I moved all the fish again to a clean ttm tank which is very visible and now I see why the wrasse is hiding. The filefish is chasing him around the tank and nipping at his body and fins. I got a good look at the wrasse finally and his tail is shredded in a few places.
I put the wrasse in an acclimation box and the filefish is still trying to get to him through the glass. I thought file fish were supposed to be non aggressive. The filefish does not bother the yellow tang who is about the same size.
So any ideas why he is being aggressive? Food, territory, stress? Do you think this behavior will change once I put them in my 180 gallon tank?
I am feeding them lightly once a day due to ammonia issues and doing water changes daily.
On 11/17 I moved the fish into another 10 gallon setup for ttm with just a heater, pvc, air hose, temp monitor and ammonia alert. Everyone seemed the same for the first 3 days. I did cut way back on the Fish frenzy I am feeding them because the ammonia badge started to look greenish after the first day.
On 11/20 I moved them to another location with new ttm setup. This location was not as visible to me as the others but I checked on the fish regularly and noticed the cleaner wrasse scrunched down in one of the pvc pipes. I thought he was dead and moved the pipe around and he did come out and swim around a bit. After a while I checked on him again and he was again scrunched down in the pvc. He stayed this way for 3 days and did not come out to eat.
So today (11/23) I moved all the fish again to a clean ttm tank which is very visible and now I see why the wrasse is hiding. The filefish is chasing him around the tank and nipping at his body and fins. I got a good look at the wrasse finally and his tail is shredded in a few places.
I put the wrasse in an acclimation box and the filefish is still trying to get to him through the glass. I thought file fish were supposed to be non aggressive. The filefish does not bother the yellow tang who is about the same size.
So any ideas why he is being aggressive? Food, territory, stress? Do you think this behavior will change once I put them in my 180 gallon tank?
I am feeding them lightly once a day due to ammonia issues and doing water changes daily.
