Melanarus turned bully?

RyanCSGO

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
1,224
Reaction score
1,584
Location
Orange, California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Recently added a Blue Star Leopard Wrasse. First few hours everything was normal, swimming around, eating. watched her dive into the sand, no signs of her for a few days(I know this is normal).

Yesterday I was changing out my filter socks and found her in one of them. I placed her back into the display and she went right back into the sand. I went home for lunch about an hour ago and saw her come out finally, my regular leopard seemed a bit irritated by her, but nothing serious. Immediately when the Melanarus spotted her, the chase was on. She dove back into the sand after about 10-20 seconds of being chased.

Best solution to correct the situation? Catching either of them will be difficult.
This is the first of any aggression I have seen in this tank.
 

nautical_nathaniel

Indecision may or may not be my problem.
View Badges
Joined
Feb 19, 2014
Messages
4,881
Reaction score
12,262
Location
West Palm Beach, FL
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would try the mirror method for fish aggression. You tape a mirror somewhere on the tank to distract the aggressive fish long enough for them to forget about the new fish. My melanurus hates its reflection and go after it anytime it gets the chance.

You can also tape a picture of a bigger melanurus to the tank and see what that does. That's supposed to work with yellow tangs and angelfish.
 
OP
OP
RyanCSGO

RyanCSGO

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
1,224
Reaction score
1,584
Location
Orange, California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
I would try the mirror method for fish aggression. You tape a mirror somewhere on the tank to distract the aggressive fish long enough for them to forget about the new fish. My melanurus hates its reflection and go after it anytime it gets the chance.

You can also tape a picture of a bigger melanurus to the tank and see what that does. That's supposed to work with yellow tangs and angelfish.
alright ill give that a go once i get back home today. thanks!
 

eatbreakfast

Fish Nerd
View Badges
Joined
Oct 21, 2013
Messages
14,837
Reaction score
16,238
Location
CT
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If the mirror track doesn't work, paying attention to where one of them buries, and just scooping the sand with a net, can capture the fish without chasing throughout the tank.
 
OP
OP
RyanCSGO

RyanCSGO

Valuable Member
View Badges
Joined
Feb 17, 2016
Messages
1,224
Reaction score
1,584
Location
Orange, California
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
If the mirror track doesn't work, paying attention to where one of them buries, and just scooping the sand with a net, can capture the fish without chasing throughout the tank.
Yeah that’s my next plan. Both of them have spots that are right up next to the rock work. Just gotta be gentle.
 

Bubbles, bubbles, and more bubbles: Do you keep bubble-like corals in your reef?

  • I currently have bubble-like corals in my reef.

    Votes: 50 40.7%
  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef, but I have in the past.

    Votes: 15 12.2%
  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef, but I plan to in the future.

    Votes: 33 26.8%
  • I don’t currently have bubble-like corals in my reef and have no plans to in the future.

    Votes: 23 18.7%
  • Other.

    Votes: 2 1.6%
Back
Top