Who to add Last

[Wandering Albatross]

Good afternoon all,

I'm coming up on the end of my stocking, and I'm trying to determine who of these three will be added last. Or which should be added together so one doesn't claim the whole tank. Heard mixed reviews on aggression for all three.

Orchid dottyback
Blk/Wht Clown
Royal gramma

I was thinking the clowns when I add the mandarins, and then the grammas and dottybacks as the last anticipated batch, because of their similar colors.

5x2x2', 150g, lots of rock, deep sand, current residents are peaceful to date (with exception of one-way, both new, blenny on blenny harassment with bully currently sumped, and a brief one-way posturing between two of the three garden eels, which has not been observed since)

Thoughts?

 

[Peace River]

Hopefully others will chime in soon, but I would rank them in order to be added: (1) royal gramma, (2) clownfish, and then (3) orchid dottyback. You are on the right track by considering aggression.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Hopefully others will chime in soon, but I would rank them in order to be added: (1) royal gramma, (2) clownfish, and then (3) orchid dottyback. You are on the right track by considering aggression.

Think I could get away with adding the clowns and orchids at the same time? I didn't know if grammas were similar looking enough from a dotty perspective to trigger some kind of territorial response.

I'm a little more concerned about the dottys getting snippy over the grammas, or even the clowns. Some people have said theirs is super chill and bothers no one. Others say theirs terrorizes anything that enters the tank after it, or gets too close to its cave. But people also said garden eels were hard, so I'm not sure what to think. I can't just send a fish back to the store either, so I'm trying to get everything in order.

Grammas could go with the mandarins as I have yet to hear anything negative on mandarins as tankmates. Been trying to even out the cost of shipping by buying in batches, and many of the corals I'm gunning for that I could use as filler aren't in stock at this time.

 

[Peace River]

You should be OK adding the grammas and clowns. Dottybacks as a rule are more aggressive. Albeit the orchids are less aggressive than many of the other dottybacks. There is always a risk, but this seems like a reasonable plan to move forward.

 

[goodbalance046]

I’m relatively new to the hobby and have owned 3 dottybacks. They are the biggest jerks you will ever have in your tank. (Pardon my french) I highly recommend NOT getting one unless it’s going to be by itself or you like your fish hiding all the time. We Just moved and actually got another one because my husband loves them but ultimately ended up catching it and trading it in for store credit at my LFS because he was so dominating in the tank.

In all instances, even if it was the last one added, the dottybacks somehow always ended up dominating my tank and picking on everything its size and smaller (even some of the bigger fish sometimes). They’re skinny and fast so they are *just about* impossible to catch once they’re in your display.

So I repeat: I would highly NOT recommend a dottyback with my limited experience

 

[Peace River]

I’m relatively new to the hobby and have owned 3 dottybacks. They are the biggest jerks you will ever have in your tank. (Pardon my french) I highly recommend NOT getting one unless it’s going to be by itself or you like your fish hiding all the time. We Just moved and actually got another one because my husband loves them but ultimately ended up catching it and trading it in for store credit at my LFS because he was so dominating in the tank.

In all instances, even if it was the last one added, the dottybacks somehow always ended up dominating my tank and picking on everything its size and smaller (even some of the bigger fish sometimes). They’re skinny and fast so they are *just about* impossible to catch once they’re in your display.

So I repeat: I would highly NOT recommend a dottyback with my limited experience

Good feedback! What type of dottybacks do you have? Each individual fish is different, but some people consider the orchids to be the least aggressive of dottybacks.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

Good feedback! What type of dottybacks do you have? Each individual fish is different, but some people consider the orchids to be the least aggressive of dottybacks.

+1 on this, what kind of dottyback? What size was the tank? Who all was in the tank? Do you have a pic of the aqua scape of that tank?

 

[Wandering Albatross]

On a related note, does anyone else have a super lazy blenny? I got mine to eat algae with my snails, and he'll pick once in a while then nothing for hours. The second blenny is still in time out so he can't help. Got the uglies going finally and hair algae is the current growing pain.

Tempted to get another algae eating fish, but I don't want to lose fish if I get unlucky with a sickly tang, and foxface do very little for me. They just don't look good enough to justify $100+, unless they can be sexed and paired.

Thoughts?

 

[goodbalance046]

I’m relatively new to the hobby and have owned 3 dottybacks. They are the biggest jerks you will ever have in your tank. (Pardon my french) I highly recommend NOT getting one unless it’s going to be by itself or you like your fish hiding all the time. We Just moved and actually got another one because my husband loves them but ultimately ended up catching it and trading it in for store credit at my LFS because he was so dominating in the tank.

In all instances, even if it was the last one added, the dottybacks somehow always ended up dominating my tank and picking on everything its size and smaller (even some of the bigger fish sometimes). They’re skinny and fast so they are *just about* impossible to catch once they’re in your display.

So I repeat: I would highly NOT recommend a dottyback with my limited experience

Good feedback! What type of dottybacks do you have? Each individual fish is different, but some people consider the orchids to be the least aggressive of dottybacks.

I don’t have them anymore. But my tank is a 75 gal with close to 40-50 lbs of rock.

The first one I had was an orchid dottyback with a pair of snowflake clowns, domino damsel, yellow tail damsel, 2 blue damsels, and a cleaner shrimp. I was alright with him in this tank because all of the damsels were pretty aggressive back and would hold their own.

The second one I had was a neon dottyback I can’t remember what I had with it though. He was part of a tank crash so I didn’t have him long but I do remember him chasing the other fish around the tank.

The one I traded in was another orchid. He was with a pair of ocellaris clowns, coral beauty, and a watchman/pistol shrimp pair. He was probably the most aggressive of the 3 I’ve owned. The coral beauty was always hiding in the rock work, the clowns were always up in the top corners of the tank, and the goby and pistol shrimp were always having to make new burrows because he was constantly sneaking into them and then claiming them as his own. The whole atmosphere of the tank and the remaining fishes personalities changed as soon as I got rid of him.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

I don’t have them anymore. But my tank is a 75 gal with close to 40-50 lbs of rock.

The first one I had was an orchid dottyback with a pair of snowflake clowns, domino damsel, yellow tail damsel, 2 blue damsels, and a cleaner shrimp. I was alright with him in this tank because all of the damsels were pretty aggressive back and would hold their own.

The second one I had was a neon dottyback I can’t remember what I had with it though. He was part of a tank crash so I didn’t have him long but I do remember him chasing the other fish around the tank.

The one I traded in was another orchid. He was with a pair of ocellaris clowns, coral beauty, and a watchman/pistol shrimp pair. He was probably the most aggressive of the 3 I’ve owned. The coral beauty was always hiding in the rock work, the clowns were always up in the top corners of the tank, and the goby and pistol shrimp were always having to make new burrows because he was constantly sneaking into them and then claiming them as his own. The whole atmosphere of the tank and the remaining fishes personalities changed as soon as I got rid of him.

And all three of these setups were using the same 75g? Seeing the aqua scape would have really helped with my hypothesis. How long was the tank? How big was he in relation to his tank mates?

 

[Peace River]

@Wandering Albatross - to compare tank interaction, you would also need to consider the aggression impact of the damsels. Although the tank was said to level out once the dottyback was removed, the damsels may have added to the aggression dynamic which isn't part of your equation.

 

[goodbalance046]

@Wandering Albatross it was the same 75 gal each time. I change the rock work all the time though and have been adding rocks over time so it’s vastly different from what it used to be. I’m also not the best aquascaper, but I’ve attached a couple of pictures from over the last 3 years for you. The last one is my current setup.

 

[Wandering Albatross]

@Wandering Albatross - to compare tank interaction, you would also need to consider the aggression impact of the damsels. Although the tank was said to level out once the dottyback was removed, the damsels may have added to the aggression dynamic which isn't part of your equation.

I was accounting for all tankmates in my assessment as well, but my thinking was in terms of possible territory, or lack of. We often set up our tanks to be visually appealing, while not always providing enough space for hiding, because of course we want to see our fish. I only wonder what that threshold is, how few caves can we have before we see an uptick in aggression, from and between any territorial fish. Time and time again I read about a problem fish that gets moved into a new or different tank, be it larger or just a different rock scape, and suddenly the fish is on his best behavior. But of course tankmates also play a role. Perhaps a timid fish enables the bad behavior, or maybe aggression from others controls it, perhaps aggression by others triggers a mob mentality. Who knows, I think it’s worth considering

 

[Wandering Albatross]

@Wandering Albatross it was the same 75 gal each time. I change the rock work all the time though and have been adding rocks over time so it’s vastly different from what it used to be. I’m also not the best aquascaper, but I’ve attached a couple of pictures from over the last 3 years for you. The last one is my current setup.

I wonder if the amount of rock played a role, maybe not enough breaking in line of sight?