Yea or nay Purple Dottyback

Turnage · Jun 23, 2019

So I picked up a small (1.25") purple Dottyback from my lfs and was told it would not bug my other fish because it is so small. However I have seen comments on Reef2Reef in regards to the dottyback, "Evil", "Spawn of Satan" "Oh God never again", ect. I currently have the following my 32 biocube tank:

Snowflake Clown (2.25")
Midas Blenny (3.5")
Firefish (3")
Yellow Watchman Gooby (2")

Am I asking for trouble or will the little guy not be an butt to the other fish?

reeplay87 · Jun 23, 2019

I think it just depends if you hate your other fish or not, mine was the devil in my Evo.

mattzang · Jun 23, 2019

idk about initially, but he'll eventually get bigger and your goby and firefish will probably be less than enthusiastic about the situation

should've got an orchid dottyback instead. looks very similar, but much less aggressive (still somewhat aggressive). in a biocube, not sure i'd put a dottyback with a firefish and goby

bluprntguy · Jun 23, 2019

My orchid dottyback reluctantly chases my yellowline goby occasionally but is 100% friendly with everyone else in the tank. I’ve heard that the purple dottybacks are more aggressive. I’ve also heard that the captive raised dottybacks are a little nicer. If you are truly concerned, you might want to take the purple one back and grab yourself a captive bred orchid dottyback...

Jesterrace · Jun 23, 2019

Definitely an issue with the Firefish and Goby. Not sure if the other two can hold their own or not. I'm not sure I would stick even an orchid in a small cube like that. Personally I would swap the dottyback for a basslet (ie Royal Gramma, Black Cap).

BestMomEver · Jun 23, 2019

I have only had two dottybacks... a diadema and a sunrise. They diadema was a jerk. I returned him. The sunrise is okie dokie. I've never had a problem with him. It depends on a lot of things... size of tank, other inhabitants, order of introduction, places to hide, frequency of feeding, etc...