Royal Dottyback attacking clowns - what to do??

[djl]

Ok - stupid, dumb, idiotic newbie mistake. I was taken by the color (I know, I know) of a Royal Dottyback, and put him in a small'ish tank that I knew I was going to add two small tank raised ocellaris clowns to. The dottyback is probably 1.5", the clowns are half his size. The dottyback has been in the tank for a week, I just added the clowns this morning.

As soon as I floated their bags in the tank, the dottyback began to attack them. Once in the tank, the clowns refused to hide - they just swam along slowly out in the open water. The dottyback comes out from under his rocks and strikes at them. I am afraid that he will stress them to death, even if he doesn't actually kill them himself.

Aside from the obvious suggestion that I shouldn't have bought the dottyback in the first place, any hints? Is there any chance that things will get better with time - that the dottyback will eventually back off or that the clowns will hide? Or do I just need to find some way to get the dottyback out of the tank permanently?

Thanks!

***dan

[rlp]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news, Dan, but I think you already know what must be done. Somebody has to go back to the lfs. Dottybacks (as you have found out) are territorial & aggressive. The dottyback considers that whole 10 gallon hex his turf. Even if they got along, 3 fish in a 10 is pushing the envelope, especially since a hex has even less surface area than a regular ten. These fish would be compatible in a larger tank where they could each establish their own territory. Since you like the dotty's colors so much, I think you should just keep him & put percs on your wishlist for when you get a bigger tank.

[Wolverine]

I think the dottyback's got to go. That's a territorial fish, and it's going to continue to pound the clownfish. That would happen even if you had put the fish in together. Now the dottyback's also got the advantage of having established his territory, so they're not even starting on equal ground. Even if you get things peaceful in that tank, you're going to run into trouble as the fish grow. In a 20g you could probably do this combination, but not in a 10g.

If this were a bigger tank, then what I would suggest would be to tear down the entire aquascape and rebuild it completely differently. This sort of resets the territories, and gives newcoming fish more of a chance. But in this case I'd say you have to return the dottyback.

Dave

[rlp]

Just to clarify, I meant to suggest keeping the dotty since it's such a little tank & taking the percs back, but whatever.

[Wolverine]

rlp, yeah, that would also work. I suggested this way because it seems he was originally set on the clownfish, and that's what he really wanted.

Dave

[djl]

So it sounds like the dottyback has to go (I want the clowns for sure). So how do I catch him? He is very quick, and prefers the areas under the rocks at the bottom of the tank. I guess I could take all the rock out of the tank and net him - is that the best/only way...?

***dan

[cal3v]

The easiest, although most labor intensive and possibly bad(i fyou have corals already) is to take a ll the lr out. You could easily build a trap. Do a search for "fish trap" on this board.

[djl]

Painful, but done. I removed all the rock from one half of the tank and most of the rock from the other, and finally managed to chase the dottyback out into the open and net him. He is happily housed at the LFS, and my ocellaris clowns are doing great.

Thanks for the advice - you guys are wonderful!

***dan