Can dottybacks be kept in groups?

[jayjay5531]

Or in pairs?

Also will they eat smaller shrimp

 

[ryeguyy84]

Can dottybacks be kept in groups?

My dotty back doesn't mess with my cleaner shrimp, can't comment on the pairs question

 

[farfromsea]

You have a larger tank right? 120ish? They are territorial and aggressive. They do not really exhibit shoaling behavior so a large group wouldn't really have that effect. If anything I would try a pair of the orchid dottybacks in a large tank but the risk is they eat ornamental shrimp. (another type of dottyback attacking a shrimp: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=psV9qDSrUMM) I think you mentioned firefish/cardinalfish in a stocking thread I think they might get bossed around by the dottybacks.

 

[Sk8r]

They're pretty pushy toward many other fish, and my suspicion is toward each other as well---I had a yellow once. They're nearly impossible to catch without major disarrangement.

 

[Joeb1983]

I had two orchids, splendid, neon and purple stripe in mine.

The splendid and neon hashed it out for the first few days, but all was well after once territory was established.

Velvet took them all out unfortunately...

Tank was a 72x24x15.