Do Acclimation Boxes Work After Aggression?

[Dr Colliebreath]

How well do you find acclimation boxes work once a newly introduced fish gets beat on?

Say you move a fish from QT to the DT, and an existing fish takes a couple of bites out of the newcomer's fins. You turn off the lights, but the aggression doesn't stop, so you put the newcomer into an acclimation box (in this case one of those mesh breeder boxes) and put a mirror on the tank to distract the aggressor. The aggressor is a bit larger than the newcomer, but the two fish are not similar in color, shape, or any other respect.

How long do you keep the newcomer in the acclimation box before trying another introduction and how much of a chance is there that the aggressor really will forget its dislike of the newcomer? I realize it depends entirely on the two individual fish, but I thought I would see what people think.

The aggressor has only been in the DT 2 months and let a fish in the DT 2 weeks ago with only a bit of body-nipping to establish who was boss. Based on this, I am thinking that the aggressor took a dislike to the newcomer this time and may not get over it, so one of the two likely will have to go. The DT was fed just before the introduction and as soon as the aggression started.

 

[Sonicblast12]

My experience is that it works better to put the aggressor in the acclimation box and let the new addition have the run of the tank if the mix doesn't work right away. A lot less stress for the newcomer and the established fish can handle being pent up for a few days.

You can make almost any mix work that way, but what kind of fish are we talking about here?

 

[davocean]

If it's a mix of tangs in that size tank I doubt an acclimation box is going to do anything.

 

[xxtriggermanxx]

I had that issue when I added a smaller male swallowtail angel. My female beat the daylights out of h im . Put the male in for almost a month , they now swim stand each other.of course the male is now a female. With a too fun that will never look quite Wright

 

[xxtriggermanxx]

Phone added all kinda of mistakes. Sorry

 

[humaguy]

would also rearrange the aquascaping and allow them to establish new territories...

 

[MrTuskfish]

Without knowing what kinds of fish are involved, a "covers all' answer is tough. Some fish, and some individuals, just won't tolerate each other under any circumstances.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I was trying to keep the focus off the species of fish and see if anyone thought in general that a fish that took a dislike to a newcomer ever relents. It isn't two fish that would fight because of a fundamental conflict (e.g., it isn't two tangs).

My gut reaction is that immediate animosity is a really bad sign and it may not be worth the effort to try and get them to co-exist. I doubt I can catch the aggressor and am not sure whether I can make an eggcrate divided work.

The aggressor has only been in the DT 2 months so it shouldn't be that territorial and the newcomer is not a conflicting competitor, so I am surprised at the aggressor's response.

Thanks for your comments.

 

[blface]

I have had to do this quite a few times. My kole tang is a real PITA when it comes to new additions. I had to recatch a dwarf angel & place it in an acclimation box. I only use a clear box that I can move arround the tank so the aggressor can see the new fish in differnt places. I have had to leave the new fish in the box for over 4 weeks once untill all aggression stopped.

 

[MrTuskfish]

Try putting almost any fish in the same tank with a mature, female maroon clown. The newcomer will almost always be attacked relentlessly and there is seldom a way to solve it. I've owned several fish that simply would not tolerate any new fish and I doubt an acclimation box would work. Putting the offender in a QT for a month or so; then re-introducing him, will often work though. Once some fish become the "Alpha" fish; only a change in his seniority will change the attitude, IMO & IME. I have also had a few fish that just hated any other fish and nothing, one was a longnose butterfly, of all things. Consider my comments based on my keeping mostly larger, more aggressive fish.

 

[davocean]

Telling us what fish we are talking about would make a big difference in advice given.
When I see someone holding back on those details, it's usually because they are trying to keep something they shouldn't be keeping, or too small of a tank for that species.
That may not be the case, but I'm curious on the mystery.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

As I noted in post #8, I was trying to keep the focus off the fish species, but here goes. The aggressor is a pbt and I know their reputation and the need to put them in last, etc. It just happened that the tank still looked empty when I put the pbt in and a Moorish Idol and a Regal Angel appeared on Diver's Den at the same time, so I thought I would give it a try. The Regal Angel is the newcomer that is getting beat on.

I had hoped to introduce the Moorish Idol and the Regal Angel at the same time, but the Regal had lymphocystis when quarantine was up at 6 weeks and had it pretty much the whole time, so I elected to hold it back for 2 more weeks.

When I introduced the Moorish Idol, the pbt just made sure the Moorish Idol knew who was boss with some chasing and body nipping for an hour or two but there was no more aggression as of the following morning.

Given the lack of a problem with the Moorish Idol, the fact that the pbt was only in the DT 2 months, and the pbt is a juvenile (about 2.5" or less when I got it, one of the smallest I have seen), I was actually more concerned that the flame angel would be a problem on introduction of the Regal. The flame crowded the Regal for 5-10 minutes as a welcome, and then they were fine.

I am still not sure why the pbt took such a dislike to the Regal as they don't look alike and aren't really competitors. The pbt sliced the Regal's tail fin horizontally from body to the end (presumably to handicap the Regal's ability to swim), and took one or two bites out of the top back fin before I could get the Regal out. The Regal is a 1/2" or so smaller than the pbt and didn't seem to fight back.

Thus my question - is it realistic to expect two fish to co-exist after getting off to such a bad start? If not, I have to get rid of one. If so, I have to try to capture the pbt (difficult at best as I don't even have a fish trap right now), keep the Regal in an acclimation box for some period, or put up an eggcrate tank divider for a while if that is possible in a DT.

So far, the Regal has been in the acclimation box/mesh breeder box for 24 hours and the pbt has ignored it and focused on the mirror taped to the side of the tank. I tried netting it this evening, but it didn't get close enough to the net.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I have had to do this quite a few times. My kole tang is a real PITA when it comes to new additions. I had to recatch a dwarf angel & place it in an acclimation box. I only use a clear box that I can move arround the tank so the aggressor can see the new fish in differnt places. I have had to leave the new fish in the box for over 4 weeks once untill all aggression stopped.

Hmm, a tang and an angel, maybe there is a pattern here.

Was the aggression in the form of the tang trying to get at the angel while the latter was in the acclimation box? Did you have to catch the angle multiple times?

 

[flameangel88]

As I noted in post #8, I was trying to keep the focus off the fish species, but here goes. The aggressor is a pbt and I know their reputation and the need to put them in last, etc. It just happened that the tank still looked empty when I put the pbt in and a Moorish Idol and a Regal Angel appeared on Diver's Den at the same time, so I thought I would give it a try. The Regal Angel is the newcomer that is getting beat on.

I had hoped to introduce the Moorish Idol and the Regal Angel at the same time, but the Regal had lymphocystis when quarantine was up at 6 weeks and had it pretty much the whole time, so I elected to hold it back for 2 more weeks.

When I introduced the Moorish Idol, the pbt just made sure the Moorish Idol knew who was boss with some chasing and body nipping for an hour or two but there was no more aggression as of the following morning.

Given the lack of a problem with the Moorish Idol, the fact that the pbt was only in the DT 2 months, and the pbt is a juvenile (about 2.5" or less when I got it, one of the smallest I have seen), I was actually more concerned that the flame angel would be a problem on introduction of the Regal. The flame crowded the Regal for 5-10 minutes as a welcome, and then they were fine.

I am still not sure why the pbt took such a dislike to the Regal as they don't look alike and aren't really competitors. The pbt sliced the Regal's tail fin horizontally from body to the end (presumably to handicap the Regal's ability to swim), and took one or two bites out of the top back fin before I could get the Regal out. The Regal is a 1/2" or so smaller than the pbt and didn't seem to fight back.

Thus my question - is it realistic to expect two fish to co-exist after getting off to such a bad start? If not, I have to get rid of one. If so, I have to try to capture the pbt (difficult at best as I don't even have a fish trap right now), keep the Regal in an acclimation box for some period, or put up an eggcrate tank divider for a while if that is possible in a DT.

So far, the Regal has been in the acclimation box/mesh breeder box for 24 hours and the pbt has ignored it and focused on the mirror taped to the side of the tank. I tried netting it this evening, but it didn't get close enough to the net.

After having a 4" pbt for almost 2 years I can tell you it's relentless when it doesn't like a particular fish. I have a 3.25" blk tang and it's no better. If the new addition can survive 2 weeks of attack the pbt will ease up but unfortunately not many delicate fish last that long under stress. The problem with chasing the pbt or putting it in a acclimation box is stress and you may end up with a bigger problem on your hands if it gets ich. I would get a CLEAR acclimation (the purpose here is to social acclimate so they can easily see each other) for the new addition and keep it in for 7-10 days and monitor closely. I've done 12 days one time as I didn't want to take any chances. I'm pretty sure the pbt will ease up but can the current or any future addition handle a prolong bout of chasing and nipping. While many fishes can handle the chasing and nipping for a short period of time but definitely not the cutting!

 

[geaux xman]

my 5"+ PBT didnt even take a look at my 4" Blue tang when I added it. I had the Blue tang in an acclimation box for about 5 days.

Last week I added a 5" false personifer and the same size emp juvie(changing) went after it hard non-stop. I had the FP in an acclimation box for a week prior to releasing her too. When I added a 5" True Personifer months prior, the emp did not give it any problems and still havent. My FP and TP looks almost identical with the TP a shade lighter and a slight marking on the tail.

After a day I separated the tank in half with an egg crate. Which is very easy to do with my minimalist rockwork.

I'll be another couple of weeks probably before I remove the egg crate b/c I'm about to add another tang. Then I'll see how the emp reacts.

The PBT seems like they are really hit and miss with aggression issues. Thank goodness mine is peaceful.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

How do you keep the eggcrate upright in the tank? Tie it to suction cups on the glass or something?

 

[geaux xman]

well i tied one end to my overflow teeth and the other end facing the front glass panel, I tied it to some more egg crate that covers my top. I only needed two trash bag wire ties.

the egg crate that i used to split the tank is actually the top cover of one half of the tank.

if your rockwork allows it, i think its much better option than an acclimation box.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

How big are your acclimation boxes and where did you get them?

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

well i tied one end to my overflow teeth and the other end facing the front glass panel, I tied it to some more egg crate that covers my top. I only needed two trash bag wire ties.

the egg crate that i used to split the tank is actually the top cover of one half of the tank.

if your rockwork allows it, i think its much better option than an acclimation box.

I could tie one end to the overflow but I have to think about the front side as my tank is covered with glass lids. Maybe jury rigging something to a couple of suction cups.

 

[geaux xman]

You might be able to hold the front egg crate in place with a rock or whatever object you can find that has some weight to it.

My acclimation box is 12x6x6. The place that was making them went bankrupt. Those acclimation box that Dr.F&S and marinedepot sell is pretty small.

I've seen some DIY acclimation boxes that people made out of small acrylic box for gerbils or whatever pet from the petstore, then drilling holes for suction cups. That can be done for pretty cheap if you want to go that route.

There is a guy that a couple of posters had gotten some custom made acrylic acclimation boxes from. His looks very well constructed, but it might cost a good bit and will wake a while.