Dottback = bully

[Mingiunate]

i have a dotty back
i think they call it a blue cheek maybe
its blue with a yellow face and with a yellow stripe down its back

i just watched him kill a peppermint shrimp and he likes to terrorize my 6 line wrasse...

how do i keep him in check?
or will he chill out eventually....

 

[Sk8r]

Dottybacks are akin to the wolf eel: they're predators within their size range (what isn't?) but they're also extremely intelligent for a fish, very canny at solving puzzles, and if they can nip a non-resistent creature to bite sized pieces without risk to themselves, they will do it and count them as dinner. I've had them in tanks with pretty mean damsels that could hold their own, but crustaceans are natural prey and smaller fish that can be bullied likely will be. They're also very hard to catch, since they learn a trap just about the first time it nearly catches them.

 

[Ironsheikh]

you should of read the dottybacks basslets book --they can be some of the meanest --especially the ones with the red face

 

[ACBlinky]

Nothing you can do to 'keep him in check' other than keep him away from peaceful fish and inverts, he's just doing what comes naturally. My neon dottyback is in a tank with other, similarly agressive fish and there are occasional squabbles but no fights. He takes down hermits, snails and pods whenever he wants a snack; I'd never put him with smaller shrimp, they'd last mere seconds.

 

[stykthyn]

dottybacks belong to the grouper family as do all basslets. they are a fraction of the size of their full size cousins but have full on grouper attitude and aggression. I had an orchid dottyback that would school a 6" clarkii clown during feeding time. now that was something to see.

 

[Wolverine]

Removing him from the tank is the only way to truly keep him in check. The other method that might work is to add an even more belligerent fish, but this method has obvious drawbacks. It's likely to get worse as he settles in, not better.

Dave

 

[FlyGTI]

I agree with Wolverine, having learned from my own mistakes. I had a neon dottyback that was mean when I got him, and became even more cantankerous the more comfortable in the tank he became.

 

[rustybucket145]

I have a BiColor Pseudochromis (Royal Dottyback) that is a total ***. I have recently added a Thornback Cowfish and the Dottyback is harrassing him. So.... the dottyback is being evicted. I will start this week trying to fish him out. Anybody got any spectacular ideas.

 

[Sk8r]

try a mirror. If you get him fighting it, you may be able to net him. They're about too clever for a bottle trap.