Keeping fish in pairs and groups

[reef80]

I'm a big believer that having large schools of so-call aggreesive fishes can reduce problems and agression and all work out at the end. I've had lots of experience where I only have a yellow tang and dwaft angel kill or harass anything that I would put in a 120 gallon and they were the only two. I've introduced three groups of fishes at different times in my 210 and they all get along and don't care to bother each other. They are like one big school of different fishes swimming together and I love love love the way they read each other body movement and will swim alike esp when hungry :lmao:. This is much more of an appeal to me also with a community of fishes. Last week I just added a juvi blue tang and coral beauty after 5 weeks of qt and the juvi tang seems to have bonded w/ the larger one already in there and the coral beauty swims right next to my flame and pygmy like there is plenty of tommorows to look forward to. All my tangs get along great also and I have another group of fishes to add....hope the fish police dont arrest me on this one...lol...but good luck to what ever decision you choose.

 

[Paul B]

Can you tell whether your orange-banded gobies have ever spawned? My tiger wardi pair was awfully protective of their den - just can't tell what goes on in there

Mine diden't yet, one of them is very young

 

[namxas]

I've spent gobs of time, energy and cash on trying to obtain pairs (or harems) of fish and thought I'd add a brief synopsis of this aspect of the hobby, organized by type of fish.

Pipefish - Same as seahorses; look for male's pouch. One of my fish-list items is a pair of blue-striped pipefish.

Most pipes don't have obvious pouches. There are other handles to use such as body size and shape, and in the case of some Doryhamphus sp. (such as the bluestripe and Janss'), you'll be looking closely at the snout...males have a pinnate snout while the females do not.

We've kept:

M-F pairs of Doryhamphus janssi (Janss' pipefish)

Three species of SH (H. erectus, H. reidi, and H. barbouri)

M-F pair of OSFF

M-F-F harem of O. borbonius (blotched anthias)

M-F-F harem of P. squamapinnis (lyretail anthias)

We currently have a pair of D. brachypterus (fuzzy dwarf lionfish) that just laid their first egg mass.

 

[Paul B]

Pipefish - Same as seahorses; look for male's pouch. One of my fish-list items is a pair of blue-striped pipefish

This is my female blue stripe, she spawned many times.

 

[velvetelvis]

I enjoy keeping fish in pairs and groups (when appropriate). I also love watching commensal relationships. In my current setup, I have a pair of A. barberi clownfish with rose bubbletip anemones, and also a pair of C. pavoninoides watchman gobies with a tiger pistol shrimp.

I'm especially pleased about the watchman gobies. They're captive-bred, and arrived at my LFS about two weeks apart. I bought the goby that turned out to be the male first, and noticed the female on my next trip. She was significantly smaller than the male and a different color: light golden-beige with faint vertical bands and sparser blue spots, instead of smokey blue-grey with dark bands and numerous blue spots.

I remembered seeing pictures of a pair of pavoninoides in the wild that showed the same sexual dichromatism, and decided to gamble on pairing them up, with the understanding that I could return the female if they started fighting. Happily, it worked out; they set up housekeeping together with their shrimp in less than 24 hours.

 

[Paul B]

I'm especially pleased about the watchman gobies. They're captive-bred, and arrived at my LFS about two weeks apart.

Here is my watchman with her eggs, so I guess she is a Watchgirl
The pair lived just over 10 years and spawned for the entire time.

This is them when they were very young and in love

And as an old married couple with pot bellies.

 

[velvetelvis]

Great pics--thanks for sharing! Did they ever show any dichromatism? Looks like they're both the grey morph.

 

[rlpardue]

Over the past couple of weeks I've had the opportunity to roll the "pair-up dice" twice. I picked two fish that I believe are tailspot blennies (Ecsenius stigmatura) out of a tank at the LFS and threw them in the new 150g tank all by themselves (first fish). They have separate homes but spend all day together 1" apart on the same rock. I won't lie: it's pretty cute. (Manliness slips away when you use the word "cute"; do so only with caution lol). I've never seen blennies acting so friendly to each other in person before, although I've seen pics of it on a breeding website. See blenny pics below.

Also, I tried a pairing of Tangaroa gobies (Ctenogobiops tangaroai) that I found at a LFS in different tanks. One was big and one was small. I put them in the 150g with the blennies and they now share the same burrow under a rock. In the evening I'll see the male doing a kind of shaking dance and flicking his dorsal fin. The female seems to like what she sees. I once saw her swim over to the male while he was doing it; she shook too briefly while above him. Fun stuff.

 

[Paul B]

They started out like this

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

Here is my watchman with her eggs, so I guess she is a Watchgirl

The male is the one who tends the eggs, so you can continue calling him a watchman

 

[velvetelvis]

Over the past couple of weeks I've had the opportunity to roll the "pair-up dice" twice. I picked two fish that I believe are tailspot blennies (Ecsenius stigmatura) out of a tank at the LFS and threw them in the new 150g tank all by themselves (first fish). They have separate homes but spend all day together 1" apart on the same rock. I won't lie: it's pretty cute. (Manliness slips away when you use the word "cute"; do so only with caution lol). I've never seen blennies acting so friendly to each other in person before, although I've seen pics of it on a breeding website. See blenny pics below.

Also, I tried a pairing of Tangaroa gobies (Ctenogobiops tangaroai) that I found at a LFS in different tanks. One was big and one was small. I put them in the 150g with the blennies and they now share the same burrow under a rock. In the evening I'll see the male doing a kind of shaking dance and flicking his dorsal fin. The female seems to like what she sees. I once saw her swim over to the male while he was doing it; she shook too briefly while above him. Fun stuff.

Nice job! It's always satisfying to gamble and win. And I think the word "cute" just comes naturally when you're talking about gobies and blennies.

My male watchman has been acting more macho since he acquired a mate. He was easily spooked when it was just him and the pistol shrimp sharing quarters. But the day after I introduced the female to the tank, I spotted them near each other. The female had just emerged from her hiding place (they seem to use different entrances during the day and then huddle up together at night) while the male was already out and about. This time, instead of fleeing, the male puffed up, intensified his colors, and began hovering above the sand with all his fins extended, staring straight at me--I guess he was trying to either impress her or intimidate me!

 

[Paul B]

The male is the one who tends the eggs, so you can continue calling him a watchman

Well that's good to know, I wondered why she had a Tattoo

 

[rlpardue]

Nice job! It's always satisfying to gamble and win. And I think the word "cute" just comes naturally when you're talking about gobies and blennies.

My male watchman has been acting more macho since he acquired a mate. He was easily spooked when it was just him and the pistol shrimp sharing quarters. But the day after I introduced the female to the tank, I spotted them near each other. The female had just emerged from her hiding place (they seem to use different entrances during the day and then huddle up together at night) while the male was already out and about. This time, instead of fleeing, the male puffed up, intensified his colors, and began hovering above the sand with all his fins extended, staring straight at me--I guess he was trying to either impress her or intimidate me!

Haha, yes I have seen the same machismo phenomenon before too. My male tiger Wardi goby would do exactly what your male watchman did when I passed by the tank - flip up his fins, stare, look big, etc.

I also have pair of "yellow coris" wrasses (Haliocheres Chrysus). The bigger one (terminal phase/male) was always a little neurotic and skittish, hiding all the time, running for cover etc. When I put in a very small female he became a big dog overnight. Constantly extending his fins, strutting around the female, nipping back at fish, etc. It's funny - all he needed was a smaller fish to boss around.

 

[Lorna g]

I really want a pair of mandarins but can't find a female got the male! Got a pair of yellow headed jawfish!

 

[Joe0813]

does anyone know who the watchman gobies change color?? mine did and people said it was because its a she... but both of yours are whitish grey so that proves them wrong.

 

[rssjsb]

How do you sex a watchman? I've got one and would like to pair it up but have no idea whether it's a male or female.

In other news, I just snagged a bonded pair of orange spotted files from DD. I'm hoping to introduce them to my female to get a trio. Fingers crossed!

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

There is no reliable way to sex watchman gobies (I spent 2 years working on breeding them as a thesis). Also the color change is not related to gender, nobody knows why they change but they will change in both directions, and mated pairs have been reported with both yellow, yellow male white female, yellow female white male, and both white.

 

[velvetelvis]

There is no reliable way to sex watchman gobies (I spent 2 years working on breeding them as a thesis). Also the color change is not related to gender, nobody knows why they change but they will change in both directions, and mated pairs have been reported with both yellow, yellow male white female, yellow female white male, and both white.

Interesting...sounds like I really lucked out, then! Do they change sex? Now I'm wondering if mine paired off just because of the significant difference in size.

 

[o2manyfish]

I have lots of sets of fish but not too many pairs

7 yellow tangs
2 blue tangs
6 Bangai -3 males holding eggs
6 Dispar Anthias - W/2 males
2 Starcki Damsels
4 Frimandi - 2 bought as a wild pair living together 2 others just hang out
3 Gramma - 2 are paired up
2 Borbonius
3 Bellus M-F-F Witnessed spawing for the first time this past Saturday
2 Flame back angels
2 Multi Bar Angels
3 Perc
2 Black Perc
2 Dragon Faced Pipes
2 Lubbocks wrasse - both female
2 Tail Spot Blennies
2 Mandarin - 1 Green / 1 Red and 1 Target
6 Kupang Damsels
5-6 Jeweled Damsels
2 Golden Angels
2 Pairs of Cleaner Shrimp
1 Pair of Harlequin Shrimp

I think those are all the groups of fish.

Dave B

 

[rlpardue]

Dave B, congratulations on seeing the Bellus angels spawn! Paul B would say that Paris Hilton would say "That's hot!" Lol.

I'm curious about the Fridmanis - have you been able to discern any difference between the males and the females? Occasionally on LA Diver's Den I'll see something like "Pseudochromis fridmani - MALE" and I wonder how they know.