well was just looking around at different fish online and noticed this guy.... I love their colors!! and read a little on them, they seem to be a bit aggressive towards fish similar in color/shape, but are supposedly hardy?.... can anyone give me some info on these guys I'd love to have one....
neon dottyback
- Thread starter jamest0o0
- Start date
Agu
Premium Member
Dottybacks in general are very aggressive fish. They're also very hardy. In addition several varieties are captive bred instead of being wild collected. That means they're likely to be healthier and disease/parasite free.
They're also carnivors that will eat pods and shrimp. Even ornamental shrimp much larger than them are fair game for a determined dottyback.
They're also carnivors that will eat pods and shrimp. Even ornamental shrimp much larger than them are fair game for a determined dottyback.
.::Jun77::.
Member
how you considered royal gramma?
ACBlinky
Premium Member
Mine was incredibly aggressive. He went after anything on ten legs -- pods (eradicated the population), hermits, shrimp, crabs, no matter what their size. He'd lay in wait for fish to swim by and then dart out, striking at them like a cobra. These fish are gorgeous and definitely hardy, but they're also crafty and can be downright vicious. Dottys have been described as the nastiest fish in the ocean, pound for pound. I think that's taking it a bit far, but only a bit -- a neon would make a good tankmate for larger, tougher fish but IMHO they're not suitable for a tank housing any shrimp/crabs or fish such as skittish wrasses, gobies, firefish etc.
nycsicktank
New member
this beautiful fish or should i say SOB fish ate 3 of my snails in a week...im sure he would eat more later on. NOT REEF SAFE
sage_commander
New member
I'll have to agree on passing on one. Mine bullied all the other fish, ate so many pods I no longer see any, and had the most irritating habit of digging sand and spitting it all over the rocks. He would do this all day long. Last week he jumped out and I didn't find him until the next day. I'm not too sad about it.
I put in a neon dottyback in a 120 gallon reef tank about a month ago. He was bullied by my yellow tang for about a week and hid most of the time. Now he's out all the time and has recently become quite aggressive. I put in a sharknose goby and the dottyback killed it within 2 hours. I tried to get the goby out, but it was too late. The dottyback even comes at me when I clean the tank. He's become the most aggressive fish in the tank even beyond the tangs and clownfish. He's beautiful but not sure I would have gotten him had I known he would be this aggressive.
billdogg
Well-known member
I had a purple pseudochromis in my DT only because my wife insisted even after my warnings. It was a model citizen for a month or two. Then it started randomly taking out anything with legs, and fish several times it's size. Luckily, it was very easy to catch with a simple trap. It went to live with my 4' Undulated Moray, where it was able to hold it's own for a couple years. Then it just disappeared, either eaten, jumped, or whatever. Never again in any tank of mine.
Similar threads
