Not a happy chappy :(

louiserose

New member
I recently got my first replacement fish as my water quality is spot on now, a gorgeous purple firefish. We named him Tors after my sister because he always looks p****d off :lol:

Anyway, yesterday a very generous reefer gave us a gorgeous coral beauty as he has too many fish in his tank and needed to get rid of some.

He seems to have settled in a bit too much though and keeps nipping at my firefish :( I noticed this evening, after he had been chased out of the rock, that he now has a cut on his side about 15mm long :(

Will this continue or is the coral beauty just asserting himself?

I don't know what to do as i love both of the fish but i don't want my firefish to suffer :(
 
We have a 190 litre tank and it has:

1 x fire fish
1 x star fish
1 x fire shrimp
cuc
2 x small clowns
1 x coral beauty
1 x sea urchin
 
I wouldn't think it'd be a problem but I have seen some mean coral beauties. It's probably just establishing itself, but I'd be ready to isolate it in case it doesn't stop.

Divide the tank with eggcrate for awhile maybe
 
You can egg crate at Home Depot, Menards, or equivalent where you live. Inexpensive and easily cut. But coral beauty angelfish can be ornery.
 
I'm pretty sure the Coral Beauty will settle down after a week or so but will continue with some minor chasing for another week or two. I've two in different tanks and their behavior/aggression is the same with new additions or smaller fish and I believe they should be the last fish to be added. If it's just fin nipping that's fine but if it draws blood then you may want to consider using a divider as others mentioned.
 
The problem is not the coral beauty's aggressive behavior, the problem is whether the firefish becomes intimidated and hides. These fish are VERY sensitive to real or perceived aggression. Once they go into hiding they are goners more often than not.
 
The problem is not the coral beauty's aggressive behavior, the problem is whether the firefish becomes intimidated and hides. These fish are VERY sensitive to real or perceived aggression. Once they go into hiding they are goners more often than not.

This is what I would be most concerned with.


Now my firefish is going for my clowns. I don't know what's going on. They've all gone nuts :(


Which after reading snorvich's reponse really makes me wonder what exactly is going on in your tank.
 
Steve,

That's very true. Thanks for pointing that out as I was only referring to CB's general aggressive nature. Hopefully louiserose's firefish can pull through.

Kevin
 
Steve,

That's very true. Thanks for pointing that out as I was only referring to CB's general aggressive nature. Hopefully louiserose's firefish can pull through.

Kevin

It has been my experience that a coral beauty will somewhat mellow out with regard to existing inhabitants, but that aggressive behavior will reassert itself on introduction of anyone new. Which is not surprising if it perceives a fish occupies the same ecological niche. In the case of firefish, the mellowing will almost certainly be too late.
 
Back
Top