Orchid dottyback for community tank?

[AwesomeDavid]

Hello all :wave: ,
I was wondering if an orchid dottyback would fit into this community:
1 blue neon goby
3 pajama cardinals
2 ocellaris clownfish
1 canary fang blenny
So far I only have the neon goby, so this list could potentially change. I have a 75 gal softy/LPS reef.
Thanks!

 

[ZOAREEFTANK]

Yeah I don't see why not. I have one with a few cardinals clowns tangs anthias chalk bass 3 gobies mandarins a blenny and a lion fish


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[Remy LeBeau]

I'm sure it can be done, but just be ready to make some changes if things go bad. These fish do have a reputation for being kind of aggressive. Good Luck!

 

[AwesomeDavid]

I have a wonderful quarantine tank I can put it in if it decides to misbehave. Are there any other good community dottybacks you recommend? I would not keep both of course but I just want to explore my options.

 

[Sk8r]

Take a look at the royal gramma (a basslet) in place of the dottyback. Cheaper, and more peaceful than dottybacks in general. I'm told the orchids are quieter, but the yellows are fiends.

 

[AwesomeDavid]

My plan was to get a royal gramma, but I only want to get captive bred fish, so I decided to look into the plethora of dottybacks. Is there any captive bred fish that you would reccomend that could take the dottybacks place? Or is there a better dottyback?

 

[Cliving1]

Not sure if the chalk bass is, but I added one to my tank and its a model citizen.

 

[AwesomeDavid]

Chalk bass are not captive bred unfortunately. Thanks for the suggestion though!

 

[AwesomeDavid]

Would the neon goby be bothered by the dottyback? They do have a similar body shape, and the neon goby is smaller. The neon goby is more of a perching fish and the dottyback is more of a hide/out in the open fish, so would they get along? I am not worried about the blenny because he has fangs for a reason.

 

[Foundry]

Had a purple stripe dottyback for a while, was the 2nd critter in the tank. 1st was a watchmen and pistol shrimp.

Terrorized our yellow watchmen goby and clowns. Would go out of its way to mess with the watchmen. The clowns wouldn't leave their corner for fear of the dottyback, one of the clowns has a chunk missing from a fin now. Damn thing would even pick fights with the emerald crab.

Dottybacks can be very aggressive as we learned, ours certainly was. We ended up trading it in at our LFS. Everyone in the tank is happier and healthier. Clowns actually explore the tank now. There was plenty of territory for him to call his own, just preferred everyone else's.

 

[AwesomeDavid]

That is why I chose the orchid dottyback. It is one of the least aggressive dottybacks. But would it bother a blue neon goby?

 

[Sk8r]

I just am not sure. I had a yellow dottyback that attacked damsels. I took a 100 gallon reef apart getting it out...they are a SMART fish (I describe it as 'low cunning') that learns each extraction method as you apply them---you get one chance and it's got that one down pat. I've rarely worked so hard catching any fish.

 

[AwesomeDavid]

I have reason to believe an orchid dottyback would not bother a neon goby because it is a cleaner fish, they have different colors, the dottyback is only a little bigger, and they inhabit different areas of the tank.

 

[Sk8r]

Let us know how it works. I think the orchids are beautiful. I'd love to have one in my own heavily rocked 105 damsel tank, but I'd sure hate to have to unbuild that structure!

 

[AwesomeDavid]

Will do. :thumbsup: It will be a while before I get it though.

 

[scooter31707]

I think you may be ok if it is added last.

 

[AwesomeDavid]

That was my plan. I also may get a harptail blenny instead of a canary because captive bred canaries are hard to find.

 

[homer1475]

I have an ORA neon electric dottyback. They were specifically cross bread to diminish the aggressive nature of dottybacks(and hes a cool neon blue).

Hes easily the biggest scardy cat in my tank, and bothers nothing. I have a flame angel, citron clown goby, green warpaint goby, 2 clowns, a leopard wrasse, and a mandarin. Even though they are known to kill shrimp, mine actually lets my cleaner climb on and clean his gills.

 

[QuiGonJay]

Hi, I too have a captive bred tank. I have an orchid dotty back, two clowns and two pajama cards. Orchid is fine, though he loves to rearrange all the sand. I did add the dotty back last just to hedge against any territorial issues and he's done well. I would say of the captive bred dotty backs, the orchids temperament is the best, from my research.

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[AwesomeDavid]

QuiGonJay it's great that you went with captive bred fish! Homer1475 do you mean the ORA electric indigo dottyback? Because there is no ORA neon electric dottyback.