Potter's angel vs a regal angel

damac20

New member
I just added a regal angel today to my 180. He is pretty small, just slickly bigger than my potters. The potters is not happy at all and will not leave the regal alone. Do you think this is just the new fish picking or will this continue? I shut the lights off which isn't helping much so far.
 
I'd like to think that the aggression would go away after the potters has asserted itself enough over the regal, especially in a 180 which I'd imagine the potters would have more than enough room in. Just have to watch and see if the aggression lessens, if not you'll have to remove one.
 
Don't know if it is possible for you to do or not, but I would try to catch the potters and reacclimate it to the 180 and possibly rearrange some of the rock work and reintroduce the potters to the tank and the aggression should stop
 
Acclimation box, egg crate separation, mirror method, rearrange rock work, etc. should work to alleviate aggression....pick one, or maybe even two :)
 
I'm really surprised a Potter's Angel would be that aggressive in a 180.

I would try to remove the Potters and reintroduce it once the Regal has completely settled in and is eating ( maybe a couple of weeks).

Or, if you can't catch the Potters, use eggcrate to create a partition to separate the two fish.

Basically, do what DustyReefer, Dmorty217, and jnc914 already suggested.
 
+1, catch that potters and stick it in the sump for a few weeks. I've even had luck with just bombarding the tank with food as a "distraction" if I see aggression start to come out in a fish.
 
I was pretty surprised at his aggression as well. That was the least of my worries when making the decision to and the regal. I was more worried about my lps. I will see what happenes when the lights come on tomorrow.
 
I'm less surprised than others. My male potters is kind of a jerk. I'm guessing the mayhem will subside over a few days.
 
I'm less surprised than others. My male potters is kind of a jerk. I'm guessing the mayhem will subside over a few days.

Mine has never paid attention to any of his tank mates until the regal. He mainly just goes about his business picking algae off the rocks.
 
I've had a potters be a jerk before. It lasted a couple days. Then they just stayed away from each other. And that was 2 potters in a 120. I would think when the regal figures out he has to give way to the potters you'll be alright.
 
The other fish tangs, and clowns were getting aggressive with him today too so I caught the regal. It was super easy which makes me a little nervous on his health. He is in the sump for now.
 
I have the regal in an acclimation box in the tank now. How long should I leave him in there? I have never used one before.
 
I tend to keep a fish in the acclimation box for up to a week. At least one person on here does it longer. Unfortunately, you won't know until you release the regal again because I have had fish ignore a newcomer in an acclimation box but still pick on it for a while once released. They should settle in after some acclimation box time and posturing unless you have a particularly bad individual resident fish.
 
I tend to keep a fish in the acclimation box for up to a week. At least one person on here does it longer. Unfortunately, you won't know until you release the regal again because I have had fish ignore a newcomer in an acclimation box but still pick on it for a while once released. They should settle in after some acclimation box time and posturing unless you have a particularly bad individual resident fish.
This has been my experience before. I've never seen much evidence that the resident fish even notice the new guy in the box. I still do it because I think it's helpful to let the fish get used to the chemistry of the new tank, scope out potential hiding spots, etc. and be sure it's eating. It's a lot to deal with all at once without having to worry about being chased. I usually leave them in there for a week, maybe a little less.
 
Does the mirror trick work with angels? I've used it successfully on PBTs when introducing other tangs. They are too busy attacking their reflection that they forget about the addition.
 
If your tank has a break in the rockwork front-to-back you can insert an eggcrate divider to separate the two. I prefer this to a acclimation box as it lets the new fish get used to hiding places and learn it's way around half of the tank. I had a multicolor beating on a new majestic in my old 180, I put the divider in for a month and even after the month the multicolor still charged the majestic every time he saw him.
 
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