Question on Saddlebacks

Radioheadx14

Active member
I am "rescuing" a tank from a friend that doesnt have time for it anymore. Its a 18g cube with a pair of large Saddlebacks. The tank is much too small for them and I was thinking of swapping them with my occelaris pair who can't stop laying eggs so they are always aggressively guarding the frogspawn coral they lay their eggs on (Which is also pretty beat up from this).

Now my question is, with these two saddlebacks being in a tiny tank for a couple years, what are my chances of them fitting in fine in my 40g breeder with other fish? I don't want to mess up the balance I have, but I don't want to keep these fish in the cube they are in.

Keep or find someone with a different setup to take the Saddlebacks?

Current fish are flamehawk, yellow tail damsel and 6line. I stopped buying timid and expensive fish because they ended up dying from bullying.
 
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I have 1 saddleback in my 40 gallon, its quite the bully to be honest. The only one it cant scare is the coral beauty. You dont have non aggressive fish. When you say large how big do you mean?
 
By saddleback I assume you mean Stichodactyla haddoni. If so I don't recommend anything but clown fish in a tank with one of these. Haddoni anemone have a famously potent sting and are very aggressive. When I move these I wear heavy rubber gloves and the nem will lock on to the glove so tightly that when I pull it off, parts of the animals ectoderm remain attached to the glove.
 
4" is a very large fish for a 40 gallon. Thats a lot of clown to throw around. I dont think I would, perhaps you can interchange them at your lfs for a smaller pair.
 
Talked to my bother and he has a tank in his classroom that only has a single ocelarris clown and a wrasse. I am going to take his two and he is going to take the Saddlebacks.
 
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