dottybacks

[scotty]

Hey all. Just finished cycling my 55 gallon. Was curious if anyone had any suggestions for a dottyback that is colorful yet not overly aggressive... Thanks.

[Flatfish]

Haven't yet met a Dottyback that is not overly agressive. They are very cool looking little fish but are awful tank mates to the more timid. I'd go for a Royal Gramma.

[Brooke]

Orchid dottys usually are less aggressive. I still wouldn't add it as the first fish though. You should add the more docile fish first, most aggressive last. What other fish are you thinking about? Now is the time to figure out what you want and what is compatible/size appropriate...not when you are at the LFS drooling over the pretty fish

HTH-
Brooke

[Shack]

I can tell you not to get a bicolor dotty, he has staked out the tank as his territory and beats the crap out of my maroon clown. I have an article i can scan and send you if you want.

[scotty]

Thanks guys. Actually, I am doing my research now and never have been an impulsive buyer when it comes to fish. Thing is I've already decided on some clowns, a Royal Gramma, firefish and a blenny or two. I'm also looking at the Banghai Cardinalfish for higher in water column. How does this sound?

Also, what are some other critters you guys would reccomend: turbo snails, cleaner shrimp, sea cucumbers, etc?

[Alice]

It's good that you are planning out your fish choices, saves trouble, livestock and money down the road.

Start with your clean up crew. Get a good mix of snails; Ceriths, nerites, trochus (great algae eaters and reproduce in the tank), blackfoot or Mexican turbos, nassarius. You might want to stay away from the big Turbos though, they do get large and can bulldoze things. Bristle worms and mini-brittle stars will be good for cleaning up the sand bed as would a tiger-tail cuke. Sea stars such as serpent or brittle stars are fun to watch and good scavengers. You do need to target feed them though, so they don't get hungry enough to snack on small tankmates. I'd wait on the stars until your tank has been stable for a while as they are sensitive to changing water parameters.

Cleaner shrimp are great; fun to watch, helpful to the fish and if you have them in pairs or a group, they'll be spawning continually which provides free fish and coral food They might give you some troubles with stealing food from the corals now and then but there are ways around it for the most part.

HTH and enjoy!

Alice

[Brooke]

I love our orchid dotty. He's made a little cave and it's fun to watch him move the sand around. He doesn't mess with anyone..and isn't really aggressive at all. He's so colorful and bright.

If you go by the 1" of fish / 5 gallon rule, you can have about 11" of adult fish in the 55g reef. 2 clowns would conservatively be 2" each, gramma about 3, firefish 3 each, blenny 2. That comes out to 15" (if you go with small clowns like percs or ocellaris). That would be a good load for a 55. So, the banggai would probably be out. I would do either clowns or banggai since they both aren't big swimmers and like to hover. I don't think you'd want 4 hovering fish in there . Get a good assortment of snails..trochus, turbo's, nassarius (for the sand bed). Never kept a cucumber myself. I do love a pair of cleaner shrimp. They will mate and the baby shrimp make good coral and fish food. We like our serpent star too, but we dont see him very much.

HTH-
Brooke

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi Scotty! I have a magneta dottyback and it is a beautiful fish but would not have this fish as your first one. They are a little aggressive but all mine does is chase the little gobies around but no harm!
My large female maroon clownfish is boss so the dottyback knows his place in the pecking order. Here is a pic of my dottyback:

[scotty]

Great replies, everyone!

Alice, thanks for the specifics on the cleaning crew. I am going to let the live rock populate a little more then add in the cleaning crew. I think my first fish will be the clowns; I am guessing since they are damselfishes they too are hardier than the others on my list.

Brooke, thanks for the inch count up. It helps a lot! You are right, the redundancy of two types of hovering fish is not what I am looking for. Maybe some tiny gobies??

Also, what is the parameters for adding corals. I assume they contribute to the bioload in some ways yet in others help filter the tank as well. How do you measure coral saturation?

Thanks all!

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Scotty! Gobies would make a nice "little" addition to your tank! Here is a pic of one of two purple gobies I have.
Gobodion Unicolor:

[scotty]

Thanks, Montana.

That is a cool and funny looking goby. Are they more purple than in the picture or is the name a misnomer? Plus, do you keep a pair or singly? Thanks for the advice!

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi Scotty! the color of mine are what you see in the pic! I have 2 of these in my 80 gallon reef and the tank is big enough for both of them! They chase each other now and then but no harm done! Johnny

[Bingo]

There was a REALLY nice tank raised Neon Dotty at (ackkkk) Petco. I really wanted it untill I read one quote "May disembowl tankmates" That kind of made my mind up for me.

B

[OodleyBoodely]

Your best bet for least aggression in the gramma/psuedochromis arena, is as already been stated, the Royal gramma (Gramma loreto) or the Orchid dottyback (psuedochromis freidmani) The Orchid is generally considered much less aggressive than other members of its family. My Psuedo-Fred was a perfect gentalman, while I had him. My new Royal gramma was added to my tank along with a maroon clown as 'last fish' and is also proving to be very compatible. Gorgeous fish!

[GeorgeAmos]

I had to post when I saw the Petco disclaimer. I have had my neon for a while now (in my older tank) and I adore him. He is very curious when I add a new critter (like an occasional snail) and is always begging for food. I have one rule for mine - I have never added a fish in similar size, shape, or color. When I first added him, I had a beautiful red wrasse (very small guy, that I never did quite id) and he disappeared soon after I got the dottyback I then realized he was too close in size and shape to my neon. He is now the only thing in my tank of that size and shape. Hope this helps, though I have had enormous fun with mine. So go for it and enjoy