2 dottybacks. Is it possible?
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christopher wainright
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Is the purple territorial? I had 2 orchid dottybacks in a 6 foot 210 with no issues. Neither were very aggressive though so I am unsure about how well others would be . Hope this helps.
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Wolf89
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the purple isn't very territorial. He shows the lawnmower blenny who's boss every now and then but that is the only fish out of 14 he bothers. And he was like the 4th fish so he was long established before other fish but doesn't pay them any attention.
christopher wainright
Active Member
I'd give it a solid maybe then. Sorry I'm not more help. If it were me I'd try it with an acclimation box near where the purple hangs and see what happens. Hopefully you won't have any issues. You could also tape a mirror on the side of the tank by the purple and see if it reacts aggressively towards it, that would give you a better feel of what it would do to a similar shaped fish.
U
User1
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A lot depends on how the tank is set up, maturity, coral growth, nooks, and crannies. Basically space to retreat to should a tussle breaks out. People have kept harems of Royal Gramma's with success. I believe the same can be said with one of the dottybacks. My suggestion is go to your favorite search engine and do a couple searches. You will get a few hits to match up the proper genus.
They key is to make sure, if building a harem, is to do a bit of homework and be prepared to add them at the same time. If the tank is new, relatively new, or does not have a lot of large coral growth I'd recommend waiting. But that is just me and my personal preference and/or bias.
They key is to make sure, if building a harem, is to do a bit of homework and be prepared to add them at the same time. If the tank is new, relatively new, or does not have a lot of large coral growth I'd recommend waiting. But that is just me and my personal preference and/or bias.
U
User1
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Yes. That is correct. I see you want to mix so maybe what I said wasn't applicable
. Sorry about that. Harems are nice though for what it is worth.
Haydn
Active Member
With dottybacks it is entirely dependent on species- some, like the Purple (Fridmani) are tolerant of others but other like the False gramma (P. paccagnellae) can be terrors. You will need to research the species you plan to add.
You can keep pairs of Orchid dottyback (P. fridmani) with no problem. P. fridmani, and other dottyback, are protogynous hermaphrodites, get two young ones an they will mature into a pair with the dominate one is male and the other female. Orchid dottyback need a good diet or else they will loose color. Mine used to spawned all the time, but don't keep dottyback right now.
I would not try multiples of different species, even in a 180.
Do you know what species you have? Is it P. fridmani? If it's P. porphyreus, those can be really aggressive.
Do you know what species you have? Is it P. fridmani? If it's P. porphyreus, those can be really aggressive.
