Acclimating new fish and shrimp

mmw64 · Feb 10, 2016

Does anyone have tricks for adding new fish and a shrimp to stop aggression from already established tank mates? Anyone use a acclimation box or something else?

cameronh · Feb 10, 2016

You can change some rocks around. Change what they are used to. Just a suggestion.

Salty1962 · Feb 11, 2016

Use an acclimation box. Keep lights lower for a couple of days after you release. If you can move some rock around before releasing, breaks up everyone's territories.

dacianb · Feb 11, 2016

Any new comer will be chased, specially by the "tank boss". It is a normal behaviour and a healthy fish with some hiding places will be just fine. In my tank the boss is a kole tang and just show to each and every fish that he is the boss, but that's it - no damages at all.
But there is pure aggression from some fishes towards others - and that I was never able to cope with, whatever tricks I used.
I have a yellow tang (very peaceful fish, dont even look at a new fish) - never chasing anything. Then I added to my tank a longnose butterfly. My yellow tang became a monster - went straight after new guy behind rocks and came out keeping his long nose in mouth and shake it like a pitbull. After that started cutting him with his needles. In few minutes the longnose was near dead... took him out and put in a plastic box, but still my tang tried to bite out the walls for hours, non stop.
In the end I quit and returned the longnose to shop.
Conclusion - as long are different looking fishes they should be fine. But if a potential aggressive fish meet a similar looking guy - that's asking for problems.

eatbreakfast · Feb 11, 2016

Social acclimation boxes help a lot, and eliminate a majority of the aggression, but not all. There is also a benefit of the new addition being able to get it's bearings in a new tank without being chased.

Dutch89 · Feb 11, 2016

Put a mirror on the side of the tank the more aggressive ones will go to it so u can put ur new fish in on the other side so he can adjust to his new surroundings works every time

Dutch89 · Feb 11, 2016

Did it work for u ?

dacianb · Feb 11, 2016

Some fishes are smarter than others and will take couple of minutes to realize that is a mirror and ignore it.

eatbreakfast · Feb 12, 2016

dacianb said:
Some fishes are smarter than others and will take couple of minutes to realize that is a mirror and ignore it.

Well, there are only a handful of creatures on the planet that are self aware, so recognizing a reflection as a reflection and not another conspecific is limited almost exclusively to the great apes, no fish on that list. Now it is more probable that they are ablle to figure out they can't get to the fish in the mirror.

dacianb · Feb 12, 2016

eatbreakfast said:
Well, there are only a handful of creatures on the planet that are self aware, so recognizing a reflection as a reflection and not another conspecific is limited almost exclusively to the great apes, no fish on that list. Now it is more probable that they are ablle to figure out they can't get to the fish in the mirror.

Yes indeed. My fault. It is not selfawareness. But not always mirror works. I tried the tablet running a video trick for my clowns to host a nem, all fishes reacted to newcomers except the clowns themseves.