Adding a Dottyback?

danenelsen · Sep 16, 2023

Hello, I’ve been thinking about adding either a Neon Dottyback or a Sunrise Dottyback to my aquarium. The only problem is, I already have a Royal Gramma. Will they be okay together? If so, would a neon or a sunrise be better or would it just depend?

00W · Sep 16, 2023

I think it really depends on the size of the tank.
Small tank,might be an issue.
I had a sunrise for years.
He was very territorial to the point of being very aggressive and dug a lot.
I honestly didn't see much of him over the years.
I had an orchid for awhile. Less territorial but would defend his "hole " quite vehemently.
These are just my experiences and others may chime in with better or worse.

danenelsen · Sep 16, 2023

00W said:
I think it really depends on the size of the tank.
Small tank,might be an issue.
I had a sunrise for years.
He was very territorial to the point of being very aggressive and dug a lot.
I honestly didn't see much of him over the years.
I had an orchid for awhile. Less territorial but would defend his "hole " quite vehemently.
These are just my experiences and others may chime in with better or worse.

Okay. I’ve also heard mixed responses on their aggression level. The tank is 55 gallons.

00W · Sep 16, 2023

danenelsen said:
Okay. I’ve also heard mixed responses on their aggression level. The tank is 55 gallons.

That might be fine as long as the two have different "homes " they'll probably be OK.
The sunrise was a beautiful fish with an interesting personality.
All the digging and hiding drove me nuts.
What else do you have in there?

HudsonReefer2.0 · Sep 16, 2023

Have u ever considered a
Pseudochromis elongatus. Great fish when I kept them. I have a fridmani in my fish system atm.

CoralB · Sep 16, 2023

I had a orchid and it turned into the fish from Hayell . It would go after any fish no matter it’s size and that was in a 75 gallon . Maybe it’s hit or miss but that was my experience before I rehomed him.

littlefoxx · Sep 16, 2023

Op of you get a dotty back get an aquacultured one. I got an orchid from OAR and he was really chill, but he was in my bigger tank with the larger fish so I cant speak to how he would be with smaller fish. Aquacultured ones are supposed to be way more chill

littlefoxx · Sep 16, 2023

Cultivated reef, no idea where I got OAR from!!

danenelsen · Sep 16, 2023

00W said:
That might be fine as long as the two have different "homes " they'll probably be OK.
The sunrise was a beautiful fish with an interesting personality.
All the digging and hiding drove me nuts.
What else do you have in there?

As of the moment, just two clowns.

danenelsen · Sep 16, 2023

littlefoxx said:
Op of you get a dotty back get an aquacultured one. I got an orchid from OAR and he was really chill, but he was in my bigger tank with the larger fish so I cant speak to how he would be with smaller fish. Aquacultured ones are supposed to be way more chill

Okay, thanks for the suggestion!

HudsonReefer2.0 · Sep 16, 2023

CoralB said:
I had an orchid and it turned into the fish from Hayell . It would go after any fish no matter it’s size and that was in a 75 gallon . Maybe it’s hit or miss but that was my experience before I rehomed him.

All mine been good. Idk

00W · Sep 16, 2023

danenelsen said:
As of the moment, just two clowns.

Well....
We know how they can be as well.
I first had mine in with a coral beauty.
That was a terrible experience and stressful for me to watch. This was in a 75.
I put him in with my old clownfish in a smaller tank and they tolerated each other and I'm being generous with the word tolerated.
I don't mean to dissuade you in any way but he really was a mean little *******.

danenelsen · Sep 16, 2023

00W said:
Well....
We know how they can be as well.
I first had mine in with a coral beauty.
That was a terrible experience and stressful for me to watch. This was in a 75.
I put him in with my old clownfish in a smaller tank and they tolerated each other and I'm being generous with the word tolerated.
I don't mean to dissuade you in any way but he really was a mean little *******.

Okay, we’ll it really sounds like it just depends on the specific fish.