I have a 30g tank with a Diadem Dottyback, Firefish goby, Watchman Goby and a Clownfish. My Dottyback has been attacking my firefish nonstop and now its tail is all ripped up. My LFS said to catch it out but it swims really fast so I can't do that. Any ideas on what I can do?
Aggressive Dottyback
- Thread starter Lily13579
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When I had to remove the exact same fish in my first tank, the inverted bottle trick worked well. Bait it with some mysis or a clam.
mattzang
2500 Club Member
i'd give the bottle method a go, but if that fails and you have several buckets on hand, just drain the tank into those and catch the fish when there's just a few inches of water in the tank. i caught my sixline wrasse that way
The problem with my dottyback is worsening and now it ripped my firefish's tail in almost half. I have tried the bottle trick however it did not even go near the bottle. Any suggestions? Would moving the rockwork help or should I just get rid of it altogether? I'm having a really hard time catching it...
mattzang
2500 Club Member
diadema dottybacks are known to be extremely aggressive, so i'd get rid of it altogether
idk how long a firefish can sustain abuse via diadema, but if you have the time, i'd do the tank drain method to get it out asap. after it kills the firefish i'd bet the watchman will be next on its list. clowns are pretty rough and tough so it might leave them alone, but adding anything else might go poorly
idk how long a firefish can sustain abuse via diadema, but if you have the time, i'd do the tank drain method to get it out asap. after it kills the firefish i'd bet the watchman will be next on its list. clowns are pretty rough and tough so it might leave them alone, but adding anything else might go poorly
mattzang
2500 Club Member
what i did was as i drained water into buckets i put some of the rocks in the buckets so that they weren't just laying around drying. it should be fine so long as you don't take too much time. when i do water changes i have a rock really high up that gets exposed to the air for several minutes until i get around to filling the tank back up.
it is definitely stressful, my fish were less than pleased, but sometimes it has to happen. i don't think you firefish has much time if the bottle trap isn't working
mattzang
2500 Club Member
well don't drain it to where they're flopping around, just drain it to where they just have a couple inches to swim in. i drained mine down to like a few inches and that was enough to easily catch it
mattzang
2500 Club Member
what do you mean? as long as rock doesn't sit around dry for awhile the bacteria won't die off and if you just put all of the water back in you'll be good on salinity. i'd have an extra few gallons of saltwater on hand since somehow water always seems to disappear.
i know it seems scary, i was worried prior to doing it too, but it was actually pretty easy. i took the chance to do a bit of a rescape of my rockwork when i did it. the fish were freaked out for a bit, but not too bad.
My firefish is easily spooked and will hide in the rockwork as there is a big hole inside and the inside of the rock is hollow so it lives inside there. Now my dottyback is chasing it out of the rock as it somehow found its way inside as well. I am especially worried for my firefish...
mattzang
2500 Club Member
yeah that's the issue with dottybacks, fish can't really escape from them because they're so slender and firefish are easily bullied by meaner fish.
ylreefer
Active Member
I'd suggest doing what mattzang has said. To be honest I very much doubt you'll catch him. These fish are not stupid lol. I have one in my nano, 2 Anthias bigger than him, and a 6 line wrasse the same size.
He was harrasing the six Line for 4 days non stop when I decided to remove him. Well let me tell you he had other ideas.
I spent 3 days trying. Left a net in the tank overnight to let him get used to it. Soon as that net moved he was gone. I spent 45 min holding that net still, he would not come out from the rocks. I go toilet come back he's there staring at me ready for round 2[emoji35]. The six Line Wrasse however was more than happy to get in the net. Almost asking to leave. So that's the option I took. Set up a small 5g temp tank for the wrasse. He's not very happy which is more than can be said for the Anthias who are now on his hit list [emoji85].
So long story short, drain the tank and get it done. Don't worry about your water chemistry an so forth. Do as advised and keep the rocks wet, don't touch the filter media and it'll all be fine.
How you get the fire fish out the rock is another story. But maybe you will catch the dottyback before removing that particular rock. [emoji6].
Good luck. But don't wait around. That firefish won't last a few days I bet.
He was harrasing the six Line for 4 days non stop when I decided to remove him. Well let me tell you he had other ideas.
I spent 3 days trying. Left a net in the tank overnight to let him get used to it. Soon as that net moved he was gone. I spent 45 min holding that net still, he would not come out from the rocks. I go toilet come back he's there staring at me ready for round 2[emoji35]. The six Line Wrasse however was more than happy to get in the net. Almost asking to leave. So that's the option I took. Set up a small 5g temp tank for the wrasse. He's not very happy which is more than can be said for the Anthias who are now on his hit list [emoji85].
So long story short, drain the tank and get it done. Don't worry about your water chemistry an so forth. Do as advised and keep the rocks wet, don't touch the filter media and it'll all be fine.
How you get the fire fish out the rock is another story. But maybe you will catch the dottyback before removing that particular rock. [emoji6].
Good luck. But don't wait around. That firefish won't last a few days I bet.
Just drain it....people drain tanks to move and upgrade all the time. Just don't disturb the sand.
Nothing will change with the water...you are putting the same water back.
Heck I have done 90 percent water changes and fish don't skip a beat.
I mean...you are going to have to re-home the blue hippo Tang at some point which means going through this same process.
Besides once the firefish is dead the dotty will find something else to try and kill. It is a small tank and there isn't enough territory to go around.
Nothing will change with the water...you are putting the same water back.
Heck I have done 90 percent water changes and fish don't skip a beat.
I mean...you are going to have to re-home the blue hippo Tang at some point which means going through this same process.
Besides once the firefish is dead the dotty will find something else to try and kill. It is a small tank and there isn't enough territory to go around.
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Whenever I use the Bottle trap method, I always weigh it down and stand it vertically so the fish has to swim down to get the food. Puts them at a disadvantage and you at an advantage when it's like this. I like evolved's idea of putting a mirror at the back of the trap as well. Easy way to get an aggressive fish's attention.
