At what tank size are "aggressive" fish not so aggressive?

[cdw79]

I have a 65 display and have been thinking about an upgrade when I eventually move. I've seen plenty of videos of larger tanks with species I'd be wary of adding to my own tank due to their supposed aggression or PITA status. I'm thinking the likes of damsels and dottybacks, for example, or fish species where one is fine, but multiples cause issues. People seem to report no issues with them in larger tanks, but in a smaller tank the likes of dottybacks and damsels can wreak havoc. While nothing in this hobby is as simple as "X is the line where the issues stop," what's a rule of thumb that would make these species, or others generally, most likely to not be such pains? It would help a lot as I try to plan a potential new build

 

[Timfish]

Sorry, no rule of thumb. Or if there is it's individual personality trumps everything else.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have a 65 display and have been thinking about an upgrade when I eventually move. I've seen plenty of videos of larger tanks with species I'd be wary of adding to my own tank due to their supposed aggression or PITA status. I'm thinking the likes of damsels and dottybacks, for example, or fish species where one is fine, but multiples cause issues. People seem to report no issues with them in larger tanks, but in a smaller tank the likes of dottybacks and damsels can wreak havoc. While nothing in this hobby is as simple as "X is the line where the issues stop," what's a rule of thumb that would make these species, or others generally, most likely to not be such pains? It would help a lot as I try to plan a potential new build

Aggression is generally associated with fish and not tank size. I think what your curiosity is - If given more room and hiding, will they calm down- Its up to the fish, but there are fish such as passer angel, sohal tang, clown tangs. . . if you gave them 2000 gallons, they'd still be nasty

 

[Tcook]

1 million gallons

 

[cdw79]

Aggression is generally associated with fish and not tank size. I think what your curiosity is - If given more room and hiding, will they calm down- Its up to the fish, but there are fish such as passer angel, sohal tang, clown tangs. . . if you gave them 2000 gallons, they'd still be nasty

Interesting! So when I see an orchid dottyback, for example, in a much larger tank, its effectively still as brutish, but it's just less impactful if there is more space for a potentially bullied fish to swim off to?

Part of the inspiration for this question has been me seeing at LFS, other reefers' homes, videos, etc of typically "aggressive" fish seemingly calm and unbothered by types of fish I remember it terrorizing in my own experience. Does that really just come down to an individual fish's personality, per se? I had always assumed more space to some extent mitigated that behavior but I'm no expert

 

[albano]

1 million gallons

Some of them are aggressive in the OCEAN, if we could just rearrange the continents it might work out.

 

[cdw79]

I guess I'm mostly just a little dumbfounded how people manage to keep these aggressive species seemingly without any real issues

 

[StatelineReefer]

Aggressive species are aggressive in the ocean as well, so... tank size really doesn't matter, temperment and care play a greater role there. For every anecdote of the 'perfect neighborhood tank' there are a hundred stories of 'X fish killed Z fish/coral/invert/keeper'.