Fish tank Hierarchy

[vlangel]

So I have recently added 3 new fish, (as in the last 2 months) to my 36g aquarium. Since I only had 4 fish prior to these additions the dynamics of my tank has changed quite a bit. My 4 original fish were a purple firefish, a pair of lyretail anthias and a tomato clownfish. They are all about 4 years old. My first additions were a royal gramma and yasha goby. I like to add more than one fish if possible so the new guys can spread the bullying around a bit. That way not just one guy is low fish on the totem pole. These 2 settled in very well with no bullying at all. I should have been content with my tank but I went to the LFS to buy dogfood but while I was there I spied the absolutely most adorable midas blenny. He was pretty big, robust and had a puppy dog face. I knew this was pushing the limits of my tank but I've had 7 fish before so I bought him. Because he was slightly bigger than any of my fish I decided to dub him King Midas. He apparently let his title go to his head because he immediately dethroned the dominant anthias and became top dog, ( I mean top fish). Everyone settled into their new place in tank hierarchy and it seems as smooth as clock work. Isn't it fascinating how they establish a social system? A tank where there is constant vying for alpha fish is anything but peaceful, and even worse is the tank with the social outcast that just doesn't fit in. I'd be interested to hear how some of you deal with the social dynamics in your aquariums?

 

[Connie]

Sometimes, it doesn't matter what lengths you go to trying to create a smooth transition. From QT to acclimation box helps most of the time. I just recently lost a Copperband and why? Not because he wasn't eating; but because my usually docile Scopas Tang decided he didn't like him. If the CBB came out of the xenia patch, he would attack him. I used an acclimation box for a couple of days, then I used egg crate to separate them. The Scopas has a memory like an elephant. As soon as I removed the barriers he was on the CBB like white on rice. So, how do I deal with the social dynamics now? I stopped buying fish, which is really hard for me...lol

 

[vlangel]

Ahh, I am sorry Connie for your loss. That is so painful and like you said sometimes there is just nothing that can be done to remedy the situation. When I serviced tanks I would often re-scaped a tank to throw a bully off by changing the territories. That works better in a FOWLR system than a reef. Most of us reefers are reluctant to move our corals around when they are happy where they are. Who knows what goes through a fish's head to make him hate another fish. It probably has something to do with feeling threatened and like most species, they react either with fight or flight. It is enough to make you not want to buy new additions though. Maybe that's why I buy new additions only seldomly and usually in lots, (several fish at a time) because it is so painful when what happened to your CBB takes place.