New fish being bullied?

immaman2011 · Dec 24, 2022

Hey guys,

My new juvenile springeri damsel is being chased and nipped by our established female blue reef chromis. She has him locked up into 1 corner if he moves he gets chased back to that corner.

Should I take him out and return, or wait it out for a couple days? Not sure where to put him I don't have a QT and all the shops will be closed until Tuesday in my area.

I made sure to feed them extra but she's still pretty against him being in there.

EricR · Dec 24, 2022

No idea on species compatibility here but did you consider a cheapie acclimation/socialization box?

immaman2011 · Dec 24, 2022

EricR said:
No idea on species compatibility here but did you consider a cheapie acclimation/socialization box?

Shops will be closed in a few minutes I don't have time to get one now. I didn't consider that at all.

EricR · Dec 24, 2022

immaman2011 said:
Shops will be closed in a few minutes I don't have time to get one now. I didn't consider that at all.

yeah,,, Christmas Eve isn't ideal timing.
If you happen to have something like a Critter Keeper or anything similar in the garage, those are easy DIY -- burn vent holes with soldering iron and hold in tank with an algae magnet or scraper magnet,,, or suction cups with zip ties,,, whatever you have.

Anyway, good luck...

i cant think · Dec 24, 2022

immaman2011 said:
Hey guys,

My new juvenile springeri damsel is being chased and nipped by our established female blue reef chromis. She has him locked up into 1 corner if he moves he gets chased back to that corner.

Should I take him out and return, or wait it out for a couple days? Not sure where to put him I don't have a QT and all the shops will be closed until Tuesday in my area.

I made sure to feed them extra but she's still pretty against him being in there.

Due to them being in the same family (damsels) they’re going to be bad with introduction. You ideally want to remove the aggressor as she will just become an issue with any new introductions.

immaman2011 · Dec 24, 2022

i cant think said:
Due to them being in the same family (damsels) they’re going to be bad with introduction. You ideally want to remove the aggressor as she will just become an issue with any new introductions.

She didn't do anything with my foxface or any of my other additions I guess it is because they are from the same family of fish. The clowns could give a dang less though lol. She's seemly just trying to keep him in the corner. But it seems as time goes on she's becoming less interested in keeping him there. He's drifting from that spot a little more each hour and all she does is chase him a little bit. You think they will be okay in a few extra days? Or should I try to scoop the springeri out? I'll have to see if I can find someone local to take him.

i cant think · Dec 24, 2022

immaman2011 said:
She didn't do anything with my foxface or any of my other additions I guess it is because they are from the same family of fish. The clowns could give a dang less though lol. She's seemly just trying to keep him in the corner. But it seems as time goes on she's becoming less interested in keeping him there. He's drifting from that spot a little more each hour and all she does is chase him a little bit. You think they will be okay in a few extra days? Or should I try to scoop the springeri out? I'll have to see if I can find someone local to take him.

I would leave him for a day at the most and just see however if she stops him from eating or gets worse then you know it’s time to scoop out the bully - again, they usually get nasty and it isn’t likely they’ll allow others.

immaman2011 · Dec 24, 2022

i cant think said:
I would leave him for a day at the most and just see however if she stops him from eating or gets worse then you know it’s time to scoop out the bully - again, they usually get nasty and it isn’t likely they’ll allow others.

Very true. I'll see how it goes. I honestly didn't know the chromis would react that way. I will scoop out the new addition so our chromis doesn't kill it if it's not going good by tomorrow