Royal dotty

[Codeblack88]

Hi, I have a quick question about two of my fish. for the last 2 or three weeks my arceye hawkfish has not let my royal dottyback swim in the open water column but instead forces him to hide in the rocks at the bottom of the tank. The dotty is the only fish that the hawkfish has an issue with. I can't catch either of them because they are both way too quick to dive into the rocks before i can get the net near them. Any suggestions?

The tank is a 32 gal biocube
Tankmates: saddleback puffer, 2 clowns, YWG, arceye hawkfish, royal dotty

thanks for any help!

 

[Jimbo7]

The arceye is a very territorial fish and in a 32 gal probably thinks the whole thing is theirs. For territorial fish, you have a few options you can try:
1. catch and isolate the issue fish for a few days in a QT box or sump (though like you mentioned, not always easy)
2. If your rock isn't glued together, go in after lights out and move a few key rocks around. This will help reset territory claims and they might find a new balance. Be ready to do a decent water change as moving established rock can stir up nasties and keep the lights off for a day or two while monitoring.
3. Search around the forums for the "mirror trick" with aggressive fish, I feel like its normally referenced for tang aggression but would be worth trying.
4. Rehome one of the fish (usually the aggressor)

 

[Codeblack88]

The arceye is a very territorial fish and in a 32 gal probably thinks the whole thing is theirs. For territorial fish, you have a few options you can try:
1. catch and isolate the issue fish for a few days in a QT box or sump (though like you mentioned, not always easy)
2. If your rock isn't glued together, go in after lights out and move a few key rocks around. This will help reset territory claims and they might find a new balance. Be ready to do a decent water change as moving established rock can stir up nasties and keep the lights off for a day or two while monitoring.
3. Search around the forums for the "mirror trick" with aggressive fish, I feel like its normally referenced for tang aggression but would be worth trying.
4. Rehome one of the fish (usually the aggressor)

Yeah I knew that when getting him hence why i got him last. Its just weird that he fights just the dotty no one else. Imma try to make my own fish trap and see if that works because the rock is glued and set in place. Ill def look into the mirror trick but Im not 100% sure that will work because he hangs out in the dead center of the tank and doesn't bother anyone but the dotty (like i mentioned earlier). Thank you for all your help

 

[Codeblack88]

Update: I had to break all my glued rocks to finally catch him. Absolute pain in the butt. But now I am thinking of seeing if the dotty comes out more regularly to eat and swim and give it a week to recover from the bullying with the rest of my tank. Would releasing the hawkeye once the dotty is caught work to reset the territorial beef or should i just pick between the two fish?