Wacky Social Acclimation Question . . .

Maritimer · Jun 12, 2016

I've got a couple of fairy wrasses and a couple of dwarf angelfish in QT, all of whom are eating well, getting along together, and seem to be in excellent health.

I've also got a (smaller, though not by a lot) coral beauty and a (larger) orange-back fairy in my display. (Ah, the challenge looms!)

Here's my plan for introducing the new fish to the display:
1) Place a mirror on one side of the DT to distract the resident
2) Add all new wrasses at the same time, and add all new angels at the same time as each other, though not at the same time as the wrasses
3) (and this is the inspiration for the title of this post...) Switch the powerheads from "tidal" mode on one side and "high-low flow" on the other, to a "pulse" mode on both sides, simulating an ocean storm's random strong wave action.

Any thoughts or input from folks who've tried this sort of introduction before, or simply have some insight into fish psychology?

~Bruce

Maritimer · Jun 18, 2016

Well, some answers, based in a single experience . . .

At a suggestion read on another forum, and at the same time as I introduced the wrasses, I left my aquarium net in the display. I do think that this helped in reducing the confidence of the resident orange-back wrasse. He showed strong interest in the newcomers, but didn't attack or chase. The net seemed to do little to deter the trio of azure damselfish in the tank though, who decided that the Naoko's wrasse was to be targeted.

I placed a full-length mirror (the kind you hang on your closet door) at one end of the tank, and that kept the damsels (and most others) occupied enough to get the Naoko's through the first couple of days, with only some torn finnage. That'll repair itself, and the damsels have called off their attacks.

Setting the currents to surge mode seemed to have little/no effect. I'll still do it sometimes though, as it does help move detritus up where it can be collected by a filter sock.

Now it's just down to the angels . . . wish me luck in a couple of weeks!

~Bruce