We got a bully

Simon Fraser · Mar 7, 2017

Absolutely gutted, got our first (official) marine fish after cycle completed (false gramma) and this afternoon I found two mollies on the floor, clearly they jumped to their death

Did some reading and now clearly see the false gramma is a territorial fish so will have to keep an eye on it!

Clearly we're going to have to do better research than the LFS staff saying " there a nice first fish".

Triggreef · Mar 7, 2017

Live aquaria has pretty good and reliable info for almost all fish even if they aren't in Stock. And it's usually accurate. I always check their description for stuff i don't know about.

Frop · Mar 7, 2017

Simon Fraser said:
Absolutely gutted, got our first (official) marine fish after cycle completed (false gramma) and this afternoon I found two mollies on the floor, clearly they jumped to their death

Did some reading and now clearly see the false gramma is a territorial fish so will have to keep an eye on it!

Clearly we're going to have to do better research than the LFS staff saying " there a nice first fish".

Sorry about that. I have a distrust towards any person profiting from me.

Simon Fraser · Mar 7, 2017

Frop said:
Sorry about that. I have a distrust towards any person profiting from me.

I feel I may adopt this same trust matrix.

Simon Fraser · Mar 7, 2017

Triggreef said:
Live aquaria has pretty good and reliable info for almost all fish even if they aren't in Stock. And it's usually accurate. I always check their description for stuff i don't know about.

Stupid thing is, it was their own darn website that had really good information that would have highlighted these exact issues!

AlexG · Mar 7, 2017

I understand how you feel. That pseudochromis can be aggressive and if they are added they should be towards the end of adding fish or they need a larger tank with sufficient space. How large is your aquarium?

Simon Fraser · Mar 7, 2017

AlexG said:
How large is your aquarium?

We have a 13g.

AlexG · Mar 7, 2017

Simon Fraser said:
We have a 13g.

In that size tank the psudochromis would likely need be alone.

wkscott · Mar 7, 2017

That false gramma won't get any better. The more time he spends by himself in your tank, the nastier he will become to any newcomers. Its colors are indeed beautiful but if your LFS is agreeable take him back and get a real royal gramma. Better personality and fins.

Frop · Mar 7, 2017

Simon Fraser said:
I feel I may adopt this same trust matrix.

Sure! I learned it from my uncle. He told me if I worked harder I'd get a raise. Then I did, and the slow guy lied and took credit for my work and became shift lead and the manager became mad at me and found 3 things to write me up for then my uncle (president of the company) told me why should I give you a raise how will I know you'll stay? To which I learned if you say you're very generous and your company makes literally 50million a year and you pay minimum wage I should know he is spewing lies effortlessly. That's how they make the money, lies. #James5:4

And now.. I don't trust any business people who have anything to gain from my service.

Maritimer · Mar 7, 2017

Some years ago (we need not go into how many...) I had a purple pseudochromis (related to your fellow, and of similar temperament) and a tomato clownfish in a 55 gallon tank. They were the _only_ fish in the tank.

Ever.

Any new fish would be destroyed within a half hour of bringing it home.

Wanna guess how many dottybacks I have now?

~Bruce

Roy 9121 · Mar 7, 2017

Simon Fraser said:
Absolutely gutted, got our first (official) marine fish after cycle completed (false gramma) and this afternoon I found two mollies on the floor, clearly they jumped to their death

Did some reading and now clearly see the false gramma is a territorial fish so will have to keep an eye on it!

Clearly we're going to have to do better research than the LFS staff saying " there a nice first fish".

That's the one thing I've learned from being in this hobby for about 10. Your LFS is not the best source of information.

Humblefish · Mar 7, 2017

If false gramma = Bicolor Dottyback, then that's one mean little fish. Get rid of it.

Triggreef · Mar 8, 2017

I'm probably the only guy on the forum that likes dottybacks. I've had many and none were a problem. But they were all in a minimum of a 125g. Thats got everything to do with it.

40B Knasty · Mar 8, 2017

I got lucky. Bought one at Petco. My roommate was bringing it home while I went to a real LFS that cares. He was like ohh no. Those fish are nasty. Bring it back. Caught the roomy before hitting the highway. Bring it back! Crises averted! Picked up a Swissguard Basslet a week later. What a model citizen/tankmate. I will always have one the rest of my life.

AlexG · Mar 8, 2017

Triggreef said:
I'm probably the only guy on the forum that likes dottybacks. I've had many and none were a problem. But they were all in a minimum of a 125g. Thats got everything to do with it.

I like dottybacks and I agree that a large tank is required. I think that is why a lot of people have issues with them is because they either need to be a loner in a small tank or require a large tank.

Jongalt26 · Mar 9, 2017

Dottybacks are funny, the ones ive come across have short fish disease. I'd think they'd challenge a full grown shark if it wandered too close to their area.

4FordFamily · Mar 9, 2017

AlexG said:
In that size tank the psudochromis would likely need be alone.

Agree.

Also, mollies are very fragile relative to marine fish. They're very docile even for a freshwater fish but relative to marine fish aggression spectrum they literally don't even register.