Tank mate advice

[Martin in China]

I have 1 blue yellow tail Damsel and 1 bicolor Dottyback. I would like to have one (maybe 2) more fish in my 20G reef tank, which one would be OKAY to put together whit those bullies I have now?

[bat21]

6 line wrasse maybe? But just because all the fish can take care of themselves doesn't mean they won't kill eachother.

[Martin in China]

Originally Posted by bat21

6 line wrasse maybe? But just because all the fish can take care of themselves doesn't mean they won't kill eachother.

The killing part is what I'm afraid of. Some other forum people suggested to put another Damsel in as tank mate.....really possible?? I thought they would kill each other for sure.

[A sea K]

Originally Posted by bat21

6 line wrasse maybe? But just because all the fish can take care of themselves doesn't mean they won't kill eachother.

My thoughts exactly.

[bat21]

Originally Posted by Martin in China

The killing part is what I'm afraid of. Some other forum people suggested to put another Damsel in as tank mate.....really possible?? I thought they would kill each other for sure.

I know that plenty of people have many damsels. But I can't speak from experience. I only have very peaceful fish. The one damsel I had was taken back to the fish store.

[snorvich]

No more fish in the original poster's 20 gallon tank.

[Stevenliu9]

Originally Posted by snorvich

No more fish in the original poster's 20 gallon tank.

+1
The yellowtail is the main reason- very aggressive little bug. If you remove the damsel you might be able to add a pair of clown or gobies.

[bat21]

Originally Posted by snorvich

No more fish in the original poster's 20 gallon tank.

Listen to this guy, OP.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by snorvich

No more fish in the original poster's 20 gallon tank.

Why that? I have 9 fish in a 25 gallon tank: a pair each of percula clowns, shrimp gobies, mandarins and fridmani, plus a single bluestripe pipefish. And that's not even counting all the shrimp and crabs.
They are all doing fine. In fact besides feeding times the tank looks rather empty.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by ThRoewer

Why that? I have 9 fish in a 25 gallon tank: a pair each of percula clowns, shrimp gobies, mandarins and fridmani, plus a single bluestripe pipefish. And that's not even counting all the shrimp and crabs.
They are all doing fine. In fact besides feeding times the tank looks rather empty.

Well that crowding level is not necessarily good husbandry and the average aquarist does not have your skills at maintaining that type of tank. A bicolor dottyback is not the most tolerant of tank mates either.

[DopeCantWin]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Well that crowding level is not necessarily good husbandry and the average aquarist does not have your skills at maintaining that type of tank. A bicolor dottyback is not the most tolerant of tank mates either.

I'd also be interested in how long this tank has been up with all these fish, and what are the Mandarins eating.

[JoeVandal49]

Both fish in the tank are what i would consider highly aggressive.

IMO with those two fish in the tank, you will eventually be left with the more aggressive or largest of the two. Any other additions will be harassed to death quickly.

Just my opinion.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by JoeVandal49

Both fish in the tank are what i would consider highly aggressive.

IMO with those two fish in the tank, you will eventually be left with the more aggressive or largest of the two. Any other additions will be harassed to death quickly.

Just my opinion.

I agree. Which is why my opinion was not to add any fish.

[Martin in China]

How about a cleaner shrimp?
My tank is up and running now for about 7 weeks, the fish were added 1 week ago and so far they are OK with each other, even feeding is going calm, lets hope it stays this way. I am now just thinking in adding a few hermit crabs and 1 cleaner shrimp (as big as I can get).

[snorvich]

A cleaner shrimp (or pair) should be fine.

[CoralsAddiction]

There's is a decent chance your dotty will eat cleaner shrimp. I recommend adding the shrimp at night because fish might think it's food. Happened to me once when I added a cleaner shrimp only to see its demise in the hands of a lineatus wrasse and clownfish.

[Martin in China]

If I add a cleaner shrimp he/she will be much bigger than my fish, but adding the shrimp at night is a good idea, thanks. BTW is adding 2 shrimp really OK?

[sde1500]

From what I know, through asking similar questions, 2 shrimp would be fine. They are considered usually part of the cuc, so they add very little to the bioload.

[Martin in China]

Great, thanks sde1500

[Bdubz]

I had two yellow tail damsels that I got together at the LFS. They worked for about 5 months, but eventually the bigger one killed the smaller one. The yellow tail damsel that lived has been living peacefully with my pair of false percs and yellow tang. I also have a cleaner shrimp in the tank.

[Martin in China]

I'm going for a pair of skunks ....

[Martini5788]

Like previously mentioned, the dotty back may not accept that well but you could try it.

[ThRoewer]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Well that crowding level is not necessarily good husbandry and the average aquarist does not have your skills at maintaining that type of tank. ...

It isn't really crowded at all with all the rocks and caves in there. At times the only fish you see are the percula.
The gobies hardly ever leave the immediate area of their burrow and the mandarins and the pipefish are all day long hunting for pods somewhere in the rock structure.
The clowns stay most of the time in or above their surrogate anemone (ceramic flowerpot) or explore the immediate vicinity - they never go into the cave spaces.
Only the fridmani are a bit more active with the male always trying to lure the female into his cave.

The trick is not quantity but selection of the right fish to go together - and of course their size. Only the fridmani and the pipefish have by now reached their maximum sizes. The percula and mandarins are still less half their maximum.
The fact that all (except the poor pipefish) are kept in pairs reduces inter species aggression to a bare minimum - everyone is just too busy with its own kind to go after others. Only the percula and the male fridmani sometimes quarrel over "airspace" violations.

I also do at a minimum 25% water change each week - often more, because I route all water for water changes in my QTs through this tank. This leads to up to daily 25 to 50% water changes at times.

And finally, this is just a holding tank until my new tank finally arrives (it's been delayed for a couple of months now - Grrr).

Originally Posted by DopeCantWin

I'd also be interested in how long this tank has been up with all these fish, and what are the Mandarins eating.

The mandarins are eating pods and frozen brine shrimp. I have tigger pod cultures of in total larger volume than the tank. These cultures produce enough for at least one feeding of 1-2 ml pure pods a day. And I'm right now in the process of doubling that capacity.
The tank is also full with amphipods and Mysis but I doubt the mandarins are able to get many of those.
The trick is also to have a coarse gravel bed that provides enough refuge for small critters - a bare bottom or fine sand bed won't work.

This tank has been up for 6 months and these fish are for the most part in there for 4 to 5 months.

[Martin in China]

So far the dottyback isn't even looking at the shrimp....he only looks at me if I bring some food.

[Martin in China]

It's still going well with my hermit crabs and shrimp, the 2 Halloween hermit have molded and are now up and about, the 2 shrimp just molded last night. Those shrimp are like twins, always together and now even molding at the same time.