Splendid Dottyback

[jesseatam]

Was thinking about getting this as a first fish for my 30 gallon but have read a lot of mixed info on these guys regarding size and temperament. I became interested in this fish after seeing it multiple times on Divers Den and now recently my LFS has one which seems to be a big scaredy cat. I know dottybacks aren't the best first fish in a tank due to territorial issues but this guy seemed really shy, especially compared to the neon dottybacks I've seen which came right up to glass but I'm just looking for your guys opinions and/or experiences with this fish.

[Clown79]

Dottybacks are very aggressive. They can take on fish bigger than them.

 

If you add it first, you will have issues adding any other fish after or at all. Definitely no passive fish can be kept with it 

 

My dottyback seemed shy at first too that changed.  I also continually lost hermits and snails to it and shrimp can't be kept with them either.

[jesseatam]

what species did you have if you don't mind me asking 

[Clown79]

I had the bicolor

[jesseatam]

Yeah I've heard a lot of bad things about those, purples, purples stripes, neons, and sunrises. However I've read a lot of good things on orchids, springers, and striped dottys so this is were my curiosity about this fish comes in. I might just steer clear of this fish though since there doesn't seem to be a definitive max size for this fish and I don't want to end up with a possibly 6 inch killing machine in my 30 gallon if that's how it's temperament turns out 

[holy carp]

I have an orchid dotty that tries to act tough by its cave, but never actually touches the other clowns.  It darts out at them and then quickly diverts in the last centimeter.  He's actually relatively timid overall, just slightly territorial.  The Orchids are supposedly one of the least aggressive varieties of dottyback.  They cap out at 3" long.  FWIW, I got mine from Sea & Reef - not sure how much difference there is among the different captive bred available and wild caught.  Mine has never touched inverts, but does occasionally eat some bristle worms.  

 

As clown79 said, add a dotty after the less aggressive fish are settled in.

 

 

[CronicReefer]

I have had multiple dottybacks and they have never been aggressive to any of my fish. Dottybacks do not like fish that look similar to themselves so make sure any future tank mates look different. Also they become aggressive if they are not fed well enough so keep that in mind as well.

[Mariaface]

My neon talks a big game, but as @holy carp mentioned it actually turns its face away at the last moment. I worry more about my bigger clown, who'll actually dart at it and try to bite if there's food around  

[jambon]

I have an elongated dottyback now. He is fairly quiet. But I had a springers which was way laid back and the black and blue color was vivid. I would still be wary about adding one first.

[jesseatam]

Woah I'm surprised to see this thread come back to life, I ended going to more safer royal gramma route for a first fish. I love him to bits but it saddens me because from everything I've read housing basslets and dottys together are a big no no, shame too because the store I got my clowns from had some nice sunrises, splendids, and an orchid. But then again the shop had all three of those species in one of the tanks so anything is possible I guess but not sure if its worth the risk to try to replicate at home.

[1.0reef]

There are tons dottybacks, to say they're all aggressive is simply incorrect. In fact, many species are incredibly reclusive and behave more like Assessors or Lipogramma species.