Orchid Dottyback

[dling]

Im considering an Orchid Dottyback.  I havee 2 Royal Gramma and 2 osc. Clowns in a 50g tank. Would the Dottyback be a good fit ?

[jambon]

The dottybacks are a bit aggressive but if the grammas and clowns are well established it should work. Dottybacks like to hang around the rock work as well as the royal grammas. Hopefully you have plenty of live rock. 50 gallons is a lot of real estate as well. 

  That being said... it is my opinion and I would go for it, others here may not . 

[sam_the_reefer]

Yup!

[dling]

Thanks for the reply's. I will get it. Very pretty fish.

[dling]

Would 2 of the Orchis's be okay in my 50g reef instead of just one ?

[DSA65PRO]

My Rainbow Dottybacks fought till one died, they were both introduced at the same time. This was in a 90 gallon with lots of Live Rock and plenty of hiding/hang out spaces. So I’d say no.

[WV Reefer]

12 hours ago, dling said:

Would 2 of the Orchis's be okay in my 50g reef instead of just one ?

Mine is very aggressive and just happens to be in a tank with even bigger a**holes So it works out. I would just be aware of that when picking other fish. Mine is one of my prettiest fish. 

[DISQUALIFIED-QQ]

Hardest maybe I can give.

[Humblefish]

I avoid dottybacks. That being said, supposedly true Orchid Dottybacks (P. fridmani) are more peaceful. But make sure it's not a Purple Dottyback (P. porphyreus).

[dling]

8 hours ago, Humblefish said:

I avoid dottybacks. That being said, supposedly true Orchid Dottybacks (P. fridmani) are more peaceful. But make sure it's not a Purple Dottyback (P. porphyreus).

What about the purple ? Thats why I wanted one . It was because of the color.

[WV Reefer]

7 minutes ago, dling said:

What about the purple ? Thats why I wanted one . It was because of the color.

Here’s a not so great clip of my pseudochromis Fridmani so that you can see how vivid the color is:

 

It has a face full of bristles from eating the bristleworms in its lair  😄

 

[dling]

Cool. Thanks. I ordered one from LFS. Not sure what color it will be. Plan on picking it up next Friday.

[dling]

Have been looking at the dottyback and looking at my royal grammas. They look very much

alike . I'm now  concerned there may be a problem. Are these fish in the same family ?

[Tamberav]

My orchid turned mean at about a year old. Like it killed fish that were in the tank before it type of mean. It was a captive bred one too.

 

Both grammas and dottys inhabit the same space...caves...and such. If you get a dotty like mine...it will have no problem destroying the more peaceful royal gramma if it wants to.

 

[dling]

Thanks. Im not going to add it to my tank. Right now I have no problems in my tank and I want to keep it that way. 

[Gourami Swami]

I think that's a good idea. Fish usually fight with their competition, royal grammas have similar behavioral patterns and look close enough that I'd be worried. I've got an orchid dottyback (ORA CB) and he is not too bad but not passive. He picked a fight with my clownfish initially until he got his butt kicked, now he seems to know his place and doesn't mess with anyone. But I am keeping an eye on him...

[dling]

47 minutes ago, Gourami Swami said:

I think that's a good idea. Fish usually fight with their competition, royal grammas have similar behavioral patterns and look close enough that I'd be worried. I've got an orchid dottyback (ORA CB) and he is not too bad but not passive. He picked a fight with my clownfish initially until he got his butt kicked, now he seems to know his place and doesn't mess with anyone. But I am keeping an eye on him...

Thanks. Thats what I was afraid of. They look a lot a like. Right now I have a peaceful community and want it to stay that way.  I would like to get one more opne swimming fish just to be seen. My clowns stay in the anemone and the grammas are in and out of sight. Any recommendations?

[jambon]

There are some nice looking wrasse available possum wrasse, six line, pink streaked etc. All of these swim around a lot. Anthias, chronos, some smaller damselfish. 

[Gourami Swami]

16 minutes ago, dling said:

Thanks. Thats what I was afraid of. They look a lot a like. Right now I have a peaceful community and want it to stay that way.  I would like to get one more opne swimming fish just to be seen. My clowns stay in the anemone and the grammas are in and out of sight. Any recommendations?

Wrasses are a solid idea. Yellow coris wrasse would be a good one for your tank size and stock.

The tang police may not like this idea, but small tangs are very active open swimmers with a lot of personality. My opinion is that  it would be do-able in a 50 gallon. But some may disagree.

[dling]

20 hours ago, Gourami Swami said:

Wrasses are a solid idea. Yellow coris wrasse would be a good one for your tank size and stock.

The tang police may not like this idea, but small tangs are very active open swimmers with a lot of personality. My opinion is that  it would be do-able in a 50 gallon. But some may disagree.

I was thinking about a small yellow tang . Have had them before in larger tanks. Agreed they are open swimmers.

 

20 hours ago, jambon said:

There are some nice looking wrasse available possum wrasse, six line, pink streaked etc. All of these swim around a lot. Anthias, chronos, some smaller damselfish. 

The six line is a nice fish. I will look into some sort of wrasse. Thanks for the suggestions.

[dling]

Well ,I'm not sure about the 6 line any more. Did some reading and vid watching seems they cay get aggressive

after awhile . I may give up on adding another fish. The ones I have now get along without any problems.

[Gourami Swami]

38 minutes ago, dling said:

Well ,I'm not sure about the 6 line any more. Did some reading and vid watching seems they cay get aggressive

after awhile . I may give up on adding another fish. The ones I have now get along without any problems.

Nothing wrong with keeping the balance. A pink-streaked should be much less likely to be aggressive than a 6-line btw

[Tamberav]

Small flashers and small fairys are open water swimmers and mostly are peaceful. They would fit fine in a 50g.

 

Juvinile yellow coris is another worth mentioning. They grow slow and are easy keepers. Just be sure you have sand for these guys. 

 

I wouldn't say pink streak or sixlines are open water swimmers. They swim a lot but stick more to the rocks looking for bugs but they are active.

 

A small dwarf coral beauty would be another suggestion. All dwarfs can be a risk to corals or become somewhat aggressive. Some worse then others. The coral beauty seems to have the most consistent success for behavior.

 

There are many choices!