Purple Dottyback

[arizonagrace]

I have a purple dottyback that I adore. He is currently residing with some clown fish in a 12 gallon tank. I know, overcrowded.

I have a 24 gallon tank with a pajama cardinal in it. I have had him for about 4 years now. The 24 gallon tank is loaded with bristle worms. The dottyback I here is good for removing these worms. I know I had bristle worms in another 12 gallon he used to be in and after about 2 weeks, they disappeared. Same thing when I moved him to the 12 he is in now.

I want to move him to a larger tank so the 12 isn't so crowded. I am just worried about the cardinal and if he will pick on the cardinal. The clowns will throw a fit when/if I move him but they will get used to not having him around. The last time I moved him to a tank with no other fish, they went crazy. Then, they just laid on the bottom of the tank for days, not eating. I put him back in and they were fine. lol

Anyway, what suggestions do you all have. If it is not a good idea to move him with the cardinal, can i put in an arrow crab with the cardinal? There is a watchman goby in that tank, but I haven't seen him in days

 

[chuck78]

I'd vote towards moving the dotty to the bigger tank just for the sake of overcrowding & if in turn it eats the bristle worm, view it as a bonus. The clowns may get upset & not eat, but hunger with eventually get the best of them.

 

[little_fish]

+1 chuck

 

[yote]

+1 Chuck
The Dotty shouldn't bother your Cardinals and the Cardinals shouldn't bother the Dotty.

 

[arizonagrace]

I will definitely move him, I am just worried about the pajama cardinal. I only have another 12 gallon that has a 3stripe damsel in it, and I know the damsel would go to town on the dottyback.

 

[arizonagrace]

I wanted to let you all know that I did move the purple dottyback to the other tank yesterday. I lost an older watchman goby in that tank and the pajama cardinal was the only one in there. I took everything out, scraped off all the algae that shouldn't be there, rearranged all the live rock, while still leaving the pajama cardinal's favorite overhang for him, and placed the purple dottyback inside. I had purchased a very cute glow in the dark cave at walmart that is good for saltwater too for him to hide in. He seems interested, but hasn't used it that I know of. I am going to move it closer to the liverock in a couple of days.

He seems happy, darting back and forth in the tank all day today. He seems to be really exploring, and so far no problems between him and pj.

A question I have. I want to get this guy some more caves to be able to hide in to make him more comfortable. I have heard people using pvc pipes to make caves. Would this work if I get him some pieces cut about 1" wide opening and 6" or so in length? Or would he be happier with caves that have only 1 opening?

Any suggestions on what to get him? I have seen some cichlid caves for sale on ebay, and not sure they would work in saltwater.

UP Aquarium Ornament Fish Tank Cichlid Stone Shrimp Breeding Cave F-923-E | eBay

 

[little_fish]

You can make caves by stacking rocks or attaching them to the PVC pipes. I think your best bet will be to make natural caves from the rocks.

 

[arizonagrace]

Unfortunately, the live rock we get here are all very large pieces. I was lucky to get the smaller ones and branch styles when I did. The tank is only a 24 gallon, and I cannot fit a lot of larger rock in there. The one large piece I do have has a few holes he can swim through, but the are narrow and holes, not caves. So making caves out of rocks like that is not an option for me. There simply isn't room for more large rocks. I attempted to make caves by moving the rocks near each other, but it is difficult with what I have. And there is only one store here that sells live rock.

 

[Bifferwine]

Break up the large rocks with a hammer and chisel.

 

[arizonagrace]

I got a sphinx decoration that I put in this tank. I didn't realize it had several holes in it until I really looked at it and decided it was perfect. The dottyback immediately investigated and has been playing with it like a kid in an amusement park.

 

[arizonagrace]

Just one more update. They seem to be getting along after an initial breakin period.

The purple dottyback disappeared tonight. He is always out at night feeding time. Of course, I worried so I tore tank apart. Ugh. He was hiding in the sphinx all along, tucked up toward the top looking at me as if to say "what the?" roflmao. I guess the sphinx is a hit!

I was told that if he begins to hide at night and out during the day to look for food, he is happy in the tank. I hope he is.

 

[little_fish]

All of my fish "go to bed" and will disappear. I highly suggest waiting for a fish to appear than to go through your tank trying to find it, if the fish is a bit stressed moving the rocks around will only make it worse.