Hey was wondering what everyone's tactics are when adding new fish? I mean I know the fish that have been there are normally aggressive or territorial. What does everyone do to make itnso the new fish to the tank don't get picked on severely?
Adding new fish
- Thread starter TonyI25
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This maybe an older tactic. Turn off all the lights while acclimating and after introduction. I’ve also see. People use egg crate / other dividers if you can go edge to edge
Do they eventually get used to each other after while?
“Yes”, the light trick avoids immediate aggression and levels the playing field. The dividers help to acclimate the new fish to new environment without dealing with aggression. A new fish in an environment by itself will always take time to acclimate. Add other fish and other factors it’s just more stress. There are also charts online that show compatibility, so be mindful of fish that just will never get along. Size of tank & rock work / hiding places matter also. Good luck!
I had a group of tangs that had been together a long time, and wanted to add more. I pulled the tangs out to a temporary tank (stock tub) for 6 weeks while new tangs were in Qt, then introduced all back at the same time.
Yea I've thought of doing that so that they feel like they're being introduced all at the same time. Only problem is catching these fish. Not an easy task haha.
If I know or anticipate aggression I’ll put the new fish in an acclimation box in the tank for a few days. Then at release if there’s still aggression I’ll cover the tank for a day. I always release the fish at night when lights are out and fish are sleeping. I’d also put mirrors up too if aggression continues. Most of the time the aggression dissipates.
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Mirrors for the win. The fish will go bananas for 2 days attacking the hoard of invaders. Then you take them down and fish are like “we won!” And forget all about the new guy who remains. Cost almost nothing from Amazon.
(But plug that I would worry much more about QT issues than aggression)
(But plug that I would worry much more about QT issues than aggression)
Yea I'll have to give that a try. Lots of people swear by it.
Cali Callaghan
New Member
Depends on the species you have and the species your adding and the relative sizes of all of them. I have a Kupang Damsel and a YT Damsel and the Kupang wanted to affiliate with the Kupang when I added the first Kupang. The YT was not interested and was hostile toward a Kupang of his same size. So I added another Kupang of the same size and the three of them all affiliate now. The YT regularly tries to court them. The behavioral dynamics of the species you have has much to do with whom you can add, how many you can add and how big they can be. Do you have a film or pictures? Film is better so we can see how they are interacting. I recently had to remove a large Princess Damsel and put him in the hospital tank. Now the tank is very very calm and everyone is getting along.
