Six Line & Neon Dotty in Small Tank: Big Mistake

MartinMan

Premium Member
[[I’m posting this so any folks new to the hobby won’t make the same mistake.  ][I should have known better.][  ][Because of a possible flat worm, and Nudibranch discovery, I decided to add two small wrasses together for pest control.][  ][I added a Six Line Wrasse, and Yellow Coris, both small 1 to 2” at the same time to my 60 gallon softie tank.][  ]] [[The 7 well established tank-mates were a pair of Black Pers, around 3” a 2” Maroon, 2” Fire Clown a 4” Fairy Wrasse, 3” Sleeper Goby, and a killer 3-4” Neon Dottyback.  ][These 7 fish have been living together in perfect harmony.][  ][My peaceful community became a war zone with the addition of these two tiny fish.][  ][The Dotty killed the 6 line almost immediately, and harassed the yellow wrasse for two days.][  ][The Yellow Coris has held on and now seems to be accepted with the smaller fish, only getting bullied when near the Dotty’s strata. ]] [[The sad part of this tale is that my beautiful Fairy wrasse was totally freaked out by the sudden aggression and is now dead.  ][End results the aggression has calmed, and to paraphrase Steinbeck, my Water World once again spins in greased grooves.]] [-Cannery Row-] 
 
I'm really sorry to hear about that. I've always heard that dottybacks could be super territorial, so I've avoided them. Nice quote though.
 
Dottyback has finally settled down and not harassing any of the fish now.  Actually saw him tonight eating off the clip with the new Coris wrasse.  Guess it was just the 6 line that caused the aggression.  Live and learn.
 
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