Fed up with Aggressive Fish! Help!

kaymac731

kaymac731

New Member
We have 2 salt water tanks - a 46 gallon bow front and a 29 gallon Biocube. We inherited a snowflake eel with the 46 gal and we bought the 29 gal to put him in and turn it into our aggressive tank. Well, we got some aggressive fish, and then couldn't catch the eel. Now we can't keep any shrimps and are constantly replacing hermits/snails in both because of these stupid guys eating the poor little things.
I'm ready to put the aggressive fish in the 46 gal and move some smaller non-aggressive fish to the 29 gal. So here's what's in each tank:
46 gal:
-snowflake eel
-coral beauty
-flame hawk
-blue velvet damsel
-yellow finned damsel
-blue devil damsel
-4 stripe damsel
-clarkii clown
-cinnamon clown
29 gal:
-humu humu trigger
-spotted hawk
The flame hawk is very friendly and doesn't go after anything, so I was planning on moving him and the 2 smallest damsels (blue devil and 4 stripe) to the 29 gal, and moving the humu and the spotted hawk to the 46 gal. All the fish would then be around the same size. The 3 I'd move to the 29 gal are by far the smallest of all the fish.
My question is if everything will get along ok. Mainly the Humu and the Spotted Hawk with what I've got in the bigger tank. I already know the 3 small ones get alone as they are in the same tank now. And how hardy are these fish? Can I switch them right away? The temps in the tank are the same, but the salinities are just a tad different.
Any suggestions, advice, tips would be great. Thanks!
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Please don't take this the wrong way, but I think you need to do A LOT more research about your fish and their compatibility. You have fish that don't belong in the size tanks that you're placing them in. This becomes even more of an issue when speaking of aggressive fish. Then you're going an adding numerous aggressive fish to a small tank, that's a recipe for disaster almost every time.
Unless you have a very, very large system, different species of clownfish almost never get along. The same can be said for damsels and as damsels get larger, they become more and more aggressive. There are people on this forum that have had their damsels draw blood on them when trying to maintenance their tank.
You're probably not going to be able to keep any inverts with your eel. They're aggressive carnivores and almost always eat anything they can fit in their mouths.
Spotted hawkfish are very aggressive and usually don't do well with shrimp or any fish smaller than them and some people claim that they eat hermits and snails as well. Same with the trigger and the eel, it's going to eat your crustaceans.
 
kaymac731

kaymac731

New Member
BTLD:
Thanks for the advice, but we have had our 46 gallon set up for over a year, and it is well established and we have no issues of fish compatibility. They have all lived together peacefully in there for over 6 months now. The eel is small and doesn't bother any of the fish, and I would love to get rid of him if we could catch him, but short of taking absolutely everything out of the tank to do that, we have no other options. We are moving in the next few months and plan on removing him from the tank permanently then. He came with the tank, it is not a purchase I would have made otherwise. I would also be happy to get rid of the Humu but my husband loves it, and is hoping it will be fine in the bigger tank with the bigger fish. And if we moved the tank around the way I explained in my earlier post all the fish in both tanks would be more or less the same size in each.
 
hawkfish203

hawkfish203

Member
I totally agree with BTL. I myself would get rid of the snowflake and the humu. They will def out grow both of those tanks. Also seems like you have to many fish in that 46.
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator
Quote:
Originally Posted by kaymac731 http:///forum/thread/383900/fed-up-with-aggressive-fish-help#post_3360561
BTLD:
Thanks for the advice, but we have had our 46 gallon set up for over a year, and it is well established and we have no issues of fish compatibility. They have all lived together peacefully in there for over 6 months now. The eel is small and doesn't bother any of the fish, and I would love to get rid of him if we could catch him, but short of taking absolutely everything out of the tank to do that, we have no other options. We are moving in the next few months and plan on removing him from the tank permanently then. He came with the tank, it is not a purchase I would have made otherwise. I would also be happy to get rid of the Humu but my husband loves it, and is hoping it will be fine in the bigger tank with the bigger fish. And if we moved the tank around the way I explained in my earlier post all the fish in both tanks would be more or less the same size in each.
Well, my point was simply, you're complaining about the aggressive nature of your fish. The title of your thread is "Fed up with AGGRESSIVE FISH Help!" You have aggressive fish, and can't keep shrimp because of the fish you are trying to keep in the tanks you're trying to keep them in. Bottom line, a snowflake eel and a Trigger DO NOT belong in a 29G or a46G tank. Your damsels may still be young, but trust me, as they mature, you'll have issues.
 
tangs rule

tangs rule

Active Member
Hawk & BTLD are right.
I know that everyone is happy now and maybe have been for 6 months, but those fish are mostly young, small, and peaceul....they get will get older, bigger and many of yours will get territorial and MEAN with age.......6 months is nothing..... If cared for most marine fish will last 10 years, with some making it 20 in the home aquarium. I would put most what you have in the 46 in a 100 gal minimum, as most will double+ in size in a few short years - and space will be an issue. There are also some fish in the 46 you have I'd not put together in any size tank under several hundred gal (the 2 clowns and all the damsels for example)
Several years ago I had a 3 spot damsel (Dascyllus trimaculatus) that was soo cute and peaceful at 1" long.......within 3 years, he was almost 4 inches long and 1 week it suddenly started terrorizing 2 tangs, a pair of ocellaris clowns, & killed a lawnmower blenny in a 125g tank....I suspect he also killed my skunk cleaner shrimps - cause they truned up mostly eaten the same week. Also, he was no longer blue and spotted and cute, but a dull brown color and MEAN AS A SNAKE...
Sadly many damsels morph into very belligerent fish while loosing their colorful youth, and keeping several of them WILL be impossible in the long run in anything less than hundreds of gallons.....Worse, they will harrass and pester more pleasant fish to death - and yes, some will even nip/bite you too.
 
R

rcreations

Guest
Listen to what these guys are telling you. A 46gal is too small for an agressive tank... the eel and trigger need a much bigger tank.
It's like locking yourself with Mike Tyson in a bathroom for 3 months. Yeah, it could be done, but I doubt either would be very happy.
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
Man, I don't know who is more agreesive, the Huma, the Snowflake, or the.......CLARKI... =) Your other fishies are gonna turn up missing though, but the Clarki could probably take out either one of those lil boys.
 
florida joe

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I must agree with the OP if her displeasure is with the aggressiveness of her fish. Why must these fish do what they are genetically programed to do???? its just not right
 
btldreef

btldreef

Moderator

I must agree with the OP if her displeasure is with the aggressiveness of her fish. Why must these fish do what they are genetically programed to do???? its just not right
Lol!
 
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