psuedo fish

[jillian ayers]

I saw a picture of a purple psuedo fish tonight and I think I'm in love. I definately want to have it for my reef tank. Please tell me, what does it go with and what doesn't it? Also, what does it eat and does it pick on corals? Thanx!
-Jillian=+)

 

[sistrmary]

They're very very mean. They don't pick on corals, but they will pick on any fish similar in size, shape or eating habits. Or one that just happens to swim by when it's feeling pissy. Typical "short man" complex. And they eat shrimp.
They're very pretty, just make sure and add them last so everything else can get adjusted and settled

 

[jillian ayers]

I'm planning on having in the tank: a false perc, a black perc, a tang, and a mandarinfish, as well as some starfish. Would that be ok?

 

[sistrmary]

It depends on the size of the tank...if the tank is too small, the dottyback will tear your clowns apart. It probably won't kill them, because clowns are tanks, but it will stress them out and make them susceptible to things that *will* kill them. Of course, if the tank is too small your tang might make take them all out before anyone else gets a chance to lol (and I'm not even nagging about tang tank size, I'm tired of fighting the losing battle at the moment, will pick up tang police badge within the week however. I'm just saying tangs can be mean. )
Percs are pretty laid back usually, and don't go out of their way to declare themselves King of The Mountain, so if you add the dottyback last, I don't foresee too much of a problem.

 

[jillian ayers]

The tank is going to be a 75- gallon (unless someone is willing to give me bigger for really cheap) and the tang is supposed to be the centerpiece of it all. I didn 't really want one after all the fighting, but they are so beautiful I cannot help myself. I am looking at the very beautiful powder blue tang or maybe powder brown or yellow. The percs are another thing I fell in love with, in fact, I LOVE ALL FISH!!!! So, I hope this is ok, what do you think?

 

[slothy]

pics ?

 

[jillian ayers]

Going to be, slothy... I don't have the tank yet. Still waiting for an influx of cash.

 

[sistrmary]

Sounds fine A 75gal is fine for most tangs, however you might consider substituting a white cheek (Acanthurus nigricans) tang for the powder brown. (I mentioned this before, but the thread was deleted soon after a fight insued, so I don't know if you read it or not lol ) They're a lot tougher than the PBT's and they're prettier IMO: http://www.coralreefnetwork.com/sten...-nigricans.jpg

 

[slothy]

WOW pretty fishy.... i like that more than powder blue for sure...

 

[sistrmary]

Me too They're a lot tougher too..a bit more expensive, but worth it in the long run because you'll have a lower mortality rate. The powder browns and blue are prone to...death. And it's not as mean as the powder blues.
Jillian: since you're tight on money, wait a while on the tang. The dottyback won't bother it if it's the last addition. The size/shape is too different. Tangs fare a lot better in established tanks...and I know you don't want to replace one...smaller ones also ship better, so request a smaller one. You'll probably have to special order it through your LFS or online because most LFS's won't carry them. They sell the powder browns and blues with ease, and they're almost positive that someone will come back within a month wanting another fish because their tang died.

 

[jillian ayers]

Thanx mary,
I';; hold off on the tang for a while in that case, and just get the white cheek. My only other question pertains to manadarinfish, will it fight with the psuedo?

 

[sistrmary]

Nah, mandarins only fight with other mandarins. (well, depending on the size of the tank, some will fight with all dragonets, however, in a 100gal I've got a scooter and a mandarin) Nothing really messes with the dragonets. (sometimes the LMB will, but not with vigor.) Fights usually occur over food/space. They're small and eat buggies. Not too many things exsist primarily upon the buggies, so there's no competetion. In a tank with plenty of buggies to go around, everything is peachy. Speaking of the mandarin, I should have mentioned that too, although I was focusing on the tang, wait on the mandarin until you're sure that your pod population can support one. Like most salt water fish that are hard to feed, smaller is better. Even small, they eat a lot, so make sure you have plenty of live rock and a large population of pods for one to eat

 

[angus]

SistrMary is right, be careful of the dottyback. For it's small size, it's extremely aggressive.
I know because I have a diadem dottyback myself. It lives in a tank with only a cinnammon clown and some inverts. I'd love to add more fish, but the dottyback (or Basslet) is so damn mean.
He attacks anything, and I mean anything that goes near his house. He bites off all of my coral banded shrimp's antennae every time he molts. Throws hermit crabs around for fun etc. The clown fish is used to him now, they nip at each other, but clowny is holding her own.
If your up for the challenge, go for it. Maybe you'll get a more temperate fish.

 

[fishfood]

I have not had experience with any of the dottybacks but I also love the Neon and the Splendid dottybacks. check them out here on this site. The spendid they have pictured is not as good looking as the one i saw at my lfs though.

 

[c_bell]

I have two dottybacks. A neon db and an orchid db AKA purple psuedo. I put them in the same tank when i first bought them and that was not a good idea they went at it for while, so i decided to seperate them. Now they are both doing fine, they eat mostly anything i put in the tank, and they do pick at hermit crabs and shimp.....mainly to steal their food.

 

[ryebread]

I would also stay away from the purple pseudo.......I had one for about two weeks and it killed my favorite fish.....my sleeper goby. The sleeper goby was about twice the size of the pseudo and it didn't even stand a chance.......mean little bugger.

 

[jillian ayers]

How long will it take the pod population to grow in my tank? I don't want to add the mandarin too soon! I think I will add all other fish but psuedo and mandarin first and then psuedo a fedw days later, and then mandarin when the pods are enough.

 

[ekclark]

Are the purple pseudo and the strawberry gramma the same fish? If not, are the little strawberries equally nasty? Perhaps the name gave them a complex.

 

[sistrmary]

Yep! They're all the same fish. They call them pseudos, grammas and basslets. Apparently, this type of fish warranted 3 different names. The particular fish you're talking about has been called many things (Especially "You little f#%@er!") Magenta, strawberry, raspberry, purple gramma/pseudo/dottyback. And every LFS will make its' own special name for it.
And they're all meaner than hell. Anything with "_____ dottyback" is a mean fish. Worse than damsels...worse than hawkfish. I'd even venture to say worse (but less destructive because of size difference) than triggers. *Especially* the neon dottyback. This fish has been known to *disembowel* tankmates.

 

[angus]

Yeah, think of the class bully. He'll pick on everyone in the tank, but he's the first to run and hide on water change day.
Bully/chicken fish!
Seriously though, when I first got my dottyback, I went through many days of watching him pick on and attack my clownfish without mercy. Just because he could I guess. Eventually I kept moving around the live rock and confusing him, and he relented a bit. Although the clownfish is still afraid of him, she's bigger now.
I think when she gets full grown it'll be payback time in the tank.
Either that or I'll move the clownfish and the devil will get his own tank. On the positive side, he's very active. Non stop, in and out of the liverock all day, and he's wicked fast.
Like I said yesterday, if your up for it, and don't mind watching possible aggression, go for it.
Just make sure your LFS will take him back.....mine won't even sell them anymore!