Purpleback Pseudochromis

[ibew]

This fish went into a 55gal reef along with a school of Green Chromis about a week ago. The purpleback turns out to be very aggressive and has nipped at my Mystery Wrasse and clowns but not my Blue Spotted jawfish he is also nipping at my green Chromis I understand this fish may become territorial or is but the prob is he thinks all 80lbs of the rock is his with the exception of maybe 10lbs is the jawfish. None of the fish want to go near the rockwork for a chance to get attacked. Will this fish mello down at some point or should I just remove him never had this problem before and also shocked that a 3 inch mystery wrasse is scared of a 1inch purpleback and wont strike back
any help is welcomed thanks Jeremy

 

[sean48183]

Yes they are pretty aggressive little buggers but can't really do any damage. I have had one going on 4 years now and he darts out of the rock to nip a fin then goes back but never to the point of death. A little cat and mouse in a tank is not so bad and will probably always be there but if you see serious fin damage or him buried in the corner then theres a problem

 

[florida joe]

What may seem like a little cat and mouse at first can become detrimental as time goes on. The harassment will eventually stress out the harassed fish and as we know stress will suppress the immune system. This will open the door to other health problems for the stressed fish and may in fact also cause problems for your other inhabitants. IMO

 

[sean48183]

If the target is always one fish and it is repeated I agree it can be come an issue. But from having a psuedocromis for this long now I doubt it will go to the point of that level of stress. I have a tomato who spends his hole day chasing fish. All of them. This has been going on for years but no one has ever gotten sick or died from it. Probably more like good exercise. In fact he looks worse then the fish he is chasing because of the tangs scalpels.

 

[ibew]

thanks guys I kind figured what the responses were going to be on this subject but it never hurts to ask. I will remove him shortly as he is just to aggressive for a reef tank of that size and this is my second dotty I have a frimandi in my other tank that I have had for close to a year now and had good sucess with him and the other fish. So I guess sometimes it just doesnt work out

 

[tank a holic]

good luck catching him