Fish Seniority

[bjoiner]

So, the deal is, I have a fish-only tank setup right now. It has been going for about 3 years now. I am getting a bigger tank (hopefully by this weekend) and am trying to decide what to do with the current one.

I am worried about moving the fish from the old tank to the new one because they are small fish (Damsel, Clown, Chromis), and I would like to get some bigger fish in the new tank.

Has anyone had issues with fish getting "homesick" when you change their enviroment like that? I'm also a little worried that the fish in the old tank will feel threatend by any new fish and become agressive towards them.

Finally, in the new tank, I would like to have a pair of clowns. Can I just add a clown, or is it better two introduce two clowns at the same time?

Thanks much,

Ben

 

[Anonymous]

With damsels, clowns (which are also damsels) and chromis, you're probably fine..

Add clowns how you like, but make sure they're the same species or you might wind up with some serious battling. - Also, probably good to keep the numbers on the low side too, they're usually ok as long as they don't all try to host in the same spot and that spot be too small.

What kind of "bigger fish" are you thinking?

 

[bjoiner]

I was thinking along the lines of one of these http://www.ngsednet.org/community/resource_uploads/Great White Shark 2.jpg

Also, I wanted to get a coral beauty and/or flame angel. Neither are huge, but bigger than the clown.

To be honest, I'm still trying to figure out what I want in the tank. Suggestions welcomed :-D

 

[WRASSER]

if you put the same sand rocks etc. you should be ok. Everything will have the same odor and such to keep them familiar with the envoriment.

 

[ChrisRD]

IME fish don't appear to recognize rocks or sand from a tank where they formerly resided (and no, they won't be "homesick" if you move them to a new tank). In fact, if you rearrange the rockwork in an existing tank it generally throws all the fish off and they tend to establish new territories. Actually, this technique is commonly used to divert/prevent aggression when introducing new fish to a system (along with such things as adding the new fish during lights out, feeding the other fish to distract them before releasing the new fish, etc.).

On the clowns, when trying to create a pair it's best if the second addition is not of similar size. A significantly larger or smaller fish will tend to speed the "decision" of who will be dominant. The safest bet is generally to add a small (juvenile) specimen.

 

[bjoiner]

Thanks everyone,

I love this site.