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Understanding Fish
Compatibility
If you’re like me, you want one of everything you see in
the stores whether fish, corals or inverts! What to
choose?!! So many to choose from! This dilemma is a
great downfall of many hobbyists. Overstocking issues
as well as fish incompatibility. Let’s talk about fish
compatibility. They all come from the ocean & many of
them school in great numbers on the reefs (we see this
on tv!) so shouldn’t we be able to have any of them, in
any numbers in our tank & have them get along? The
answer is no.
The livestock we see in
stores come from different areas all around the world.
Though some animals are found in multiple regions, only
a few are found in all regions. Many animals come from
specific areas only. This means they may never have
seen (or have had to deal with) another animal from
another world region. Some will accept a “stranger” and
others won’t. Then there’s the schooling factor. We
see groups of hundreds swimming together in the
wild…can’t we put more than one of the same fish in our
tank? In most cases, no. In the wild these fish have
an established hierarchy that cannot be duplicated in
our tiny tanks. When subjected to our glass boxes many
fish will fight another to the death to establish their
dominance. A good example is the Tang family. Let’s use the
Yellow Tang as an example. Again, they school by the
hundreds in the ocean but put more than one in your tank
at different times & you’ll be sure to see constant fighting – most times
resulting in death! Yet put a different type tang in at
the same time with the Yellow & most often you’ll see
them accept one another! We are finding in some
cases though if a particular Tang species is added to a
tank all at the same time there is a chance of them
creating that hierarchy. Bewarned though, your
tank must be large enough to give them the space they
will need to do this!
There are still people out
there that will tell you that you can’t have more than
one tang of any species in the same tank. As is
seen at AquaCorals…this just isn’t true. BUT, there are
tricks to making them accept one another.
A final note...I have found
NO no reef safe species of Butterflies or Trigger fish!
What may act peaceable when little many times becomes a
tank mate killer, coral munching menace when older!
Not a matter of "If" but rather "When. Bewarned!
Check out my other
article...Multiple Tangs - Yes!
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