Post crash aggression

[fly guy]

Hi Leebca. Just some points to ponder, I dont really think there is anything i can do to alleviate what is going on.

Im talking about my 225 that crashed recently(cooked). Only fish survivors were a 7" chevron, a 2.5" tomini, a clown and a pink spotted watchman. Everything seemed hunky dory and i have began a coral restocking campaign, but in the last week(3 weeks post crash), my chevron turned on my tomini and killed him. Never had any problems before. Now, my pink spotted watchman and chevron are battling it out kind of. The pink spotted watchman being the aggressor. I havent noticed any damage, but often thorughout the day he opens hi mouth wide and charges the chevron. The chevron doesnt really shy away, but turns to face him head on.

Im not sure there is really anything i can do but hope it goes away. Just wondering how common it is for a stressful event to create aggression issues like this?

Everybody remaining looks healthy and everyone is eating and roaming business as usual.

[leebca]

Stressors are a tricky lot. A particular fish's response is rarely mis-placed. By this I mean a real threat or competitor is the normal target. An old tank mate usually is accepted. But in a time of exceptional changes in the environment (cooking), the fish can react in almost any manner.

It is rare, but the 'net trick' has helped in the past.

What you do is take a large, green or white net, and put it in the aquarium 'between' the two rivals. They usually fear the net so much in their territory that they will forget about their aggression to each other -- for a while. Move the net around every few hours if you can.

The 'net trick' will give them something else to think about for a while and perhaps give them the time to settle down again into feeling secure. The net is a source of stress however, and not to be used to ultimately solve a problem, just to give each some 'breathing room.' If it doesn't work after a few days, remove the fish(es) that are troublesome.

Sorry to hear of the continued difficulties.

[fly guy]

Thanks for the response. Unfortunately, with the nature of these two fish, a net isnt going to help much. I lift my entire reef up on acrylic rods....so we have a pink spotted watchman who pokes his head out from underneath the reef all day long....and a chevron who roams the entire tank all day long.......not much sperating i can do.

He turned on the small tomini and killed him in short time. The way the chevron and the watchman are behaving i dont htink they are going to hurt each other...or at least im hopeful they will mellow out about it

[FireEater]

so we have a pink spotted watchman who pokes his head out from underneath the reef all day long....and a chevron who roams the entire tank all day long.......not much sperating i can do.

I don;t think Lee meant for you to try and separate them, I believe the net trick is only to give them something new to worry about and not worry about each other so much. The net is more of a distraction than anything.

[leebca]

Good catch Mark.

[fly guy]

Thanks guys. I caught that part after i posted. Neither one of these fish really care. Both will eat out of my hand, even still after the accident.. They have been pretty well behaved since i posted. I also moved half the reef around which i think helped.

On a sort of related note. My watchman has always kind of got an attitude. The way i lift my reef I can see 100% of the floor of the tank if i put my head down at that level. So he cant hide anywhere ever if i want to look at him. LOL He builds mounds he can kind of hide behind...but not really. It was also interesteg that sometime during the crash he dug a trench along the back wall 6" deep. I think it was in an effort to save himself from the heat. Kind of neat survival instinct

I just got a partial replacem,ent fish package from marine depot a few minutes ago. A niger trigger and a scribbled rabbitfish for the 90, and a 6 line for the 225.