m12345y Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Hi bros, I had never thought that there are actually two different species of fish that have half purple and half yellow, therefore, while i was think i bought a Royal Gramma, i actually bought a Royal Dottyback... but anyway, Royal Dottyback also looks beautiful..now comes the question, will it fight with 1. other dottybacks as other dottyback? 2. Royal Gramma? 3. purplequeen/bartlett anthias? thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eniram Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 Hi bros, I had never thought that there are actually two different species of fish that have half purple and half yellow, therefore, while i was think i bought a Royal Gramma, i actually bought a Royal Dottyback... but anyway, Royal Dottyback also looks beautiful..now comes the question, will it fight with 1. other dottybacks as other dottyback? 2. Royal Gramma? 3. purplequeen/bartlett anthias? thanks. I don't think its called a Royal Dottyback i believe it called Bicolor Pseudochromis. Once its established it will be a terror in the tank and its very hard to catch it unless you tear your whole rockscape Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Reefer yikai Posted January 27, 2010 Senior Reefer Share Posted January 27, 2010 royal dottyback is another name for the bicolour pseudochromis bro. common names can be confusing... anyway, back to topic. it is an extremely common mistake by new reefers to mix up these two fishes. the bicolour pseudochromis (Pseudochromis paccagnellae), and royal gramma (Gramma Loreto). although similar looking at first glance, they are actually very different when looked closer. the dotty back has a sudden dramatic change in colour from purple to yellow, represented by a clean line separating it. the gramma, however, has a smooth and gradual change in colour tone, with a pixellated mixture where the two colours meet. there is also a line across the eye of the gramma, where it is absent in the dottyback. there is an occelated eye spot on the dorsal fin of the gramma which is absent in the dottyback. the best way to tell these two apart is from location. while the dottyback is commonly found in indonesia and phillipines, the gramma is only found in carribean shipments. unlike the peaceful royal gramma, the royal/bicolour dottyback WILL fight and terrorize almost all small and even big fishes. ESPECIALLY royal grammas and other dottybacks. due to similar colouration and conspecifics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member pokmingsheng Posted January 27, 2010 SRC Member Share Posted January 27, 2010 I don't think its called a Royal Dottyback i believe it called Bicolor Pseudochromis. Once its established it will be a terror in the tank and its very hard to catch it unless you tear your whole rockscape +1 on tearing down my whole rockscape.. real bad experience i had when i first started this hobby... started chasing every fish which comes near to it... thought i got Royal Gramma at a really good deal, turned out to be Biocolor Pseudochromis... Quote My Decomissioned 2ft Cube: (31st March 2011) Carpe Diem~!!! My Current 4ft X 2ft X 2ft: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member iskay Posted January 27, 2010 SRC Member Share Posted January 27, 2010 My experience is that it'll fight any fish even those slightly bigger than itself that gets close enough to it's territory. Very territorial fish. Most Dottybacks are territorial. Quote "Be formless... shapeless, like water. If you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup. You put water into a bottle; it becomes the bottle. You put it into a teapot; it becomes the teapot. Water can flow, or it can crash. Be water, my friend..." - Lei Siu Lung (Bruce Lee) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veliferium Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 pengz ,i actually have a pretty nasty RG,though its not as nasty as the royal dottyback Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m12345y Posted January 27, 2010 Author Share Posted January 27, 2010 OMG, i just cleared all my big fishes and plan to have a mix of small, peaceful fishes, now that i got the royal dottyback, what can i do?! can i still add in purplequeen/bartlett anthias? how about clown fishes like allardi? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Senior Reefer yikai Posted January 27, 2010 Senior Reefer Share Posted January 27, 2010 all fishes smaller and/or bigger than the dottyback may be subjected to chasing and biting. dottybacks are really... the very definition of aggressive. especially once settled down. better trap it. a betta box with frozen mysis works well if it's desperate enough for the food... they do tend to express certain level of intelligence.... pretty hard to trap.. took me days of starving mine to remove it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m12345y Posted January 27, 2010 Author Share Posted January 27, 2010 all fishes smaller and/or bigger than the dottyback may be subjected to chasing and biting. dottybacks are really... the very definition of aggressive. especially once settled down. better trap it. a betta box with frozen mysis works well if it's desperate enough for the food... they do tend to express certain level of intelligence.... pretty hard to trap.. took me days of starving mine to remove it. Thanks bro. this is really disheartening...... or should i be happy for not getting the Bartlett today? sigh.... alright, let me take this opportunity to ask further, so what are the fishes i could possibly keep in a mixed reef tank, again the requirement is small and peaceful (and colorful, hardy, affordable )? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuEl Posted January 27, 2010 Share Posted January 27, 2010 If marine fish are colourful but cheap, there is usually a reason. Quote Always something more important than fish. http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFMANIAC Posted January 30, 2010 Share Posted January 30, 2010 For those who need pictures to make sense of it all... Royal Dottyback image from www.searchpictures.net Royal Gramma image from www.glaxu.com Quote FOWLR Tank : Decom Invert Tank: Decom Current Tank: 2 ft with 2ft sump, 2 pyjama Cardinals, 1 Watchman Goby, 8 sand gobies, common saltwater shrimps, 3 turbo snails. 1 super green paly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
m12345y Posted January 31, 2010 Author Share Posted January 31, 2010 yes, the two can be easily distinguished indeed. the good thing now is that the dottyback is still small and seems not interested in chasing anyone yet and my purple queen anthias (also small) is feeding on BBS happily and from the Marine Compatibility Chart, basslet & anthias are "Generally Compatible", any comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SRC Member MOssrope Posted February 3, 2010 SRC Member Share Posted February 3, 2010 If marine fish are colourful but cheap, there is usually a reason. nicely summarised statement. dottyback has this evil eyes look its easy to tell Quote Brown SPS > Kinder Surprise White SPS = Kinder Surprise after expiry date Assumption killed the dinosaurs, they didnt have test kits. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FuEl Posted February 4, 2010 Share Posted February 4, 2010 Check out Brazilian gramma (now banned for export) and Lipogramma klayi. Quote Always something more important than fish. http://reefbuilders.com/2012/03/08/sps-pico-reef/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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