Tank feeding during introduction?

[Phyl]

I put a new pair of skunk cleaners in my tank last night after having given up on ever seeing the old two again. As soon as they went into the tank my maroon decided to poke at them. She actually nipped one on the butt! Made me wonder what happened to the last two... hmmm....

Anyway after she nipped I intervened with a net to scare her away. I had some food defrosting on the counter so I decided to create a diversion and throw some food in. That seemed to help a lot as it afforded the shrimp some time to find a place to hang out and they got a snack in the process.

Made me wonder... When I introduce the new Purple tang into my tank in 5.5w (gosh that sounds like a long time, but who's counting) what is the best way to do it? Is feeding time a good time to introduce the new fish? Should I wait until an hour after lights out instead so that the rest of the fish are "asleep" when the new inhabitant moves into the tank? As much as I would have thought that my YT would be the trouble maker for new fish I'm starting to believe that my docile little Merlot is going to give Bubbles a run for his money.

What has worked for you and what hasn't?

 

[BillyZ]

maroon clown I'm assuming?

IIRC, they are known to be generally aggressive. As far as "the best time" to add new fish I don't know. What you might be able to try is getting a breeding compartment , a clear plastic hang IN tank box with vents to allow water flow, and place new fish in there. This will get the fish into the tank, and allow the other fish time to adjust to it while not being able to assert their dominance on it.

just a thought.. might be worth a try.

 

[Phyl]

I've also heard that you should put your aggressor into the breeder box so that the new fish is free to find a new home. Hmmm. Wonder if I can borrow a pair of breeder boxes from a LFS (one for the Maroon and one for the YT)!