Clown knife into established tank, pointers

[MRE]

I have had a clown knife in my grow out tank for a little while now and am about ready to move him into my 150 gallon tank. Since the 150 gallon currently has a bunch of large territorial fish I wanted to see if anyone had any pointers for introducing a new fish into an established tank. I was considering adding some dither fish at the same time as the clown knife to cut down on aggression. I also figured I would reconfigure some of the plants and driftwood at the same time. Do the dither fish sound like a good idea? Should I add some sort of pvc pipe to act as a cave for the clown knife? Any pointers would be appreciated.

 

[piranhaman00]

All good ideas. I would also add some additional hiding places.

But you need to add how big the CK is and exactly what kind of territorial fish and at what sizes.

 

[MRE]

The clown knife is in the 9"-10" range. The 150 gallon currently houses a 15" venezuelan pike, a 10" tiger oscar, a 6"-7" compressicep, 4" demasoni, 5"-6" venestus and a foot long common pleco. I've heard horror stories from people about mixing africans with clown knives, which is why I am trying to take as many precautions as possible. The pike and oscar aren't very aggressive but will defend their territories. The compressicep is my main concern because he has a similar shape and coloration and is more aggressive. The tank does have lots of hiding places and I will go ahead and try to add some additional ones like you suggested.

 

[Rossy]

Probably just more hiding spots around the tank, until he gets used to the tank.

 

[jeaninel]

I've found that it's best when adding fish into a tank with big, territorial residents to add more than one fish. So some dithers added at the same time would be a good idea. Also, adding them when lights are off when the fish are sleeping/inactive may help also.

 

[MRE]

Good idea adding the fish when their light is already out. I'll definitely do that.

 

[Allan01230]

Seems like a lot of fish for small tank. Clown knife will get huge

 

[MRE]

Moving the clown knife into the tank went very smoothly. I added some new plants, added some dither fish and then the clown knife while the tank water was still murky from moving the soil for the plants. The clown knife just calmly swam up to the other fish in the tank and if they got too close he would just flare his tail with all his spots at them. It always worked to back them off. He has yet to get in any fights with any of the other fish that I have seen over the course of about a week now. He even managed to claim one of the prime territories by virtue of his size and demeanor. Nobody has chased him around and he hasn't chased after any other fish either.

I appreciate all the pointers from you guys. It seemed to do the trick. Obviously I'll keep an eye on him as he grows to make sure he's not too big for the tank.

 

[Allan01230]

Yes as was said he definately outgrow the small 150

 

[celebrist]

You know you are a monster fish keeper when small and 150 gallons are used in the same sentence