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Fish compatibility is a very important and serious issue. We must remember that hobbyist are, very often, attempting to put together species of fish that aren't naturally mixed together. This will sometimes lead to problems. In order to keep your fish happy and stress-free, make sure your aquarium is composed of fish that can live together in accord.
Incompatibility can lead to several ills: stress amongst the weakest/harassed fish, outbreak of disease within the aquarium, shorter lifespan, and disequilibria. We advocate the use of an UV Sterilizer on every marine aquarium for this reason and many other (obvious) reasons. Helpful Hints and Facts for Success (Courtesy of Robert Fenner):
Compatibility Information
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Check the Compatibility Chart. Says Robert Fenner, "This chart serves only as a general guideline... Marine Fishes are individualistic and all aggressive/opportunistic to a point. Do your best to stock yours at appropriate sizes, under-crowd, keep well-fed, and above all under constant close observation."
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Learn: read as much as you can that's accurate, meaningful and significant on the subject. Particularly useful are current industry and hobbyist publications. They are there to help you be successful.
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Healthy, well-fed and well-adjusted specimens are more compatible with each other and captive conditions. Some species are better mixed or not by numbers, pairs, sexes or size. See PSM 1/89, Successfully Selling the Popular Marines, by Robert Fenner.
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Take care in introducing your specimen. Acclimate your stock properly, with a consistent quarantine (see Freshwater and Marine Aquarium Magazine, 8/89 Acclimating Fishes by Robert Fenner and Steve Landino). Stabilized, disease-free specimens adapt more readily. Add smaller, less aggressive fish first. When possible, introduce several fish at one time. This reduces the sense of "ownership" (territorial-ness) by the veteran fish. This also minimizes the chance of the new fish being harassed.
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Rearranging the decorations in a tank will help attenuate hostility and aggression with new inhabitants. This will create confusion and reduce the sense of "ownership" by the old inhabitants.
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Under-crowd your systems. Keep "mean" and questionable species and individuals isolated or eliminate them from your stock. Provide habitat for hiding/escape. Move bullied or bully specimens. Size matters. Fish acclimate a lot easier in larger tanks.
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Keep up water quality. Higher nitrates and other metabolites are known to elicit more aggressive behavior in crabs and some fishes.
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Feed your present fish, before introducing new ones. Happy and full fish aren't as aggressive toward new tank mates. Feed and check on your livestock often. If possible, avoid feeding live foods that resemble tank mates!
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Compatibility Chart
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