Neon Dottyback Question...

ok, so i have a 110 gallon RR tank, with about 175 pounds of rock, a lot of hiding places...my stock list is extremely low...tomato clown, mis bar perculas, midnight blenny, scooter blenny, and 2 neon dottybacks...

the first dottyback i purchased was from ORA on 7/20...then a week later I saw some from a breeder a decided to purchase one that was larger than mine...

before hand, i did some reading and research on pairing them up, so i made an acrylic cage i could float in my tank to hold the fish i assumed was the female...

the 'male' would bash the cage and really try to get to her, then he stopped one day...so i figured what the heck let me try it, and i let her out...wrong idea, he lipped locked her, and was ready to destroy her or so it seemed!...so i stripped the tank down, and her...back in the cage you go...i came down one morning and the top of the cage came off...and i thought immediately i just tossed money down the drain, but to my surprise they were hanging together fine....the fish i thought was the male wouldnt bash or bite her often, but just shoo her away when he felt bothered...

my question is when can i assume they are paired? right now i just think they are tolerating each other, but they still spend a lot of time together swimming through the rock work...the people at my LFS said i could get in a lot of trouble adding them to my tank because of them being territorial but ive been fine.

i also plan on getting some dither fish incase these guys want to take some beating out on fish, heard this also could help ease aggression in the tank

 

I would assume they are paired, they are tolerating for now. They could blow up at any time. Putting in dither fish will be throwing money away because they will be harassed so much they won't eat and die. Best of luck.

 

yeah a $5 dither or my $80 dollar neons (the pair)...seems like an easy choice for me