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Coral microbiomes are known to play important roles in organismal health, response to environmental stress, and resistance to disease. The coral microbiome contains diverse assemblages of resident bacteria, ranging from defensive and metabolic symbionts to opportunistic bacteria that may turn harmful in compromised hosts. However, little is known about how these bacterial interactions influence the mechanism and controls of overall structure, stability, and function of the microbiome. We sought to test how coral microbiome dynamics were affected by interactions between two bacteria:Vibrio coralliilyticus, a known temperature-dependent pathogen of some corals, andHalobacteriovorax, a unique bacterial predator ofVibrioand other gram-negative bacteria. We challenged reef-building coral withV. coralliilyticusin the presence or absence ofHalobacteriovoraxpredators, and monitored microbial community dynamics with 16S rRNA gene profiling time-series.Vibrio coralliilyticusinoculation increased the mean relative abundance ofVibriosby greater than 35% from the 4 to 8 hour time point, but not in the 24 & 32 hour time points. However, strong secondary effects of theVibriochallenge were also observed for the rest of the microbiome such as increased richness (observed species), and reduced stability (increased beta-diversity). Moreover, after the transient increase inVibrios,two lineages of bacteria (RhodobacteralesandCytophagales) increased in coral tissues, suggesting thatV. coralliilyticuschallenge opens niche space for these known opportunists.Rhodobacteralesincreased from 6.99% (±0.05 SEM) to a maximum mean relative abundance of 48.75% (±0.14 SEM) in the final time point andCytophagalesfrom Halobacteriovoraxpredators are commonly present at low-abundance on coral surfaces. Based on the keystone role of predators in many ecosystems, we hypothesized thatHalobacteriovoraxpredators might help protect corals by consuming foreign or “alien” gram negative bacteria.Halobacteriovoraxinoculation also altered the microbiome but to a lesser degree thanV. coralliilyticus, andHalobacteriovoraxwere never detected after inoculation. Simultaneous challenge with bothV. coralliilyticusand predatoryHalobacteriovoraxeliminated the increase inV. coralliilyticus, ameliorated changes to the rest of the coral microbiome, and prevented the secondary blooms of opportunisticRhodobacteralesandCytophagalesseen in theV. coralliilyticuschallenge. These data suggest that, under certain circumstances, host-associated bacterial predators may mitigate the ability of other bacteria to destabilize the microbiome.