Established Tangs Are Nightmares . . .

. . . to new additions. My 5-6" Yellow and 5" Powder brown have "evicted" the last 2 fish I have tried to add to my 125 and its getting really frustrating! The first was a good sized (3") Coral beauty they both bullied to the point where it stopped eating - died in 2 weeks.

Most recently I found a BEAUTIFUL 3" copper banded butterfly, and as soon as he hit the water WW3 erupted in my tank. The tangs would freak anytime the CBB would move away from either top rear corner by the returns. luckily because of this i got to net him and get it back to the LFS that gave me a full store credit refund even tho this little guy was all kinds of torn up.

I could really use some ideas for my 3rd try, as I'm getting a pair of clowns and/or a blue throat trigger next. I cant re-arrange the rockwork any, and getting either tang out is impossible without tearing the tank apart. I'm considering adding the clowns and trigger at the same time to see if that helps spread the aggression, or putting a mirror or 2 around the tanks exterior with the same reasoning in mind.

~Will.

 

I think I've heard that tangs do better in odd numbers, may lessen aggression. I don't know if trying to add another tang; mimic or purple, would help or if the original tangs would kick that out of the community, too. Hope something works for ya!

 

Hmm. Sorry to hear about the incompatibility problems. Established fish who are inclined to bully can be quite the nightmare.

While it might sound harsh, depending on how aggressively the tangs eat, almost any fish can be caught with a small baited fishhook, to which you've squeezed the barb away with a pair of needle nose pliers. I don't know how well this would work out with a tang--which in your case, even though they're the neighborhood bullies, are still notorious for their fragility.

If you removed the tangs for a day or two, while introducing the new fish, perhaps moving some rock around as you said before the re-introduction of the tangs, this might mitigate the issues. Hopefully the tangs won't go back to their old behavior once reacclimated.

Perhaps you'll get some responses from those who have dealt directly with this issue. Until then, I'm tuned in! Good luck!

 

Not to sound so ZOMG on acemow's, but if your tangs are already that aggressive, adding a 3rd will do no good.

I have 3 in my 125 but they were all added pretty close to each other. Unfortunately my yellow and powder blue are starting to fight a lot now. And I did have the same problem when I added an anthia. My powder blue went after it like crazy! I was SHOCKED because I thought tangs only attacked other tangs.

Unfortunately the only thing I can suggest is getting the powder blue out. There are fish traps you can make or buy.

 

I know what you mean about aggressive tangs. I have a yellow tang that abuses any new addition to the tank for the first couple of days.

 

I agree with ReefSparky. Take the tangs out, put them in quarantine for some time while the new fish gets used to its home. I'm not sure how great a tang's memory is, if you wait a few weeks they may forget about their territory in the DT.

 

This is also the reason why when I downgrade from my 125 to my 72 this week I'm keeping my hippo and selling the yellow and powder blue. Well that and the fact that a 72 is only barely suitable for 1 tang only.

And I recommend the powder blue goes because in my experience that's the more aggressive one between the two (yellow and powder blue).

 

theres a good fish trap u can make if u search fish trap on this forum im sure u will find it very simple to make and it works really easily and well, i used it to get a damsil out of my tank caught it first shot in about 2 mins;D

 

I have a powder brown not a blue, from everything I read there supposed to be more passive (sigh) and they don't get quite as large as the blues. That combined with how nice this fish looks was hard to pass up. The yellow and brown get into it from time to time, nothing major, but its noticeable. The yellow is larger and makes sure the powder brown doesn't forget it.

What I found weird is the powder brown was the real PITA when it came to the copper banded butterfly, and the yellow tang hardly noticed him. It was the same way with the coral beauty for the most part . . . maybe my PBT is taking out his aggressions on the newbs?

~Will.

 

I have heard people having great success using the mirror trick. However there might still be agression after the mirror is removed.