Tang bullying Copperband

[cromwell]

Have just bought a Copperband (watched him feeding well in the shop). Have all 'peaceful' fish in my tank. Put the Copperband in about an hour ago and my Yellow Tang has just been chasing the poor sod constantly all over the tank!
Obviously I'm a bit worried- is the Tang just letting him know wh's boss? Will this behaviour calm down soon enough? Has anyone had a similar experience?
Cheers.
James

[MickyW]

Hi James,

Had exactly the same with my Copperband and a Powder blue. Chased him for 2 days before they settled down, now best of mates.

Mick.

[Tangman]

Have just bought a Copperband (watched him feeding well in the shop). Have all 'peaceful' fish in my tank. Put the Copperband in about an hour ago and my Yellow Tang has just been chasing the poor sod constantly all over the tank!
Obviously I'm a bit worried- is the Tang just letting him know wh's boss? Will this behaviour calm down soon enough? Has anyone had a similar experience?
Cheers.
James
Hi James you say you have "peaceful" fish in your tank, then you say you have just bought a Copperband and your Yellow Tang is chasing it around the tank. Not being funny but i think you should read up a bit more on tangs as they are one of the most terretorial fish going and i would say are far from peaceful. The only thing you can do is get a mirror and fasten it on the outside of the tank so the YT can see its reflection and thinks there is another YT in there, so will hopefully stop chasing the Copperband and bother about the other YT. HTH Twiggy:D

[moorish]

copperbands are a quite timid fish putting it in with an established yellow tang can spell disaster.as long as the tang is not to aggressive things might calm down in a couple of days,failing that you might have to remove one of the fish.derek

[George]

I'm sorry to say but I to had the same problem, unfortunately the tang bullied the copper until he died.:(

[ollski]

I have put 2 different copperbands in with my yellow tang and used the mirror trick with both. The y.t attacked his reflection for 2 days solid until his tail was bruised....by then he had completely forgotten the copperband wasn't there before and was best mates. I think the larger the y.t is in comparison to the cbb the more your chances. Plus I have found the smaller cbb are more likely to survive in a reef tank, they adapt much better.

[cromwell]

Sounds grim unfortunately. Tang still bullying Copperband - I feel terrible about it, the Copperband is such a beautiful, delicate fish. I think I'll see how things fare tonight and, if the situation doesn't change, I'll take the Copperband back to the shop on Saturday. I don't want to stress the Tang out too much either!
Cheers.
James

[gregh]

Did you put a mirror up as suggested James?

[cromwell]

It was a good idea but I was worried about stressing the Tang too much as well as the Copperband (The Tang was the first fish in my tank- we've been through a lot togethor!) and was thinking that I'd rather just remove the Copperband if they can't get on after 2 or 3 days. Unfortunately that scuppers my plans for another 'big fish' in my tank cos I don't wanna get shot of the Tang.

[gregh]

At a guess you'll stress all your fish trying to catch the copperband more than you would if you took the advice and used the well tested mirror trick!

[cromwell]

On reflection, you might be right! I'll give it a go.

[Tangman]

Hi James your YT should have been the last fish in your tank as they are known for attacking anything put in afterwards as its encroaching on there space. I it were me i would take your YT out until you get your tank stocked then put him back in.:D Twiggy

[cromwell]

Tried mirror- didn't work unfortunately. Distracted Tang for about half an hour and then he lost interest. Ironically, the Cleaner Wrasse, Blue-Cheeked Goby and Purple Dottyback were far more interested!!
Anyway, took Copperband back to shop today and will chalk this one down to experience!

[Gillybaby]

That's a shame. Think you did the right thing taking it back. This is exactly the reason why I've never tried a CBB as I've got 3 yellow tangs and I don't think one would have a chance with that lot, unfortunate ;(

[moorish]

my yellow tang would attack any fish you introduced into the tank no matter what size fish it was.derek