Aggression - Tangs

[Pinkfish]

Hi all,

I have 3 tangs in my tank, 1 Regal, 1 Salfin and 1 Yellow.

The Regal went into my tank first and is still very very small.

Whereas my Salfin and Yellow were added togeather, The Yellow is larger than the Salfin and has now started to charge the Salfin whenever it can. Thus constantly restricting the Salfin to a corner of the tank.

The yellow tang only goes for the Salfin and leaves the other fish alone.

Any advice would be appriciated

Mike

[Tangman]

Hi Mike. The reason being is that the yellow is also a sailfin but a different colour. My advice would be to move the rocks around so as to break up any territory the Yellow has made. The other thing is to put a mirror on the outside of the tank so the Yellow Tang will think there is another Yellow Tang in the tank, in doing so it will take his attention off the Sailfin and peace will resume. At this stage dont try and remove any fish as they will get used to each other and soon live happily together, If things dont settle down in a few day you will have to take the Yellow Tang out and put him in the sump for a few days so the Sailfin can set his territory up. HTH. Eric :)

[Gillybaby]

All good advice from the King of Tangs but I would also add that tangs get more aggressive the hungrier they are. IME nice fat tangs = tank harmony.

Although upping the feeding will put a strain on your tank and I know you've already got an algae problem. Have you tried some dried nori? It might be an idea to tie a sheet onto a rock so that the tangs can graze on it during the day. Thats the problem with keeping a few tangs they are incredibly messy fish and put a huge load on your system.

[MR Teee]

Another thing would be to use two clips of Nori instead of one. You dont want to make the aggression worse by having them fight over the new food source.

[moorish]

hi mike,i have found that tangs of the same group especially yellow and purple tangs nearly always fight among themselves especially in small tanks.sailfin tangs are not agressive as yellow tangs.i have kept groups of yellow,purple also lipstick and sailfin and the only problems i have had have been with the yellow purple tangs.my tank holds over 4oogalls of water and has plenty of hiding places but they still sqabble among themselves.i would do what eric sugests by taking the yellow one out and moving all the rockwork then put him back in a few days later this should solve the problem.derek

[Pinkfish]

Thanks for the advice guys, you have been extreamly helpful to me. My Yellow tang has now been moved into my sump, and the rockwork re-arranged.

If this doesnt work, i'll try the mirror method ....how long is the mirror to be kept on the glass for ?


Many thanks again guys Mike

[Tangman]

Hi Mike. You can leave the mirror in for as long as it takes for the Yellow to settle down, they will get use to being with each other. I have 7 Tangs in my tank and never have any bother at all with any of them. Eric