Aggressive Yellow Tang

[mythesis]

Well the good news is I just fed some mysis shrimp and both the Leopard (in DT) and new Copperband (in QT) ate!

Tang has some nori to munch on while he's in timeout thinking about his poor life decisions.

Might just wait until the Copperband is ready to go into DT to let the Tang back in so he doesn't get aggressive again

 

[phillyb614]

Throw a mirror in the tank, it will keep the yellow occupied until he has "enough"

I second this. I used this on my Powder Blue Tang. Worked like a charm. Kept the mirror up for about 3 days.

 

[Subsea]

I was surprised how much the wrasse just chilled and "took it"

Like we have tons of rock to hide in and it didnt even try

Had you added any fish during the previous 3 months? What other fish are in this tank? Has the tang shown aggression prior to this?

Maybe the wrasse is ill and the tang recognized it?

Is the wrasse venturing out now that bully is in “time out”?

 

[mythesis]

Had you added any fish during the previous 3 months? What other fish are in this tank? Has the tang shown aggression prior to this?

Maybe the wrasse is ill and the tang recognized it.

I am a little worried this may be the case. But, the wrasse just ate a bunch of food (which I understand is a problem for leopards at first) and is happily swimming around picking at the rocks, so we'll see.

No, the tang was the last one added. He's not showed aggression like this before at all.


It's a 90 gal with lots of live rock to swim around in. We are dosing quite a bit of phyto, so actually had to add ammonium solution to bump Nitrates back up (seem to be stabilizing now). Dosing ~350ml of phyto + culturing pods to keep the goby's happy.

Residents:

2 Clowns
2 Fire Shrimp
Linespot Flasher Wrasse
Tailspot Blenny

=== Biota ===
Royal Gramma
Court Jester
LInk's Goby
Mandarin Goby
Yellow Tang

Final two additions:
Leopard Wrasse
Copperband (in QT)

 

[vetteguy53081]

About 3 months ago, we got a Yellow Tang from Biota

This week we tried to add a Leopard Wrasse. After hiding for two days, the Wrasse came out today only to be chased by the Tang. The Tang kept trying to back into it, which I understand is aggression.

We were able to nab the Tang and put it into an acclimation box.

How can we tell when the bully has learned its lesson and is ready to come out and play again?

(90 gal tank, about 8 months old)

yellows tend to be Uninviting but generally last 24-48 hours. Try applying a mirror to tank to keep it occupied OR lights on low setting. Last resort is to isolate it in the sump for 7-10 days

 

[9975]

Throw a mirror in the tank, it will keep the yellow occupied until he has "enough"

This is what I do with new additions. I tape a 12" x 12" mirror on the front of my tank a couple days before I put new fish in and leave it up until the new fish "feel safe".

 

[Sphyrna_gal]

About 3 months ago, we got a Yellow Tang from Biota

This week we tried to add a Leopard Wrasse. After hiding for two days, the Wrasse came out today only to be chased by the Tang. The Tang kept trying to back into it, which I understand is aggression.

We were able to nab the Tang and put it into an acclimation box.

How can we tell when the bully has learned its lesson and is ready to come out and play again?

(90 gal tank, about 8 months old)

Not sure if it's possible for your set up, but I've had luck in the past re-ranging some of the rock work before letting it out of 'time out'. Then it's like coming into a new tank again and it has to reestablish itself to the surroundings. Would feed too at time of release

 

[Wolffman64]

Add a mirror to front glass to distract tang for a few days.

A mirror works like a dream, i have to use it every time I add fish to my tank, otherwise my big lavender tang chase the sh-t out of them.
I have a small round mirror about 20cm (8") in diameter, that i attach to the glass. The lav tang forgets all other fish and really attacks and posture the "ugly big tang" in the mirror. The first time I left it there for 3 days, and when I removed it everything was a calm and he never bullied any of the other fish, including the new ones.
Now I put the mirror up first and then add any new fish to the tank, and the lavender bullies the mirror for a day or two,and when it's removed all is good. I really swear by this mirror trick. Just make sure you put it in a very busy area, like one of the feeding points, so "the boss" sees it straight away.

 

[mythesis]

HAHAHAHAH

So I have the Acclimation Box from Biota --- it has a "feeding portal" on the top which is super convenient. I had left it open as it's smaller than the Tang and figured the Tang wouldn't swim out the top.

This morning, the Wrasse was IN THE BOX with the Tang. The two of them just hanging out in there like old friends.

So, I guess we're good to go now, lol

 

[mythesis]

I did do the "Mirror Trick" anyway though.

Pretty funny, not only is the Tang over there, so is the flasher wrasse and the Tailspot Blenny.