can my yellow tang be "un sump banished"? Will it work out?

[vetteguy53081]

I feel the pain. I have 5 and they were little angels at 2-3 ". Now at 4+", they are jerks. Often squabble, get testy with any new fish and will eat every grain of food I drop in tank and go bad to jerk mode.

 

[ca1ore]

No guarantees of course. I usually give it a month at least before reintroducing.

 

[lagatbezan]

In my experience a week or so out of the tank usually makes them forget and allows for a calmer behavior (non dominant) toward existing fish when added back to the display.

 

[erk]

I've had a yellow tang housed with a coral beauty for 10 months now. No aggression from the tang at all. The CB is a butt head to pretty much everyone though. I purchased both from Petco as they weren't in the best condition. I have had a mirror hanging on the side of the tank the whole time because fairy wrasses are jerks. The mirror is probably the best thing I've done to counter aggression. I have noticed that if I don't rehang the mirror after cleaning or it falls off, then the aggression picks up.

 

[Dburr1014]

No guarantees of course. I usually give it a month at least before reintroducing.

I agree with this comment.
The fish needs to forget the tank and layout and the other fish before reintroducing.
Good luck!

 

[maevepotter]

I'm having the same problem with my dottyback. He's harassing the poor blenny. He barely leaves his hole without dottyback swooping at him. Can you guys elucidate on the tricks suggested? Newbie here

 

[mta_morrow]

I'm having the same problem with my dottyback. He's harassing the poor blenny. He barely leaves his hole without dottyback swooping at him. Can you guys elucidate on the tricks suggested? Newbie here

Sure.

1 - catch the fish and place in your sump for a while. Perhaps rearrange some rock work so the fish is a bit unfamiliar when returning. Now it’s kinda like it’s the last fish introduced and the other have seniority.

2 - when re introducing after some sump time, or when introducing any new fish, place them in an acclimation box for a week or more in the tank. The other fish get used to it and will do their flashing or fin waving or whatever fish do to tell the new guy this is our tank.

3 - mirror on a side wall. My tang, your Dotyback, and many other fish are intolerant of their own kind unless they are a bonded pair. By seeing their reflection they think there is another one there. They will charge the mirror, flash at it etc thinking they are fighting for their territory. This usually works and occupies them vs attacking other fish.

Hope that helps.

 

[NewbieReefer11]

I feel the pain. I have 5 and they were little angels at 2-3 ". Now at 4+", they are jerks. Often squabble, get testy with any new fish and will eat every grain of food I drop in tank and go bad to jerk mode.

What is the fish on the bottom of the tank slightly to the left? I think i have the same type of fish but dont know what it is? Was sold as a thompson tang but dont know.

 

[maevepotter]

Sure.

1 - catch the fish and place in your sump for a while. Perhaps rearrange some rock work so the fish is a bit unfamiliar when returning. Now it’s kinda like it’s the last fish introduced and the other have seniority.

2 - when re introducing after some sump time, or when introducing any new fish, place them in an acclimation box for a week or more in the tank. The other fish get used to it and will do their flashing or fin waving or whatever fish do to tell the new guy this is our tank.

3 - mirror on a side wall. My tang, your Dotyback, and many other fish are intolerant of their own kind unless they are a bonded pair. By seeing their reflection they think there is another one there. They will charge the mirror, flash at it etc thinking they are fighting for their territory. This usually works and occupies them vs attacking other fish.

Hope that helps.

Is an acclimation box the same thing as a fry box? it just seems so small.

 

[mta_morrow]

Is an acclimation box the same thing as a fry box? it just seems so small.

Acclimation boxes come in many different shapes and sizes.

I am actually using my fish trap as an acclimation box.

 

[maevepotter]

Acclimation boxes come in many different shapes and sizes.

I am actually using my fish trap as an acclimation box.

Thanks! Now we'll just have a devil of a time catching him

 

[mta_morrow]

The foxface is now chilling under the acclimation box. The tang try’s to tail slap him every so often thru the glass.

For the most part the tang seems ok when the foxface is around but I’m not sure yet.

I also taped a Mirror to the side and the poor tang totally freaked out. I felt rather bad that the tang was confined and trapped with the mirror, so I removed it.

If I decide to release the tang again, I will put the mirror back up

 

[mta_morrow]

@eatbreakfast

Any other thoughts or words of advice?

Thanks in advance.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Often aggression doesn't get better. Giving the other fish to establish themselves may help, but may not. Some individuals are inherently more aggressive.

 

[mta_morrow]

Well........ let the tang out and put up a mirror. Half the fish in the tank were freaking out at the mirror. The tang and foxface spent an hour side by side ticked off at it!

Also my solon wrasse, tailspot blenny and blue chromis.

I have remove the mirror as they had the whole tank stressed out.

So far so good.

 

[shred5]

I'm having the same problem with my dottyback. He's harassing the poor blenny. He barely leaves his hole without dottyback swooping at him. Can you guys elucidate on the tricks suggested? Newbie here

Thats dottybacks they are just mean to certain fish. They ussually will need to be just removed. Any tricks with them only last for a while.

 

[sghera64]

Acclimation boxes come in many different shapes and sizes.

I am actually using my fish trap as an acclimation box.

Reminds me of the Pike Syndrome experiment [LINK]. If you keep him in there long enough, he should learn to its pointless to try and slap. I introduced a second yellow tang into a tank with a single establish yellow tang and it started out badly. Went on for days. I put an eggcrate divider between them for over 4 weeks and slowly opened the divider up (they could still retreat to their side). And it worked. Over a year later they are respecting each other's space. I think the key is time. These tangs are just slow learners and need weeks to learnt the lesson.. . . Like Mr. bubbles in nemo.

 

[Narniahopper]

In my experience (and that of many others), the aggression will usually subside within a few days. Honestly, they end up being best buddies most of the time. There will be aggression early though.

But they are your fish. It looks like you've chosen a safer course. I can't blame you.

 

[mta_morrow]

Bit of a long video, but so far, so good.

 

[mta_morrow]

Well, sadly I had to put the tang back in the sump this morning. Found him tail slapping the foxface in the corner and would not let him out of the corner.

I was pretty hopeful after yesterday.

I will rehome him as quickly as possible.

Thanks to everyone following along and those who shared their experiences.

Mike