Ideas of getting a shy purple tang to come out more?

jacqueline1989 · Jul 31, 2023

I got a purple tang close to 3 weeks ago and he hardly comes out of the caves I have in the tank. He comes out to grab nori off the clip or to swim from cave to cave. At first I thought it was because he was new to the tank but considering it's nearing 3 weeks it doesn't seem like that is the case. Nothing in the tank seems to be scaring him. It's a 120 gallon FOWLR tank with 4 clownfish, a yellow watchman, and a powder blue tang. The two tangs haven't been aggressive towards each other and I got them at the same time and they each have their own areas they hang out in. So it doesn't seem like the powder blue tang is scaring him. He's eating well every time I put nori on the clip and doesn't show any signs of illness so it doesn't seem like a disease is causing this behavior. He's a beautiful tang and I just wish he would swim around the tank rather than hiding all the time.

Does anyone have any ideas on getting him to come out more?

littlefoxx · Aug 1, 2023

jacqueline1989 said:
I got a purple tang close to 3 weeks ago and he hardly comes out of the caves I have in the tank. He comes out to grab nori off the clip or to swim from cave to cave. At first I thought it was because he was new to the tank but considering it's nearing 3 weeks it doesn't seem like that is the case. Nothing in the tank seems to be scaring him. It's a 120 gallon FOWLR tank with 4 clownfish, a yellow watchman, and a powder blue tang. The two tangs haven't been aggressive towards each other and I got them at the same time and they each have their own areas they hang out in. So it doesn't seem like the powder blue tang is scaring him. He's eating well every time I put nori on the clip and doesn't show any signs of illness so it doesn't seem like a disease is causing this behavior. He's a beautiful tang and I just wish he would swim around the tank rather than hiding all the time.

Does anyone have any ideas on getting him to come out more?

He will come out when he is ready. My purple I recently lost was very bold and didnt have that issue but my yellow (also lost with a horrible tank crash) was this way. He started to come out a little more and more, but I noticed the biggest difference when I added an anthias school that was always out and swimming. Sometimes those or a few chromis that are constantly out helps shy fish come out more! He just might be shy, but once he is comfortable he will be king of that tank

blaxsun · Aug 1, 2023

I have a whitetail bristletooth that's the same way (spends most of the time at the back of the tank in the main "batcave", feeding on the algae there). Whenever I leave the room he comes out, though (naturally).