Mimic tang and tankmates

[bureau13]

When I restarted my tank, the first fish I got was a Mimic Tang. He was a pale yellow but now is really more purple, and he's grown in size as well. I now have a pair of Ocellaris clowns, a Firefish and a Red-headed Fairy Wrasse. It's a 240 gallon, 72" tank.

The tang has always ignored the clown. When the other two were (separately) added, he would bully them a bit and chase them back into hiding. That went on for a couple days, but now he ignores the Firefish and mostly ignores the wrasse, although the wrasse still hides when he comes by just to be safe I guess. I also allegedly have a Diamond Goby but he made a beeline for the rockwork when I introduced him and I never see him, so who knows.

I would like to add at least one more tang, but given his initial aggression towards the wrasse, I'm hesitant. I think a Yellow tang would be great and he's a different genus but I don't seem to see them much anymore. Any recommendations? Can you put an active fish like a tang in an acclimation box?

 

[blaxsun]

Bristletooth, sailfin...

 

[bureau13]

I ended up getting a Squaretail Bristletooth from Diver's Den. I aclimated and then introduced him with the lights off, but the two tangs started squaring off almost immediately. I brought the lights back up after a while and the new tang hid in a cave, but by the next day they established whatever pecking order needed to be established, and they swim around without bothering each other. They spent less time fighting than the Mimic spent harrassing my red-headed fairy wrasse when it was introduced, which surprised me.

I had been developing a bit of a hair algae issue on the back wall and it's already significantly reduced, due to the new tang munching on it. My one concern is that he doesn't seem very interested in any of the other food I put in, so hopefully that changes once he's out of delicious hair algae lol.

(On an unrelated note, I added a Yellow Coris Wrasse at the same time. He swam around a bit, no one bothered him, then he was resting on the sand bed until I turned the lights on, after which he disappeared and hasn't been seen since. From what I have read they can vanish into the sand for up to a couple weeks at first, so I'm trying not to freak out...it's been less than a week. Tank has a mesh lid, I don't see him in the overflow, etc)

 

[blaxsun]

I've had 2 yellow coris wrasses and they both didn't last very long. The last one survived for less than a week before someone took a chunk out of him (also disappeared into the sand - never to reemerge).

The only wrasses that do well in my tank are large ones (melanarus, green, christmas, parrotfish) and the cleaner wrasse.

 

[bureau13]

I've had 2 yellow coris wrasses and they both didn't last very long. The last one survived for less than a week before someone took a chunk out of him (also disappeared into the sand - never to reemerge).

The only wrasses that do well in my tank are large ones (melanarus, green, christmas, parrotfish) and the cleaner wrasse.

Ugh...well, fingers crossed I guess. Other than the Mimic, I don't really have anything aggressive, at least not that I've seen. I have a pair of small ocellaris clownfish but they just swim around near the top of the tank like idiots and ignore everyone lol.

 

[bureau13]

Hair algae update: What hair algae?

The Squaretail Bristletooth has been nothing sort of amazing at consuming hair algae. I wish I had a before pic. It wasn't crazy all over the tank, but the back wall was definitely waving in the wind. A few snails were back there munching but overall were a bit over their heads. Then the Squaretail came along just a bit less than a week ago. All gone.

 

[Troylee]

That’s funny! I have a half bLack mimmic and he’s the littlest of tang gang… shhhh! Don’t tell him that! He tries to stay a top the pecking order even with a 5-6 blue hippo and sailfin.. mind you he’s about 2” long now.. :rolling-on-the-floor-laughing:

 

[bureau13]

Is the half-black mimic the same species as the "regular" mimic, just from a different area so it's juvi colors are different? Or is it a different fish altogether?

OK did some googling and it appears the half-black is A. Chronixus or something like that, as opposed to A. Pyroferus. Interesting that their juvi survival mechanisms are so similar.