Mixing tangs

[Flame2hawk]

As some know I have a 625g FOWLR. I went through a “plague like” bacteria hit and lost some beautiful fish. Thankfully this is behind me and all is fine but I want to replace my Gem and purple tang. The dilemma is that I have established tangs in tank, amongst others, a 6/7 inch yellow and achillies. Previously they all got along because they were added at same time. I will employ all the tricks of trying to get it to work like using mirrors, adding at night,leaving lights off or using red lights for several days after intro etc. my big question is…..do I have a better chance of this working if I add similar size gem and PT? Smaller size? Or larger size ( this w/b difficult to find). Your thoughts appreciated. Any other suggestions welcomed as well. Wish me luck!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yellow will be a jerk and Achilles should be ok. For yellow:
- place nori seaweed in various areas to keep it occupied
- place a mirror outside of tank to divert its attention
- May have to place it in sump temporarily while new ones get established in the tank

I see purple being the one the yellow will go after

 

[Flame2hawk]

Thx. Does size of additions matter? Would adding other fish like a trigger and rainbow wrasse at same time help?

 

[Saltyanimals]

Ask 10 people and you'll get 10 responses. =) I had a similar circumstance and lost some tangs which needed to be replaced. Problem like yours is now you have established tangs that will quickly want to exert dominance which is something you can't help.

What worked for me: 1) spread out the aggression. 2) spread out the aggression. This means adding multiple new fish. I took the opportunity and replaced 2 tangs and added additional fish: 2 tangs (smaller than existing tankmates) 3 chromis and some anthias. This is a lot of new fish to spread out the aggression. Worked for me.