Powder blue tang aggression

Eoka · Sep 23, 2023

UMALUM said:
That's hilarious

Why

vetteguy53081 · Sep 23, 2023

Eoka said:
Yea I think with tangs you either want one or many just so one can't get singled out

I have 25 tangs and it’s my tank jerk followed by Dussomieri
Fish ok in a 125g but will get to an easy 8” and quickly
Model citizen tangs are tomini, gem , convict, chocolate, and lieutenant as examples

Eoka · Sep 23, 2023

vetteguy53081 said:
I have 25 tangs and it’s my tank jerk followed by Dussomieri
Fish ok in a 125g but will get to an easy 8” and quickly
Model citizen tangs are tomini, gem , convict, chocolate, and lieutenant as examples

Okay thanks for the input

argiBK · Sep 23, 2023

PBTs are just one of those fish I have to dream about for now. Because, it always comes down to a choice of PBT, or, any other fish in the tank as anyone can be a target.

That, and the last time I attempted a PBT, my Mag Foxface wasn’t having it. He seems to know to be on the jump with them. Thankfully he gets along really well with my other grazers.

It looks like you need this many PBTs and space to eliminate aggression

seamonster · Sep 23, 2023

Eoka said:
I have this PB in my qt tank right now and I added a sailfin tang and he started attacking it which was a given so I separated them. I'm just worried about aggression toward my fish in my main tank like my copperband so I'm wondering if I can solve the aggression or should I just trade him in for a bristle tooth tang which will proubably end up being much nicer. He's a fat healthy monster rn so I'm afraid of the damage he'll cause.

Add the powder blue last. I added mine and a flame angel at the same time… flame angel didn’t make it. He lived for a while like 5 months then he died… I then added a yellow eye bristletooth tang a long time later. Powder blue stressed it out to the point that it barely ate. I used the mirror trick for 5 days to calm the aggression. During that time I caught the new fish and put it in an isolation box. Although it wasn’t being hassled by my powder blue, it still didn’t eat and it died a week later. Ya they are mean especially if you have it for a while. I even changed the rock scape completely and added the new fish. Didn’t help. Next time If I do it again I’m going to either isolate the new arrival for a much longer period or put the powder blue in the sump for a while and add the new fish first. Let the new one get established for a month and put the powder blue back in the display…I have a 120 gallon tank, just a pbt, 2 clowns, 3 lyretail anthias, 1 rainfordi’s goby, 1 bluestar leopard wrasse and 1 sandsifter diamond goby. All small fishes except for the powder blue. I need a bristletooth to take care of the rock work and the back glass and sand.bristletooths do a better job at cleaning. The pbt grazes but he is so spoiled and he is too picky of the algae he eats.

Eoka · Sep 23, 2023

seamonster said:
Add the powder blue last. I added mine and a flame angel at the same time… flame angel didn’t make it. He lived for a while like 5 months then he died… I then added a yellow eye bristletooth tang a long time later. Powder blue stressed it out to the point that it barely ate. I used the mirror trick for 5 days to calm the aggression. During that time I caught the new fish and put it in an isolation box. Although it wasn’t being hassled by my powder blue, it still didn’t eat and it died a week later. Ya they are mean especially if you have it for a while. I even changed the rock scape completely and added the new fish. Didn’t help. Next time If I do it again I’m going to either isolate the new arrival for a much longer period or put the powder blue in the sump for a while and add the new fish first. Let the new one get established for a month and put the powder blue back in the display…I have a 120 gallon tank, just a pbt, 2 clowns, 3 lyretail anthias, 1 rainfordi’s goby, 1 bluestar leopard wrasse and 1 sandsifter diamond goby. All small fishes except for the powder blue. I need a bristletooth to take care of the rock work and the back glass and sand.bristletooths do a better job at cleaning. The pbt grazes but he is so spoiled and he is too picky of the algae he eats.

I have some small fish. The only bigs ones will be a sailfin tang, copperbnad, and foxface

argiBK · Sep 23, 2023

I don’t think being added last really affects a PBT’s dominance, once it’s established, it will claim the tank as it’s territory. If you have peaceful grazers, they will likely be the first to be battered, followed by any fish that might want to share the PBT’s sleeping space.

Tankmates really must be chosen to be able to stand up and hold their own.

ctopherl · Sep 25, 2023

Eoka said:
I have a 125g with a lot of open space. I was trying to find a fish that could be the tank boss but the desjardini I got is a little smaller than the powder blue so it dosent really work out

To give best chance of success (never guaranteed still) you will want to add the sailfin to your DT first, give it a week or two to establish itself with the environment and other fish and then add PBT last. You added a smaller tang to a small tank (QT) with an established PBT - odds are that is not going to end well.

ctopherl · Sep 25, 2023

cilyjr said:
My acclamation box is a pretty cheap DIY deal. It's just this that I sprayed some spray foam underneath to make it floating. I'll show you a picture

Clever! I haven’t had to use an acclimation box yet but was leaning towards getting one of those small “critter keeper” cages that have lids with holes in the top meant for hermit crabs and such, then just letting it sink to the bottom with some rock in it. Might try this as well if that doesn’t work.