Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating

[Ento-Reefer]

All of my tangs are getting along much better after only a day. I posted an update video on my build thread. I think my 180g is stocked for now. I don't have anymore plans for more fish. I am happy with it as it is

I really appreciate all of the advice given on this thread.

 

[siggy]

How would a hippo and power blue get along? so far I have a 4" PB and a 3" yellow, they get along fine so I ordered another yellow today, should I have ordered 2? BTW D.F.S. has Hawaiian Yellow Tangs @ $35, one of 3 LFS told me friday that the price on yellows are $140.....some people!....I would really like another tang other than Yellow, and of course a purple is on my list but @150+ and large, maybee a bristle tooth? Thoughts anyone?

 

[Ryan.631]

Is it true to get all tangs at the same time?

 

[HotRocks]

It all just depends on your tank size and what type of tangs your talking.

What is your tank size?

Does your DT already have other fish?

How many tangs? And what type?

 

[4FordFamily]

How would a hippo and power blue get along? so far I have a 4" PB and a 3" yellow, they get along fine so I ordered another yellow today, should I have ordered 2? BTW D.F.S. has Hawaiian Yellow Tangs @ $35, one of 3 LFS told me friday that the price on yellows are $140.....some people!....I would really like another tang other than Yellow, and of course a purple is on my list but @150+ and large, maybee a bristle tooth? Thoughts anyone?

Depending on tank size and personalities in the tank, it could work. Multiple yellow is not a very good idea, especially two.

 

[4FordFamily]

Is it true to get all tangs at the same time?

I wouldn’t say it’s true but it certainly may help your odds.

 

[Ryan.631]

I wouldn’t say it’s true but it certainly may help your odds.

If you get them as juveniles, would it also be okay to put them in separately?

 

[4FordFamily]

If you get them as juveniles, would it also be okay to put them in separately?

Juveniles are still likely to behave the same as adults— in some cases juveniles must be more fierce to defend a patch of rock to graze on.

 

[vic5hands]

They’re going to fight
Eventually they’ll stop or kill each other
Should have went in at the same time

 

[Clownfish2]

I am planning to add 2 tangs to my 110 gallon tank. its been running for a year and a half. currently I have 3 fish - a clown, royal gramma, and a blue damsel. These 3 fish have just reached 76 days in QT.

I would like to have 1 yellow tang and one more from this list below. I plan to QT them together. Would 2 from this list work?

Yellow tang
Kole yellow eye tang
powder brown
bristletooth tomini
two spot bristletooth

Thanks

 

[4FordFamily]

I am planning to add 2 tangs to my 110 gallon tank. its been running for a year and a half. currently I have 3 fish - a clown, royal gramma, and a blue damsel. These 3 fish have just reached 76 days in QT.

I would like to have 1 yellow tang and one more from this list below. I plan to QT them together. Would 2 from this list work?

Yellow tang
Kole yellow eye tang
powder brown
bristletooth tomini
two spot bristletooth

Thanks

Any of the bristlooth/kole would most likely work. The tank needs to be 150-180 minimum for powder brown for horizontal swimming space, and two yellow tangs as sole tangs is a really bad idea— they’ll
fight and kill each other. This is the worst possible scenario for multiple yellow tangs — IE sole tang species, only two tangs, small tank, etc.

I hope this helps!

 

[Clownfish2]

Any of the bristlooth/kole would most likely work. The tank needs to be 150-180 minimum for powder brown for horizontal swimming space, and two yellow tangs as sole tangs is a really bad idea— they’ll
fight and kill each other. This is the worst possible scenario for multiple yellow tangs — IE sole tang species, only two tangs, small tank, etc.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the advice, I’ll plan for a yellow and a Kole/bristletooth.

 

[mdrobc13]

Here are some shots of my PBT and also my Angularis cruising also my yellow tangs and new rose bubble anomone..and I think my foxface and Rock Beauty are in there. Also a shot of tang feeding time where you can see my purple tang and clown tang closing in to get some nori also. I think my Sailfin is in there too...

Recently added ONE more tang...a Tomimi Tang size small about 2.5" - 3" to my tank and he's doing well. At 1st he was chased a bit by my Kole tang who is bigger than him and has been there since Oct but that settled down around the 3rd day and now the tangs mostly ignore each other except for some aggressive food stealing moves during feeding time...esp nori or flakes.

So here's the final list of tangs so far in my tank in order of introduction
1.) Yellow Tang x2
2) Hippo Tang x2
3) Sailfin Tang
4) Purple Tang
5) Kole Tang
6) Clown Tang (deceased)
7) Powder Blue Tang (deceased)
8) Convict Tang (deceased)
9) Powder Brown Tang (deceased)
10) Powder Blue Tang 5"
6) Vlamingi Tang
7) Bristletooth/Tomini Tang

Note 1 the following fish were introduced at the same time to minimize aggression (Sailfin and Purple, Clown and Powder Blue)
Only the Convict and Powder Brown tangs were harassed upon arrival and died within 24-48 hrs of introduction. My 1st Powder Blue was the culprit in once case and eventually broke out in severe ich and did not survive. Granted he was #8 addition and also killed off not only the Convict Tang but also a Blue Girlded Angel and just did not tolerate ANY new fish added after him. The Powder Brown was harassed by the Clown Tang and Sailfin and did not survive 24 hrs in the tank under the dual assault. The Clown Tang somehow disappeared after trying to harass the newly added Powder Blue tang (which was 2-3x his size) which mostly left him alone for 1st week or so.

May seem like a lot of loss but really those four fish died at different times of introduction after at min 10-14 days of QT w/cuppermine. So I attribute the deaths on personality cross mix and competition with current crew. Otherwise the current inhabitants to include all the tangs are doing well and tolerating each other. I do have multiple Nori stations (4 total) on the tank plus two Eheim auto feeders set up and feed manually in the AM and PM so everyone gets fed and that seems to help a lot!

Other inhabitants you ask?
1. Rock Beauty
2 . Rusty Angel
3. Angularis Angel 5.5"
4. Blue Face Angel (juv)
5. Green Reef Chromix x9
6. Purple & Yellow wrasse
7. Melanarus wrasse
8. Fuji Damsel (oldest fish in the tank)
9. Diamond Orange Spotted Goby x2
10. Foxface Lo (small)
11. Maroon Clown x2
12. Ocellaris Clown x2

No plans to add anymore Tangs although I'd love to have either and Atlantic Tang and/or a Leutenant Tang but I think I've really pushed my tang luck so to speak so no plans for anymore. I do have two Pakastani Butterly in QT awaiting release at this time. My tank is a 210 g with a good deal of live rock and coral as you can see from pic/post above. Sump is Trigger Systems Sapphire 34 gal and I have a full Apex setup with AI Hydra 26 x3 for lighting. At this point however I think I have reached the limit of friendliness and acceptability for all the current fish so I am done stocking. May re-consider if I move up to a 300+ or larger tank next summer when I move.

So yeah some say if couldn't be done but it can...however takes luck and some timing/planning.

 

[av8soulfly]

I have a chevron with lots of new butterflyfish. He punks the new guys around for a while, but gives up after a day or so. I always place a 12 by 12 inch mirror at one end of my 100 gallon forwlr tank and it works like a charm. He spends hours picking on himself while the
new flies get used to their new surroundings.

 

[Deereefer]

I totally agree with the OP suggestions...I'm fairly new to the hobby and this is my second tank but thru the years I've learned that the most important key to taming their aggression is heavy feeding...especially when introducing new fish. I feed sometimes up to 10x a day for the first couple of weeks...

Here's my tang addiction...

Nice tank

 

[Umair]

Presently i have one convict and two purple tangs in my QT going through CP medication. All are reasonably peaceful together other than at times one of the purple tang do not allow rest to have seaweed from the clip until it has moved away.

I plan to add these three in my 160 gal DT which presently only have two pairs of clown. Tank is about three months old.

Also in future i wish to add following:

Naso
Yellow
Blue Powder
Clown
Hippo

After reading this discussion i know purple addition in the beginning was a mistake but what would you ppl suggest now? Can i proceed with my plan of adding these three tangs to DT and then add the remaining tangs all together ?

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

I am hear to attest that adding all the tangs at once is a VERY good idea. I have an adult desjardini, blonde naso, hipppo, and achilies. I added them all at the same time and they never really fought. I did however learn that my achilies is an absolutely terrifying monster.

I added a small-medium scoppas a few weeks ago. I added him at night and in the morning, he was near dead. I scooped him out with my hand!! He had three torn fins, two lacerations and his eye was slashed open. Man he was in grim shape, thought he was going to loose the eye. Two weeks in melafix and now he is in my frag tank.

I had the chance to buy a tank bred majestic angel.. about 3". I added him three days ago and the achilies was immediately on him! Swipe, swipe, bite, swipe. He was possessed. I just fed the whole tank before adding him. I put him in an acclimation tank made from light diffuser for two days.. let him out... same thing.

Now I built a big acclimation box for him and he has been in there for two days, the achilies seems to ignore him.

My question is... Do you think the achilies will ever except another fish? I would LOVE to get a powder brown but seeing how aggressive he is to the angel fish..yikes.

I am going to put a bunch of new rock in the DT from my fuge temporarily and try to release the angel. Maybe I should try to get release the scopas and the angel at the same time? Or.. catch the achilies and put him in my frag tank for a week?

Any suggestions on which might yield the best result?

Thanks!!

 

[HotRocks]

You need an enforcer that is not an Acanthurus. @4FordFamily gave me a monster Sailfin. He keeps my tangs in check. Although I just added a PBT, YT and PT. Also added a moorish idol at the same time. My existing tangs were Achilles, powder brown, Kole, desjardini sailfin. My powder brown was very nasty in QT, has chilled out in DT. The look of concern on Jason's face for the first 20 minutes when we added those fish was priceless. My Achilles was very hard on the idol for first 3 days. All is well now, no more chasing etc. @4FordFamily really knows his tangs there is no doubt!

 

[4FordFamily]

I am hear to attest that adding all the tangs at once is a VERY good idea. I have an adult desjardini, blonde naso, hipppo, and achilies. I added them all at the same time and they never really fought. I did however learn that my achilies is an absolutely terrifying monster.

I added a small-medium scoppas a few weeks ago. I added him at night and in the morning, he was near dead. I scooped him out with my hand!! He had three torn fins, two lacerations and his eye was slashed open. Man he was in grim shape, thought he was going to loose the eye. Two weeks in melafix and now he is in my frag tank.

I had the chance to buy a tank bred majestic angel.. about 3". I added him three days ago and the achilies was immediately on him! Swipe, swipe, bite, swipe. He was possessed. I just fed the whole tank before adding him. I put him in an acclimation tank made from light diffuser for two days.. let him out... same thing.

Now I built a big acclimation box for him and he has been in there for two days, the achilies seems to ignore him.

My question is... Do you think the achilies will ever except another fish? I would LOVE to get a powder brown but seeing how aggressive he is to the angel fish..yikes.

I am going to put a bunch of new rock in the DT from my fuge temporarily and try to release the angel. Maybe I should try to get release the scopas and the angel at the same time? Or.. catch the achilies and put him in my frag tank for a week?

Any suggestions on which might yield the best result?

Thanks!!

Need to add more than one for sure! Social acclimation box for the bigger aggressor may help but if your tank boss is an acanthurus (Achilles in this case) as it sounds, it can be tough if not impossible. Multiple tangs is your best hope!

 

[pdxmonkeyboy]

OK, well perhaps i should try and aquire a larger powder brown and add the powder brown, scopas, and majestic at the same time.

I thought my desjardini would keep the achilies in check...