Toby Puffer Nipping Yellow Tang

[boilerreef]

I have a 100 gallon FOWLR and recently added a small Hawaiian Spotted Puffer. Within 24 hours of his addition, I noticed a good chunk was missing from my juvenile yellow tang’s dorsal fin. The yellow tang was not thrilled about the puffer being added to the tank and was harassing it so I’m assuming the puffer had enough and took a bite. I used a mirror and distracted the yellow tang and everything seemed to calm down. A couple days later and I noticed another nip out ofthe yellow tang’s fin even though it does not appear to be harassing the puffer any longer. Will this behavior continue and cause permanent damage to my yellow tang? Should I find a new home for my puffer?

 

[KrisReef]

Wait and see how it turns out. The tang appears to have a lot of fins left so you are probably ok for another week or two.

 

[Zionas]

This is a noted behavior of this group of fish. If nothing works I am afraid it’ll have to be removed, at least temporarily.