Yellow Tang Aggression

[BradB]

12 years ago, I bought 3 yellow tangs for $20 each for my 270. I never had issues with aggression, but I did have issues with HLLE and the tang that had it worst eventually died.

Sunday, I picked up a captive bread yellow tang for much more than $20 thinking it would be an easy addition. My 2 old yellows beat the crap out of him and he is now in my frag tank. My 2 old yellows are frequently together and have never shown aggression towards each other. The tank is big enough that the tangs can spread out, but the old tangs intentionally seek out the new one. I doubt this would work if I had a 1000 gallon tank.

When I started this hobby, I was taught that tangs in the wild live in huge groups, and only show aggression in our tanks as they are too close to each other because our tanks are too small. What if this is wrong? What if they are more like wolves or dogs, where they are friendly towards their group and hostile towards outsiders?

Has anyone successfully added a yellow tang to an existing group? Will my new fish no longer accept new tangs if he is alone too long?

 

[ROToole]

Having multiple tangs in a large enough tank is not a problem if they are all added at the same time. In your situation, you have added an outsider. I think you should turn off all lights and cover the glass so no light gets in for 3-5 days. I tried this a couple of years ago and it worked. Complete darkness is what you should aim for. The fish will still eat.