Tang aggression

[RayAllen]

Im at a loss on what to do. I know of fiew of you may have some good ideas. Heres the dealio I have a 4-5 In Sailfin that has always been the dominant fish in the tank since introduced, but its really been nothing but flasing its sails and turing dark colors- basically just displaying its dominance. As of lately within the last week really its gotten more pushy. I understand that a fish will find a spot in a tank and defend it, but this fish uses the entire tank as its own and will chase and swat its tail scalp at anything. I dont think rearranging the rock will do the trick but I could try doing this again. I purchased a Yellow eye tang last saturday and it died Tuesday morning with no signs of sickness so im guessing the sailfin may of had something to do with it. Yesterday I brought home a 4" Argus Grouper (Awesome fish) and he attacked the freaking grouper! The tank is a 210g 7x2x2 and know where close to being overstocked but it seems to think so. :confused: Whats funny is when you read about them online they are suppost to be one of the most mild mannered. Thats turned out to be a lot of bull with guys. Ok enough rambling. Any thoughts, The fish is beautiful so Id like to try something to keep him even if it meens taking every rock out and really confusing every fish to unestablish any territories.

[erikharrison]

egg crate the tank and give the grouper some room. Between the two islands in your tank should be fine. I try and introduce the fish at night as well. After a week, remove the crate and see if the sailfin is still being ademate. Are you feeding it nori? I have noticed that my tangs seem happier when they are so fat they can hardly swim.

[Bill S]

A couple of thoughts. With your low stocking rate, it's easy for the tang to pick on one fish, and keep after it. With a higher stocking rate, they then chase many fish, and don't tend to wear one fish down. It can also help if you add more than once of the same fish: like add 3 yellow tangs.

We found this out 35 years ago when the store I worked at sold piranhas. You either had to have 1 in the stock tank, or 5 or more. For instance, if there were 3, two would kill one, then 1 on 1... For those that have kept African Cichlids, it's the same way. The more you put in the tank the better they behave.

I have in my tank: 2 yellows, 1 yellow shoulder, one huge blue hippo, a powder blue, and a sohol. When I added the sohol, the powder chased it for hours, and then just settled down.

So, with that in mind, I'd re-arrange the tank AND add a bunch of new fish. Risky, but that's, IMO, your best shot.

[Kristy]

Hi Ray,
Just a quick response as I am running out the door to a meeting...

We had really good results introducing a purple tang to our tank that was being reigned over by our very dominant yellow tang (established for about 4 or 5 months before the purple came along).

What we did was separate the tank into two halves with a piece of egg crate wedged vertically in the middle. The tangs could see each other and get used to one another's presence. After about a week we were able to pull it out and they tolerated each other. This gave the new guy a chance to get established and be up to his game to defend himself from Al our very dominant yellow tang.

Good luck to you!
Hope that helps,
Kristy

[Kristy]

Hey Erik, great ideas! Guess our posts crossed each other!

[RayAllen]

Its not only grouper, He has gotten pushy with everything lately; maybe because ive added new fish ive unleashed his fury, lol. I thought about the egg crate but you know how the rock work is; I will have to move the rocks anyways. I think I can put it between the islands as you suggested and see what happens. My only concern is if any fish are on that side with him if that would make things worse for them. He does think the cave on the right is his so maybe if I take his home that may work. They eat a lot and are fat. I feed twice a day. Lights come and I feed Formula 1 & 2 and Macro/Algae sheets/Nori . At night usually 6-7pm I feed Formula 1 & 2, Fresh Shrimp & Clams. The fish have all grown since ive had them so I know they are ok there. Im going to just move all the rocks again although I really dont want to. I think that will make him chill out.

[RayAllen]

Thanks every one. Bill ive kept both piranha and africans and have wondered if tight stocking (not overstocking) in Salt water would have a similar effect. Im also glad to see you have 5 tangs in a 215g. Good to know. I might try to corner him in a corner of the tank and put eggcrate there so he only has that small space for a day and see what happens....

[aquasport24]

Those tangs are weird anyway. In my tank, the blue hippo is the bully to the sailfin tang and the naso..

[RayAllen]

My Blue Hippo although 2" bigger is a big softy.