Tank aggression

[reeferindc]

I have a 90 cube. In my tank are a pair of misbar clowns, watchman goby , cleaner shrimp , peppermint shrimp, 2- emerald crabs, cleaner wrasse , and a powder brown tang. I added a nem a few months back and within a couple weeks the clowns. Began hosting . At first the clowns were very protective of the nem and would chase the tang away setting up boundaries ( I should point out during this time the clowns were a little bigger than the tang) . Since this time , the tang has grown a little in girth and now I notice he always swims near the clowns and nem and bats his tail as if to taught the clowns into a fight. Should I be concerned with them coming to a full on brawl soon or will it just pass over between the tang and clowns? All fish are about 2.5”

Edited February 2, 2023 by reeferindc

[Origami]

My guess is that the aggression may not subside.  A 90 cube is just 27.5" to a side. That's not much horizontal space for any tang. As the tang grows, the lack of horizontal swimming space may make it more aggressive. If you can control the level of the nem - for example, to the lower third of the tank and limit the rockwork height - basically ceding dominance of the upper half of the tank to a growing tang, then maybe its instincts can be managed. If the two clowns pair up and begin to lay eggs, their protectiveness will only increase and may make it more likely that someone gets hurt. Just my thoughts. 

 

A standard 90, which is 48" long (but only 18 inches front to back), is more appropriate for an adult tang. Yours, of course, is a juvenile now, but it'll grow. 

[reeferindc]

Thanks for the reply.