lanman February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 I purchased a Yellow Tang and Purple Tang from Chris (gadgets). For the first week, all seemed bliss. This week they have a mutual aggression pact going. I have 240 gallons of water in that tank! They BOTH take turns being the aggressor. Like all surgeon fish, they have 'scalpels' near their tails. They keep trying to cut each other with their scalpels. No real damage so far - but both have several tears in their tail fins. Neither of the fish act even remotely aggressive with the other fish in the tank, including the baby Pacific Blue tang. Are they likely to eventually reach a peace agreement? Or will this lead to mutually-assured mutilation?? Any suggestions? I TOLD the Purple to go sit in the corner; but he doesn't listen very well. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yagerboy February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 I have seen that with a few of my tangs. It will probably passs after a month or so. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DEEPBLUE February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 I've seen it and had it in my 240, it won't pass, eventually one will over power the other and will basically try to imprison the other in the corner and stop it from eating or even swimming in the tank. I ended up getting my purple tang out and that was fine. I watched it go on in my tank for about 2 months until my yellow started showing signs of starvation so I had to get one or the other out and I caught the purple first. Now he's upstairs in my sons room with a couple clowns and coral beauty and not bothering anyone. Good luck. Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Ward February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 (edited) Bob, the purple is the more aggressive of the tangs. I think you should get him out immediately and donate to my tank it's definitely going to kill absolutely everything you have Edited February 7, 2008 by Brian Ward Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharkb8 February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 My favorite answer to all tang behavior questions is: it depends. It depends on the fish really. Each fish has a little bit different experience and attitude. I would continue to monitor the situation and if it does not subside in a few months, start making plans to separate them. I had a yellow and a sailfin in a 90g and they mostly tolerated each other. But there were continuing skirmishes just short of all out war. Other folks here have had similar tangs in similar amounts of water with no long term problems. So, it just depends. Watch and wait. If flesh wounds become more serious, definitely take action to remove one of them. I would start thinking now about which one you love more, just in case ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaironman February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 Bob, Your issue is you only have two tangs in your system and one of them would like to be the dominant one. The good thing is you have a 240 Gallon which is plenty of space for the lesser aggressive tang (the yellow tang) to swim away. Purple tang is more aggressive than yellow tang. One way to quickly reduce the stress on the yellow tang is to purchase another kind of tang with same or better with a little bit larger size than your current tangs to share out the stress. Yellow tang is pretty hardy and with your large tank, I don't think there will be ich break out. Don't get a Powder Blue Tang since it's very sensitive to any kind of stress from being harrass. KLee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 Wow! This is interesting, because I had them together in my 30x30 cube for months. They was NO aggression. If there was I would have never sold or kept them together. I wouldn't do anything drastic. Let them settle in and see how they act. I know that the purple had dominance over the yellow in my tank, but they never really fought and caused damage. They showed aggression to each other but never any cutting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steveoutlaw February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 bob - I think that since you are the new master they are just vying for your affection! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 Long long time ago a flame angel I had was cut by a yellow tang and ended up with a bacterial infection and died, so that's something to consider with aggressive tangs as it's not just a matter of having an injury, it's a matter of possibly having a fatal infection. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamesbuf February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 I agree with KLee's proposition. I think you need more tangs to help spread out the aggression. Worked great for my old tank (Sohal, Naso, Blonde Naso, Blue Hippo, and Blue Atlantic all got along fine) and I know others have had the same success with this reasoning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 (edited) I've heard this phenomenon too...almost like in the smaller tank, they were too crowded to fight. Now they have a big huge territory and the purple one WANTS it. Have you tried hanging a small mirror on the tank? I hear this is a good way to re-direct tang aggression (as the purple will go after his alter ego in the mirror and leave the yellow one alone) Tracy Edited February 7, 2008 by zotzer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
treesprite February 7, 2008 Share February 7, 2008 I've heard this phenomenon too...almost like in the smaller tank, they were too crowded to fight. Now they have a big huge territory and the purple one WANTS it. Have you tried hanging a small mirror on the tank? I hear this is a good way to re-direct tang aggression (as the purple will go after his alter ego in the mirror and leave the yellow one alone) Tracy Not so sure that's a good idea. My tank for some reason is highly reflective and the clown charges head on into the glass with her face so hard that you can hear her across the room (ouch). When I first put the yellow tang in the tang, he also was charging the glass until I turned off the lights, though now that he's used to the tank he stopped doing it. In other words, they can hurt themselves charging into things like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 8, 2008 Author Share February 8, 2008 They are still aggressive tonight... the purple one has tougher skin, it seems... he has MORE scratches - but they are just like chalk marks. The yellow only has a couple of small cuts - but they are a little deeper. And the yellow is the one that chases down the purple at least half the time - maybe more. I guess the little Pacific Blue doesn't count in the 'big tang' wars. I guess I could put the male Anthia in there - he would chase both of them; but at least he doesn't have a knife! This definitely bears watching. Chris - it's obvious that they didn't fight like this in your little tank. They had NO marks on them at all when they arrived. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 8, 2008 Author Share February 8, 2008 As I was beginning to suspect last night... the Yellow Tang has now established dominance. The purple runs whenever the yellow comes his way. The yellow is keeping him bottled up as best he can - but it's a big tank. Hopefully, she will now leave the purple guy alone after a while. Meantime - I guess I'm in the market for a 3rd larger size tang... bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaironman February 9, 2008 Share February 9, 2008 As I was beginning to suspect last night... the Yellow Tang has now established dominance. The purple runs whenever the yellow comes his way. The yellow is keeping him bottled up as best he can - but it's a big tank. Hopefully, she will now leave the purple guy alone after a while. Meantime - I guess I'm in the market for a 3rd larger size tang... bob How about a Red Sea Sailfin tang or better yet a Super Black Tang. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 9, 2008 Author Share February 9, 2008 How about a Red Sea Sailfin tang or better yet a Super Black Tang. I only wanted 3 tangs - including the little blue guy. But if it wil bring peace to the tank - I'll get another, and forego the Anthias. And I was having trouble deciding between yellow and sailfin, anyhow. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vaironman February 9, 2008 Share February 9, 2008 (edited) I only wanted 3 tangs - including the little blue guy. But if it wil bring peace to the tank - I'll get another, and forego the Anthias. And I was having trouble deciding between yellow and sailfin, anyhow. bob Or a juvenile chevron tang, a clown tang or a sohal tang. Even with 4 tangs, you still should be able to have anthias. Your tank is more than large enough to accomodate quiet a few more fishes. Edited February 9, 2008 by vaironman Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zotzer February 9, 2008 Share February 9, 2008 Something of a little different shape might be the way to go. I vote Sohal or Achilles! Tracy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 9, 2008 Author Share February 9, 2008 Or a juvenile chevron tang, a clown tang or a sohal tang. Even with 4 tangs, you still should be able to have anthias. Your tank is more than large enough to accomodate quiet a few more fishes. Perhaps... but I'm not a fish guy - I'm a coral guy. The fish are there for decoration bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reefhunter February 9, 2008 Share February 9, 2008 I had six tangs that got along perfectly for a long time (hippo, sailfin, purple, yellow, lavendar, naso). I added a 7th, much smaller, clown tang. The lavendar harassed the clown tang until the clown tang defended itself and they fought constantly. I removed the Lavendar tang and all is peaceful again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gadgets February 9, 2008 Share February 9, 2008 Perhaps... but I'm not a fish guy - I'm a coral guy. The fish are there for decoration bob Understood, but remember that corals feed off of fish waste. I wouldn't overdo it on the livestock, but definitely wouldn't keep a small amount of fish in that tank. Especially if your using a large skimmer. What is your proposed fish list? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lanman February 10, 2008 Author Share February 10, 2008 Understood, but remember that corals feed off of fish waste. I wouldn't overdo it on the livestock, but definitely wouldn't keep a small amount of fish in that tank. Especially if your using a large skimmer. What is your proposed fish list? Proposed fish list? Hmmm... I guess I actually have one. In the tank now: Yellow Tang Purple Tang Yellow-eyed Kole Tang (added yesterday) Pacific Blue Tang (just a little guy) African Leopard Wrasse Splendid Dottyback 7 Blue-green Chromis 5 Pajama cardinals (added yesterday) Yashia Goby (with shrimp) Yet to be moved from the 58: Coral Beauty Angel Royal Gramma 2 more Chromis False Perc Clown (eventually - waiting for the RBTA to grow up a bit) And that's about it. Everyone but the tangs gets along fine. The Dottyback took exception to the Pajama Cardinals hovering near 'her coral' ... but that only lasted about 5 minutes. bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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