Fighting Tangs

[vicki]

Hi
I've done what the books all say not to do, I introduced a yellow tang AFTER a purple tang was aready in here. You can't always dictate what order the fish arrive! Anyway, the purple beats up the yellow tang using the spine on his tail stock. I can't catch the purple so I have put a dividing plastic grill down the middle of he tank to seperate them for a week or two to see if that helps. Now the purple tang spends some time patrolling up and down the divider and othe times he is busy grazing. I'm hoping he'll get used to seeing the yellow here and ignore it completely. Any suggestions?

 

[yote]

Those 2 will probably never be able to co-exist.You'll have to decide which one you want to keep,and return the other.

I'm also going to move this thread to the reef fish forum.

 

[Melosu58]

Turn the lights out and move some rock around. That will help to curb aggression.

 

[ltljoker]

+1 melousu ive tried that and i know it works it just takes time. but im not surprised they are fighting see as how they have the same body shape.

 

[dcantucson]

I did the same thing once with a Powder Blue and a Powder Brown. I kept thinking that it would finally work itself out. It didn't. The Brown one was killed.

 

[vicki]

Message to ltljoker.
Are you saying you got a yellow and a purple tang to co-exist by seperating them for a while? If so, how long did you seperate them for?

 

[Smitty]

I agree with Melosa, move the rocks around and turn the lights off for a day or two, it should help a lot. I've had several tangs in my old 125gal with very minimal aggression. It just takes time, also, make sure there is enough food(algea sheets) in the tank so they don't feel like they have to fight for food. Place a seawed clip on both sides of the tank.

 

[ltljoker]

Yes I did but the problum I had was in reverse the yellow was sooooo mean. But I havent found a yellow that wasnt aggessive. I also took the yellow out for about 2 weeks and moved the rocks around then it worked. Althought after I did that i have to mention my green carpet ate my poor purple tang

 

[Bifferwine]

What size tank do you have?

 

[vicki]

Thanks for replying. 735 litres or a little less than 200 gallons.
What do you think?

 

[vicki]

Thanks ltljoker. Yeah it's my purple that is mean and he's smaller than the placid yellow!?. I have had my lights off for 2 days to help deal with an algae problem so that should help with this too. I'm going to keep the division in for 2 weeks and then maybe cut bigger holes in the divider for a start so they perceive a barrier? Or am I getting too complicated!. Good idea about the veggie clip. Cheers

 

[winyfrog]

Hopefully it will work out for you.

If you can catch both of them, give it a few days and put them back into the tank together. (You would need to keep them in seperate containers)

If not here is another option catch the yellow tang, put him in your sump, or QT. Buy another yellow tang or a different type of zebrasoma, put the yellow and the new zebrasoma in together. This breaks the aggression up so your purple will not be after just one fish. They will always bicker with each other, just like any of your kids :) but your purple will most likely not kill your yellow, doing it this way.

Good Luck