Aggressive yellow eye Kole with Leopard wrasse? Advice requested.

jayball

Active member
Hello, I currently have a Std. 90 Gallon with the following fish:

3 blue/green chromis
1 Bangaii Cardinal
1 Diamond watchmen Goby
pair of Occ Clowns
Kole tang (un-freaking-catchable)

The tang bullies the DWG and has previously bullied a lawnmower blenny to death. Seeing as how the wrasse is a rock picker do you think my kole will harass him. I understand that Leopards are not a fish with a strong ability to defend themselves and I do not want to sentence him to the slow death of starvation because of my Kole.

Actual experience is much preferred but educated opinion is welcome as well.

Thanks.
 
my kole was a terror, harassed any new fish and killed some. i will never get another one.
 
Seems like a lot more people have problems with koles than you'd expect. I got rid of mine for being over aggressive with my clowns.
 
I doubt the kole will act any differently with a new wrasse. Please do not take the chance.

When I need to catch an aggressive fish, I put a small mirror in the back of the trap and wait. Once the aggressor thinks a "new" fish is in the tank, they can't resist. If that does not work, a very small hook. My experience with a 2 spot hog fish. He attacked his image, but got wise to the trap (my fault, missed him a couple of tries). He bit on the hook in no time.
 
Years ago before I got out the hobby for awhile, I went through 2 of them. Both were jerks. Most people say they are peaceful which they are for as Tangs. IME, I truly believe if they are the dominant fish in the tank that's when they become aggressive.
 
I doubt the kole will act any differently with a new wrasse. Please do not take the chance.

When I need to catch an aggressive fish, I put a small mirror in the back of the trap and wait. Once the aggressor thinks a "new" fish is in the tank, they can't resist. If that does not work, a very small hook. My experience with a 2 spot hog fish. He attacked his image, but got wise to the trap (my fault, missed him a couple of tries). He bit on the hook in no time.

I am going to try baiting the trap with a mirror. I tried the fish hook at night but one of the chromis that lives in the rock that the Kole sleeps behind kept darting out and stealing the bait. Other fish would hit it first during feeding time, or my cleaner shrimp would be snagged.

I almost got him in a food container trap but when I pulled the fishing line to close the door the line snapped (it had abraded on the edge of the tank) and the fish that I was trying to protect, the DWG, kept hanging out in the trap. Maybe he knew what I was doing and tried to bait it with himself.

Another time I moved rocks to section off a third of the tank, leaving just the rock structure he sleeps in. I set up a front to back eggcrate barrier but apparently left a small opening, After 20 seconds of chasing him around the rocks with a poking stick and net he saw the opening and bashed threw it. I have never seen him move like that before.

The jerk is going to get speared before long if I can't get him out.

Let this thread be a warning to other, do not get a Kole tang to round out your peaceful aquarium unless you are able to remove your rocks to get him out if he turns out to be a homicidal sociopath. He is like the neighbor that goes on a killing spree "He was such a nice person"... until he snapped
 
I almost got one this weekend, i opted not too because of the recent aggressive posts about them.
I had one years ago was a really peaceful fish. You never can tell how their personality will be until it goes in your tank.
 
Have you tried multi nets. That's how I caught 1 firefish, tang, and leopard wrasse. I also used a acrylic rod to help lead them the direction I wanted.
 
Yellow eye kole tang = biggest ahole in my tank. They seem to be aggressive to most anything that picks at rocks and is smaller than then. I've had mine for 5 years but will be evicting him soon.
 
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