Battle tangs.

[szl]

Well.

I have a 6x2x2 tank, in which lives a yellow tang among other smaller fish. He is not particularly big, perhaps 4 inches.

Yesterday, I introduced an Achillies Tang which I had in QT.

All hell has broken loose in the DT. The YT who is actually smaller has turned into quite the bully. Hes swiping at teh Achillies with his tail, etc. A real bad character.

The AT just wants to chill.

So, I know that sometimes fish will battle a bit to establish themselves, a few days is normal. How many days should I give it before I take the YT out?

Thanks all!

 

[Flippers4pups]

Take both out in separate QT tanks for a day or two. Rearrange your rocks and add both to the DT with lights out over night.

 

[this is me]

If the Achilles is receiving damage, I would take the Yellow out and re-introduce in a couple days.

 

[m0nkie]

AT needs to be boss. I think the yellow will dominate until the AT gets used to the tank. Then it might turn around and kill the YT or die trying

 

[cabinetman123]

Place a mirror against the tank. Yellow will hate itself more I bet and will chase its own reflection.

 

[mattgumaer]

Might prove tough to introduce a new tang once an existing tang is established. In addition to the suggestions above, you can try an acclimation box to see if you can allow the fish to get used to each other without being able to damage each other. I have the same size tank and three tangs, a powder blue, a yellow and a kole. All three were introduced at the same time. The powder blue doesn't bother the kole at all and chases the yellow periodically. However, after the tangs were in the tank about 1.5 years, I tried to introduce a copperband after quarantine and a couple of days in an acclimation box and the powder blue went crazy. I have a foxface in quarantine and I'm convinced I can't ever add it to the display. Good luck.

Matt

 

[Shivsreef]

You could try any of the tips mentioned above but I have 4 tangs in my tank and all were added at separate times and the initial aggression lasted for 3 days until they knew where each other stood. I only use the mirror trick on Acanthurus tangs - as they tend to be the most aggressive, so stuff like pb ct and st are the main 3. But because the Achilles is a delicate fish, I would recommend you to catch the yellow somehow and place him in the sump for a week or two and then reintroduce him, I wouldn't worry about the aggression from the Achilles to the yellow because he seems like a healthy fish and yt can take a bit of a beating from other tangs and not breakout in white spot. Best of luck for the AT though, and post pics once he's settled.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I have a foxface in quarantine and I'm convinced I can't ever add it to the display. Good luck.

Matt

Please let us know how this goes. I have toyed with the idea of adding a foxface to my tank add thought the tangs might be less inclined to attack it given it is venomous.

 

[scooter31707]

In most cases, that's why it's recommend to add Tangs last and add them together, to try and relieve some of the aggression. For the OP, I think once the this settles down and your AT gets establish, you may not be able to add anything to the tank those 2 Tangs.

 

[ReefWhatYouSow]

I had a yellow tang in an established reef tank and I added a foxface with no aggression issues. I thought I would try my luck and add more tangs. I added a blue regal and a purple tang, along with a pyramid butterfly fish. Well.... That yellow wasn't happy. He first made contact with the butterfly and immediately showed his dominance. Then he saw the purple and darted straight for him. And this was all at night!

I printed and cut out three pictures of each of the fish, including the yellow tang, and taped them to the aquarium. I also added a mirror. The aggression quickly declined and the next day there was barely any until the night. And then it is only to tell the others to stay out of my bed!

The following Day I started to pull down the mirror and a couple of pictures but not much later there was a little aggression. Everything went back up and no aggression. I'll be leaving the pictures and mirror up for a while.

I feel that there was added stress for everyone involved and everyone seems to have nipped fins. My biggest hope is that the stress doesn't bring on any ich etc.

Good luck with your decision!



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[sanchoy]

Tangs will be tangs. Sword play will be common until there is a pecking order, if you have a small tank you should re-arrange rocks and release both at same time as other said. Either way they will fight.