Curbing Tang Aggression?

[ChimolaFish]

So I got a Whitetail Bristletooth Tang (Ctenochaetus flavicauda) and at first he was rather aggressive toward everyone, which I figured can be normal, but like I expected, he cooled down with my two little clowns and bengaii. He never accepted my lyukyuensis wrasse, though, and today I found my wrasse dead.
So... now I'm worried to add a new wrasse since he's probably going to be a bully to it too. Are there any tricks to curbing tang aggression? Anyone with personal experience with this type of tang? I figure its more of an isolated case, but any advice would be nice.

 

[jgalen0025]

i had the same problem with that species an i almost got rid of him. putting a small mirror on the outside of the glass for a few days did the trick, no more aggression when adding new fish

 

[twon8]

Size tank? That plays a big part. If he killed a wrasse that was in the tank before him I'd say its likely he will kill any new tank mates

 

[Ricks_Reef]

I wish I could speak to your specific species but I have had a lot of experience with the yellow tangs. Which for the most part are really great and peaceful but every once in awhile (like my current one) you get one thats a little nuts in the head. I don't know if I got a male this time and the past were females? But my plan for him is to take him back to the store for credit and get another smaller one which is hopefully more peaceful after I move my tank.

Beyond the taking it back for credit idea. What I have done is put mirrors on my tank with aggressive fish or print out pictures of the same species and taped it to the side of the tank with limited success. Honestly what worked the best one time was I sat by my tank for about 2 hours and every time it did something aggressive I tapped the glass which scared it. It eventually was conditioned to leave the other fish alone although that's a pretty stressful way about going about it. Good luck and sorry for your situation.

 

[ChimolaFish]

I read about trying a mirror, anyone else have good luck with that? Should I just get a small one, or put a large mirror on like one entire side? Im assuming larger the better?

To be fair, I never saw the tang bite or kill my wrasse, but for the first week or so he would chase the wrasse until my wrasse stopped coming out of hiding.

It's a 90 gallon with plenty of rock. He's not full grown and they're pretty much the same type of fish as a Kole. At the very worst, Ill throw him in with my eel as the eel has been kept with some fish before and never bothered them.

 

[rjallen]

I read about trying a mirror, anyone else have good luck with that? Should I just get a small one, or put a large mirror on like one entire side? Im assuming larger the better?

To be fair, I never saw the tang bite or kill my wrasse, but for the first week or so he would chase the wrasse until my wrasse stopped coming out of hiding.

It's a 90 gallon with plenty of rock. He's not full grown and they're pretty much the same type of fish as a Kole. At the very worst, Ill throw him in with my eel as the eel has been kept with some fish before and never bothered them.

I have a Kole Tang in my 120 now for about 10 months. He went through QT with a Hovens Wrasse and they still are best buddies. Just introduced a Copperband Butterfly and 2 weeks later a Yellow Tang. They had been in QT together, actually, the YT had been in the QT for 4 weeks when I got the CBB. Had to partition my 29 gal. QT to keep the CCB from being bullied. After 5 additional weeks I elected to put the CBB in the DT first. When introduced into the DT, my large Foxface and the Kole Tang did bully him somewhat. Used two small mirrors purchased from Amazon. They are sold to go on the visor of a auto and were the cheapest mirrors I could find. I put them up and moved them around away from where the CBB hung out. Worked very well. After 2 weeks, I introduced the Yellow Tang. Again the mirrors helped. Funny thing, for the first week the YT hung out with the Copperband. Guess he remembered him from the QT. They are now friends...go figure. The YT took the bullying really well and now hangs out closer to the other fish. The Foxface and Kole Tang take an occasional swipe but everybody has pretty much settled down and everybody is eating together.

The mirrors do help. Distracts my Kole Tang and Hovens Wrasse the most. All of the fish come by and check the mirrors out each day but the tang and the wrasse spent most of day guarding the tank from the intruders. Took the mirrors out today without any real change in agression but some of my guys seem a little disappointed and are still hanging out at the last mirrors location.

+1 on mirrors.

RJ

 

[firemountain]

i had the same problem with that species an i almost got rid of him. putting a small mirror on the outside of the glass for a few days did the trick, no more aggression when adding new fish

I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a whitetail Bristletooth, but now having second thoughts. My tank is only a 65g and only have 3 fish and some corals in the tank. I know I am pushing the limit, but the Kole/Bristletooth species is the only tang I can keep. With a pair of clowns and a Gold Assessor, the last thing I need is to have a tang become the tank bully.

For those who have kept the whitetail and the Kole, is one any less aggressive than the other towards other tank mates?

While I know the mirror trick would probably work, I am just trying to minimize any collateral damage with keeping fish that are compatible.

 

[rjallen]

Tangs are most aggressive to other Tangs and really aggressive to Tangs of same species or genus. Kole and White tail are VERY closely related. I think it will boil down to which individual has the most aggressive personality. No way to predict.

RJ

 

[ChimolaFish]

I was just getting ready to pull the trigger on a whitetail Bristletooth, but now having second thoughts. My tank is only a 65g and only have 3 fish and some corals in the tank. I know I am pushing the limit, but the Kole/Bristletooth species is the only tang I can keep. With a pair of clowns and a Gold Assessor, the last thing I need is to have a tang become the tank bully.

For those who have kept the whitetail and the Kole, is one any less aggressive than the other towards other tank mates?

While I know the mirror trick would probably work, I am just trying to minimize any collateral damage with keeping fish that are compatible.

I wouldn't do a tang in less than a 4 foot tank once it gets full grown, so if you can get it young and upgrade later, I wouldn't think the kole or whitetail would be any different in terms of aggression even with my guy. The other one at my lfs was very mellow.

 

[ChimolaFish]

I ordered some mirrors, but Im not going to pull the trigger on any new fish for a little while now anyway. Thanks for the advice, guys