Feeding Aggression?

[KarenLR75]

Ideas for addressing aggressive behavior ONLY seen when feeding? Especially when feeding pellets (ok, other than 'don't feed pellets'...lol).

Have 2 fish added in past few weeks that are both, compared to our other fish, more aggressive - 1 is a white tail bristletooth tang and the other is a blue throat trigger. The tang is roughly 5 inches big and the trigger is um...3".. They have been swimming together just fine, the trigger has his own 'cave' he claimed where he sleeps/hooks into.

We feed pellets and mysis. The tang has been happily pecking/eating algae, etc. - in fact, I guess I had either forgotten how much time tangs spend pecking around the tank since I last had tangs so many years ago. This tang just never stops (not a complaint).

I work remotely so I can see them for a large chunk of time...and until this week had not noticed any large/overt aggression but just yesterday when the tang and trigger were both 'nose down' in the sand bed picking at pellets I had put in, the tang started butting the trigger with the side of his body.

The trigger just darts away and starts grazing elsewhere. Then if the tang nears the trigger, sometimes the trigger would swim out of 'reach' but I guess he was as surprised as I was when the tang started butting him and chased him into the cave. The tang also wedged it's body into the cave at one point..unsure if it was trying to 'get' the trigger or was after a few pellets he had seen just inside the cave.

The trigger has no wounds/bites/etc YET..but I'm concerned as I saw some of the same behavior from the tang again today. The tang doesn't bother the melanurus wrasse who pecks/competes for the same food and OFTEN the wrasse gets in the tang's way ALL the time & slides around the tang's body...the tang ignores him. I'd thump the wrasse if it were me..lol

We are going to put some additional rock in this weekend hopefully to give some additional hidey holes (have several already but most of the fish all like to stay encamped on the right side...trying to encourage some to go to the left side).

From what I recall, this species of tang is not known to be the most aggressive out there...but each fish is an individual too. Just really surprised as I'm used to seeing a fish that doesn't care for another one...chase it often...not just during feeding. I also don't want this to develop into 'chasing every time they see each other" IF I can do anything to help avoid/minimize it.

Oh - tank info...112 gallons (roughly 30 gallon refugium). Tank 6 ft long. Other inhabitants: 2 mated percula clowns, aforementioned wrasse, trigger and tang, 3 fire fish, 1 Randall's goby, 1 Pistol shrimp, 2 skunk cleaner shrimp, 1 red shrimp we rarely see.

 

[der_wille_zur_macht]

Don't feed pellets? :lol:

Bristletooth tangs are naturally going to want to feed from the rock/substrate versus the water column. I would try rubber banding nori to a few bits of rock and "hide" them throughout the day. Give him something to keep busy without any competition (the trigger will likely leave the nori alone) such that when it comes time to feed pellets, he's not so angry. I'd also try to find something the trigger likes that the tang ignores. Give them separate food sources instead of one that causes competition. Try some other types of frozen, especially one of the mixed varieties.

All that said, this may be an unsolvable problem.

 

[KarenLR75]

Don't feed pellets? :lol:

lol @ der_wille_zur_macht. I KNEW putting that out there would be simply just too difficult to resist

That being said - thank you for your suggestions. I added some more nori to a clip but I like your idea of putting more in the tank tucked in different places.

Getting ready to siphon the sand and rocks though due to a cyano outbreak. We've upped the flow rate by more than triple what it was originally. Now we need to cleanup/siphon as much as possible and see what we're left with on top of a major water change.

After we get this done hopefully by tomorrow, I'll put more nori in.

Thanks again!

 

[scooter31707]

I would try feeding Nori throughout the day or you can also try feeding less, more often. Meaning take the same amount and break that up in 2-3 different feedings.

 

[ca1ore]

One of the things many people do is to turn off their pumps during feeding. Not only do I find this unnecessary, I think it is also actually problematic. The BEST way I have found to give all fish a chance at the food is to rapidly disburse it around the tank. Otherwise, the bullies hog it all. I don't feed pellets much, but with frozen I pour it directly into my vortech pump so all the fish can get a chance at some.

 

[DarkSkyForever]

One of the things many people do is to turn off their pumps during feeding. Not only do I find this unnecessary, I think it is also actually problematic. The BEST way I have found to give all fish a chance at the food is to rapidly disburse it around the tank. Otherwise, the bullies hog it all. I don't feed pellets much, but with frozen I pour it directly into my vortech pump so all the fish can get a chance at some.

I don't turn off my power heads either. If I'm using filter socks, I turn off my return pump for 15 minutes so food doesn't go into the overflow and down into the sump. Otherwise if I'm not using socks I let it go down into the sump to feed the brittle stars and whatever else is down there.