Genicanthus Disposition?

[Chibils]

Today I introduced a tomini tang measuring in at 1.625" to my dt. My Genicanthus meslanospilos (swallowtail angel), measuring in at ~3.5", immediately swam up and began chewing on the distressed tang. The tang sat there and took it; he looked awful by the time I finally caught him.

Is this normal behavior for a Genicanthus angel? I've never heard of aggression problems except against other deepwater angels, and not always then.


The damage:

 

[BangkokMatt]

Whoa! He took a beating. It does seem strange behaviour. I have a pair of Genicanthus meslanospilos and they show no aggression to other species of fish (the female was mega aggressive to a watanabe but they're obviously the same genus). The male occasionally 'swoops' at the female but that's it.

 

[Chibils]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12743161#post12743161 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BangkokMatt
Whoa! He took a beating. It does seem strange behaviour. I have a pair of Genicanthus meslanospilos and they show no aggression to other fish. The male occasionally 'swoops' at the female but that's it.

Any advice for nursing him? I've never taken care of an injured fish before.

How long should I wait before concluding that the aggression will not stop?

 

[Gwynhidwy]

I'd say that's unusual. I have a trio of G. watanabei and two G. melanospilos and they have not been aggressive towards new introductions with only very occasional and mild aggression amongst themselves.

You might try a mirror and see if your fish will harass that instead, but I wouldn't let it go much longer than you did if he won't. The new guy looks pretty beat up. If you can leave the tang in the tank in the plastic container for a while the angel might get used to him. Does he bother the tang while in there or is that a different tank?

 

[dadonoflaw]

i have a female watanbei that i just got and i wondered the same thing. mine is aggressive to all new additions smaller than her. she even attacked my mandarin initially. it subsides within a day or so in my case. also they may be aggressive to other zooplankton feeders which is the majority of my tank. so if you are adding any watch closely

 

[BangkokMatt]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12743287#post12743287 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Chibils
Any advice for nursing him? I've never taken care of an injured fish before.

How long should I wait before concluding that the aggression will not stop?

The tomini should recover ok. The damage looks mainly to the fins and they recover quickly.
I agree with Gwynhidwy re keeping the tang in a see through container / bag in the DT. It will give the angel time to get used to the new addition. Unfortunately, it's still no guarantee it will work in easing the aggression.

 

[sugartooth]

I have Melanospilos in a 75 gal. holding/QT tank and BULLY is the word.

I think a big part of the problem is they need much more space. They are very active and constantly swim back and forth.

 

[BangkokMatt]

Chibils - any updates

 

[chrissreef]

nursing - not sure other than just feed well and keep other fish away. it'd be better if he had a portion of tank to swim in rather than that box.

good luck! (i saved a damsel that was thrashed... but now i don't know what to do with him as he was just in there with another for cycling/testing the water b4 the other fish lol)

 

[Chibils]

He did not make it.

 

[Bret61081]

did you not turn off ur lights on the tank you when introduced him? expecially after u seen the aggression? Whenever I add a new fish thats the first thing I do.

 

[Chibils]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12743413#post12743413 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Gwynhidwy
I'd say that's unusual. I have a trio of G. watanabei and two G. melanospilos and they have not been aggressive towards new introductions with only very occasional and mild aggression amongst themselves.

You might try a mirror and see if your fish will harass that instead, but I wouldn't let it go much longer than you did if he won't. The new guy looks pretty beat up. If you can leave the tang in the tank in the plastic container for a while the angel might get used to him. Does he bother the tang while in there or is that a different tank?

It was in the same tank. The angel completely ignored him, though, for some reason.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12752260#post12752260 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Bret61081
did you not turn off ur lights on the tank you when introduced him? expecially after u seen the aggression? Whenever I add a new fish thats the first thing I do.

I actually turned them on to get a picture of him. Then they went right back off.

 

[BangkokMatt]

I am sorry to hear that. It just goes to show that fish certainly have their own mind set. Regardless of how much research we put into our systems there is still a chance of behaviour going against the norm.