Niger trigger being bullied

[degibson84]

Added a Niger trigger to my system last night and my tomini tang is bullying him into a crevice in the rock work. Every time he comes out the tang bolts to that side of the tank and twitches trying to bite the trigger.

is this going to end bad?!!?

 

[SoloChromis]

I highly doubt it. IME tominis aren't typically aggressive, let alone relentless. The new triggers probably just being hazed, and the aggression *should* subside within a day or two. What size tank are these guys in?

 

[degibson84]

220. The tomini is very persistent about pestering the trigger. He seems to be the aggressor in this tank as he is the biggest fish in the tank

 

[TigeBell]

I agree with Solo. I currently have a Kole Yellow Eye Tang that likes to try and keep my smaller Purple Tang at bay. The first 1-2 days, the Kole had issues with the Purple Tang. Day 3+, the Kole just likes to keep the Purple Tang out of the area where he/she sleeps at night. Today, both tangs tollerate each other and you will see the "tail dance" going on with each other but nothing in regards to either needing to be put into a timeout.

 

[humaguy]

did you rearrange the lr and leave the lights off for a few days? if not, try that...the niger should have no problem fending for himself, if he has a place to retreat to...

 

[degibson84]

It is very hard to move the rock work around when you have a 220 mixed reef with colonies and frags mounted everywhere.

With that said the trigger does have a small crevice that he retreats to but everytime he steps out the tang goes absolutely insane

 

[Dmorty217]

did you rearrange the lr and leave the lights off for a few days? if not, try that...the niger should have no problem fending for himself, if he has a place to retreat to...

+1 the trigger has very tough skin so in the event that the Tomini spears the trigger it shouldn't cause any damage or break the skin for that matter.

 

[lafayettereefer]

Its odd I always see tangs bullying triggers. I always thought it was the other way around since my tang looked so harmless while triggers have fang like teeth. This is the second time I heard someone mention this though

 

[Dmorty217]

Its odd I always see tangs bullying triggers. I always thought it was the other way around since my tang looked so harmless while triggers have fang like teeth. This is the second time I heard someone mention this though

Depends on how big the tang is and what kind of trigger we are talking about

 

[degibson84]

Ya it's bad. At least when I feed the tank the tang is distracted enough that the trigger can get some food

 

[Dmorty217]

Ya it's bad. At least when I feed the tank the tang is distracted enough that the trigger can get some food

How big is the tomini vs the trig?

 

[degibson84]

They are almost the same size. The tomini was by far the largest fish in the system before adding the trigger.

 

[Dmorty217]

I wouldn't be too concerned. Rearranging rock work and/or reacclimating the tomini are two options. The third is let it play out and see if the tang finally tires of harassing the trig. The tang probably won't hurt the trig, but is definitely stressing it out. Stress=low immune system=disease

 

[degibson84]

I did notice the tomini has a large spot that looks like he may have been bitten possibly. It is a whitish spot. Maybe from scratching against the rocks

 

[degibson84]

Lights on this afternoon and the tang has some shredded up fins

 

[humaguy]

trigs rarely lose..now you know why the tang was acting as she did...she knew she was with a trig...

 

[degibson84]

Trigger is still acting scared to death of any motion from the tang. Weird after seeing battle wounds earlier.

 

[humaguy]

Nigers can be weird fish, but, she is still a trig, and I doubt the tang truly bothers her..
when the opportunity lends itself the trig will take it, assert herself, go on the defensive, attack, and you see the shredded fins...
while the niger might be shy when you are present, in your absence, a whole different world probably exists, she is probably more shy around you, than the tang...
nigers are quite often known to be painfully shy, especially when just introduced, around their owners..this shyness tends to decrease over time..
the tang will always keep the trig in check due to her size...
imo/ime, when adding any aggressive fish, especially a trigger, rearranging the aquascaping is paramount to the overall karma of a tank..

 

[degibson84]

All shredded fins have healed but this tang is persistent about going after the trigger.

The tang doesn't bother him when I feed the tank but once all the food is out of the water column tang freaks out and chases the trigger back to his little crevice

 

[HumbleFish]

If anything, this could end badly for the tang. Might just take a little while before the trigger figures that out for himself. I agree with huma... the tang is trying to get on top of this situation by driving the trigger out of it's territory before the trigger realizes it can kick the tang's ...

Silly fish don't realize they're in a fish tank.