Purple tang attacking yellow tang

dwizzle28

Member
Hello,

Looking for advice. My purple tang started attacking my yellow tang this week. My tank is an 88g display (425xl) and are the only tangs in the tank along with a pair of lightning maroon clowns. They have been together with the prior owner for 2 years and showed no signs of aggression.

1. Will the purple continue to bully the yellow until death
2. Any advice? I've heard of putting a mirror or add another tang (don't want to and sounds like a bad idea lol)

Would love to hear from you experts and your experience!

-will
 
Anytime fish change their environment I have noticed it basically restarts their natural territorial bent. I have had success by catching the hostile fish and keeping them caged in the display for a few days. Once released they seem to play nice as the other fish has settled.
 
+1 on the feeding. But tangs need a lot of space even if they're well fed imho. I had one sailfin harass and kill several tank mates after no issues for a year +. Fish grow and with a new tank all bets are off. Just my 2 cents.
 
Purple tang attacking yellow tang

Agree with Yanbro1.
I have 8 tangs and in the process I lost 2 yellows and one Scopa. I used boxes as stated and also feeding clips with Nori Sheets all the time for a couple of weeks placed far apart from each other as to allow all of them to eat anywhere in the tank and avoid fighting for food, you must keep them full until they settle and start a hierarchy. You move them to another tank and it starts all over again. This is just my experience .
My tank is 8 feet long


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Purple tangs are known bullies. As tangs get older they are less likely to get along, especially in a tank that size increasing stress levels of both fish. Typically they fight over food and sleeping spaces. Sometimes they just fight for no apparent reason.
 
Purple tang attacking yellow tang

I recently had a similar issue so I taped a mirror to the glass for a week. It worked and curbed the aggression. It was just enough to break the concentration of the bully.

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So day one I started feeding a bit more and the aggression seems to be eliminated.

Thanks for the input guys! I should have known, food always makes things better!
 
Had the same issue. Just printed out a picture of a bigger purple tang and taped it to the side of the tank.

That along with multiple nori clips did the trick.

Good luck.
 
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