Anyone have any ideas about how to stop a Purple Tang from chasing/beating up two new additions? I introduced two addtional Purple tangs to my tank after I have had one purple and one powder blue for about four weeks. Now the established tang has spent the last 24hrs harassing the new ones. Plenty of room to hide, it's a 450 reef that's eight feet long, lot's of live rock.
Purple Tangs fighting
- Thread starter Bpinon
- Start date
Roy G. Biv
Premium Member
If you introduce a same species tang later on in your tank, it will surely get murdered. If they were put in at the same time, they sometimes get along. If you want any chance at that. You should setup a temporary tank and get him out for a while. Otherwise you could try to rearrange the rocks.
SlowCobra
New member
The addition of 2 more of the meanest Zebrasoma species out there, despite the size of the tank, was a horrible move. Odds are the harassment will not stop until the harasser or new additions are dead.
As mentioned the only "safe" way to get more than 1 of the same species of tang to play nice with each other is to introduce them at the same time.
If you want to attempt to keep them all, they all need to come out and go into separate quarantine tanks for a week or 2. Re-arranging the aqauscaping will help prior to reintroducing them also.
As mentioned the only "safe" way to get more than 1 of the same species of tang to play nice with each other is to introduce them at the same time.
If you want to attempt to keep them all, they all need to come out and go into separate quarantine tanks for a week or 2. Re-arranging the aqauscaping will help prior to reintroducing them also.
steve the plumb
In Memoriam
You can try to move the rock around.I had 3 yellow tangs that used to fight but eventually they stopped.They would only fight at feeding time but my old tank was a lot smaller.You can also try shutting off the lights when he starts to pestering the other tangs.This may calm him down its more of a pain but sometimes it has worked for me.The first 3 days are usually when the fish will dominate the others the they start to back off.Some fish however don't stop till the other fish has died.I would try to rearrange the rock so as to destroy the old tangs territory.450 gal is a large tank so get cracking
xtm
Active member
1. remove all your z. xanthurum
2. drastically re-arrange rocks. Not just a rubble here and there.. I mean a TOTAL re-aquascape.
3. re-introduce at the same time with lights off. Continue with the lights off for about 2 more days.
While most people including myself have had great success with this method, it should be expected that Tangs will continue to beat each other up (esp. the same Z genus) until they have established a community hierarchy - this will take about a week or two. This is fairly common and should be expected.
2. drastically re-arrange rocks. Not just a rubble here and there.. I mean a TOTAL re-aquascape.
3. re-introduce at the same time with lights off. Continue with the lights off for about 2 more days.
While most people including myself have had great success with this method, it should be expected that Tangs will continue to beat each other up (esp. the same Z genus) until they have established a community hierarchy - this will take about a week or two. This is fairly common and should be expected.
