Putting an angry fish in time out.....

S

sjj80

Hater of Hair Algae
Yesterday I added a six line wrasse and my orangelined bristletooth tang chased him to the point of him not being able to come out of hiding, even with the lights off. I'm thinking that if the tang keeps chasing the wrasse that I should remove the tang for the day to let the six line wrasse settle in and eat. My question is if it would be ok to put the 2.5" tang in a 5g bucket with a heater for the most part of today?

I'm thinking that if the tang spends several hours outside of the tank that he will calm down and feel like the newcomer when I put him back in tonight and stop harassing the wrasse.
 
you would do better moving some rocks around and making the tank look a bit different, especially since it would be quite the hassle to actually catch the tang to remove if from your tank
 
Unfortunately my rocks are fused together so I can't really rearrange the rockwork. The wrasse came out this morning and is staying in his own little area at the top of the tank (it's fully sealed) and has been eating. My bristletooth still tries to chase him but not as bad as yesterday. Funny thing is that when my convict tang sees the bristletooth tang harassing the sixline he chases the bristletooth off, and the convict's buddy the yellow tang is starting to do the same. I think it's cute that my convict tang is looking out for the new guy, aaawwwww.
 
Well Unfortunately the wrasse is back to hiding in the rocks, he keeps sticking his head out to see if it's ok to come out. I think I need to remove the bristletooth tang for a while. I've never put a heater in a bucket before so do I need to set the temp a little lower than it would be in the tank?

Please help.
 
Be very careful with a heater in a bucket, it can get too hot fast. I know from experience.

A mirror up against the glass will take the tangs attention away from any newcomer and onto the tangs reflection. I have found that tangs would rather fight their own reflection than eat! Give it a try, it works.
 
I wouldnt remove the tang, it would be too stressful for him.
Sixlines arent exactly mellow fish, im sure mentally hes fine. Hes smart enough to hide, he will know to keep out the tangs way. Food will float his way soon enough.
I had a red lipped blenny brutally attack a new royal gramma. I saw him slam the gramma in the rock biting him pretty bad. I thought the gramma was murdered, a month later look who came out to eat, the royal gramma alive and well lol...i was shocked cuz i seriously thought he was dead

I like the mirror idea!! that works for cichlids, id try it :)
 
What a great idea!!!! Matter of fact I'm going to put one against the glass right now. I hope it works, I think maybe the reason the orangelined bristletooth is chasing the six line is cause the six line has orange lines and they're about the same length. I'll update with what happens.

THANKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
When I had a yellow tang a long time ago, I printed out another tang and cut it out.... he flared his dorsal, stabbed and chased it as I make the paper tang swim in front of the tank. I wonder if my chocolate would do the same?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12555399#post12555399 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by dirtyclownfish
When I had a yellow tang a long time ago, I printed out another tang and cut it out.... he flared his dorsal, stabbed and chased it as I make the paper tang swim in front of the tank. I wonder if my chocolate would do the same?
Click to expand...

Karma is going to get you. Not sure how though, maybe the same way. :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
How funny!!! :lol:

Well I put the mirror up to the tank and my clowns were the first to inspect it, then the yellow tang saw himself and was totally spooked which spooked the convict tang (his loyal companion) and the bristletooth tang didn't show any kind of reaction other than reacting to the other fish being spooked. I think the bristletooth saw his reflection and was scared but he has a reputation to uphold you know! :D . All in all it worked!!!!! The bristletooth tang stopped chasing the wrasse and they actually have been swimming near each other without the bristletooth going nuts.

Thanks Gary Faulkner for the great advice :thumbsup:
 
it's the same reason we give our wives mirrors... let them fuss over themselves rather than bother us....... :)
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12554696#post12554696 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gary faulkner
Be very careful with a heater in a bucket, it can get too hot fast. I know from experience.

A mirror up against the glass will take the tangs attention away from any newcomer and onto the tangs reflection. I have found that tangs would rather fight their own reflection than eat! Give it a try, it works.
Click to expand...
now thats an interesting idea!
ime... a bully will always revert to being a bully,anything you do int the tank is just going to further stress the wrasse and further inflame the tang,temporally removing the tang will work for a bit but sooner or later he'll start up again,when i have bully problems i do one of 2 things=remove the fish permanently if the bully isnt as important to me as the new guy or when i dont want to that i'll add a bigger bully...this last one is a little risky but has worked for me alot more often than not,what i mean by bigger bully is a bigger fish not a meaner one necessarily,when the bully sees hes not the **** of the walk anymore he almost always calms down
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

beckya
purple tang
Replies
1
Views
201
OrionN
OrionN
N
Bristletooth chasing butterfly
Replies
1
Views
693
Reefing102
Reefing102
ClownBubbaJoe
Can I trust My Favorite Fish, A Clown Trigger In A Reef Tank ?
Replies
12
Views
408
lebowski
lebowski
N
75 gallon set up and stocking advice
Replies
8
Views
2K
Newham94
N
C
Tang aggression
Replies
3
Views
1K
OrionN
OrionN
Back
Top