Tang attacking clowns

[ryan.rodriguez.ku]

I have a 110 gallon tank with 20 gallon sump… I have 3 tangs that all get along fine and 2 cardinal fish… I just added 2 clown fish and the purple tang (tomini tang) will not stop attaching clowns… I have them in a co-op catcher but the tang keeps attacking the container. What can I do?

 

[griss]

@Dr. Reef @wvned may be the best to help.

 

[wvned]

I have no idea what a coop catcher is but assume it can be used as an acclimation box. Usually tangs have a place in the tank they are more possessive of. Try not to place the box near that. Then give it time. It may take several days for the aggression to die down. Once it does move the box and see if it restarts. If so wait again. Eventually you hope to have the fish in the box ignored.

 

[Reefing102]

In addition, while I have not tried it, some have added a mirror the side of the tank as an alternate “distraction”