tang issues....

[sal-t-dawg]

I have a rather large yellow tang in my 75gl tank. Really, it needs to be in a much larger tank and he will be just as soon as I catch him. My issue is this... Ive seen him on occasion chase my sailfin and mimic tang. I didnt think much about it until I found my mimic dead and my sailfin had a split top fin and is just about on his way to the toilet. Are larger tangs or tangs in general territorial/aggressive towards other tangs regardless of their size? I dont believe that anything else in my tank couldve done this damage. any thoughts?:sad1:

 

[AdrianBryce]

well the sailfin and the yellow are both zebrasomas, so right there it is generally a problem to keep two of the same genus in that small of a tank. Maybe the mimic just got caught in the crossfire. 75 seems small for 3 tangs though, too.

 

[sal-t-dawg]

the sailfin and mimic are only about...maybe... 2" long at the most. They really fit great in the tank.

 

[poolkeeper1]

Tangs can be kept together, But when added at different times and there Is a big difference In size from large to much smaller sizes fish, That can lead to problems that sometimes go away after a while and sometimes do not. If you have a large aggressive tang that takes a dislike to others he may bully them to death, You just never know for sure how fish will get along. JMHO
Bill

 

[Pickupman66]

ive had bad luck with the yellow being aggressive.. junkyard dogs so to speak. i have a pwdr brown, purple and a tomini. all get along fairly well and were addded at diff times. the purple first, then the pwd then the tomini. the first two almost killed the tomini, but he survived and is doing well. fat and now the bulldog. the mimic ones i have had always died. all mine are in a 75. all about 4" or so. fat and healthy. they sorta try and school except tthe pdr, he is just spastic. adhd i think. sorry for bad typing. i got 3 stiches in my finger

 

[dvmkv]

I have a sailfin tang that is 6" and has been in the tank for alittle over 4 months and is a big bully. I added a 3" blue hippo and he didn't mess with him. I have now added a 6" clown tang, and boy he went after him. I thought he was gonna kill him, parts of the clown top fin was gone and some tail fin was too. I gave them 4 day before i was gonna take the clown out, but now they are best friend, got lucky. clown tang has been in tank for almost a month now but eats when he wants too.

 

[eyebedam]

ive had bad luck with the yellow being aggressive.. junkyard dogs so to speak. i have a pwdr brown, purple and a tomini. all get along fairly well and were addded at diff times. the purple first, then the pwd then the tomini. the first two almost killed the tomini, but he survived and is doing well. fat and now the bulldog. the mimic ones i have had always died. all mine are in a 75. all about 4" or so. fat and healthy. they sorta try and school except tthe pdr, he is just spastic. adhd i think. sorry for bad typing. i got 3 stiches in my finger

Purple Tangs are awesome 1 of my favs. I'm surprised he's let the others live ESP being added first. To bad you don't see them in the stores as often as you once did. I can remember about 4 yrs ago goin into the store & they would have 4 or 5 for sale on a reg basis. I haven't seen a purple tang in the store in about 18 months.

 

[zef004]

I also Have sailfin and sohal tong.They became good friends. I put them in the tank at the same time. I had to quarantine the sohal. And sailfin would not eat and when came close to the tank she would be swiming crazy flashing al her color at me. This Went on for a week and a half.til I took her out and put her in the QT. And both started swiming togather like long lost love. Lol. But I can't Put any type of large fish or they both will kill it. I tried to put a large yellowstrip maroon clown the same size as the sailfin and 2 hrs later the clown was dead. So I think it's a hit or miss with all fish.

 

[Pickupman66]

EBD, if I remember correctly, I added the powder brown just after we moved. the purple made the move, but it was basically a new tank arrangement. I dont remember much infighting but that was 4 years ago. the tomini was almost killed by the brown when I added him. he made it though and is now the fattest of the three. he and the purple still square off now and then (quit following me BS) but nothing major. the brown does his own thing trying to wear a hole in the glass and going spastic. Almost lost him this year. got sucked into the overflow and stuck. I was about to get some forecepts on him to rip him out, and he moved. I gingerly (didnt want to hurt my finger) dug him out and save a lost pectoral fin and a major scratch, he pulled thru. was very calm for a week, but is now back to full health. I guess im fortunate with my fish. none have any signs of HLLE (purples are bad from what Ive seen) and all are very fat and healthy and will eat anything I put in. Here are the best pics I have of them.

 

[Mikeyjer]

It really varies from fish to fish. My large Regal used to kill any small fish within the tank until I got a Yellow Tang through Kathy and she said he was into everyone's business and don't play well with others. But after adding him into my tank, Regal hides now, but no longer kill any fish period.... The Yellow Tang plays well with others.... So you just never know....