Those with Copperbands and Zebrasoma Tangs...

[nuxx]

Hey everyone,

We just added a 4-5" Copperbanded Butterfly to our tank.

He spend about 4-5 days in an acclimation box first after quarantine.

The Black and Yellow Tangs took notice right away. The Black tries to tail whip him every chance he gets.

The CBB is now staying in the top corners of the tank, basically on whichever side he was chased to. I don't see any wounds yet.

I'm wondering if anyone else has added a CBB to a tank with established Zebrasomas and how it worked out.

Will the aggression gradually die down?
How long should I give him?

He's been in the tank for around 14 hours now.

Last time we had a much smaller CBB and I freaked out early (2 days of the same behavior) and pulled him.

On a separate note...

The tiny Crescent Tail Fairy Wrasse we added at the same time seems to look like food to our 4-5" Crosshatch Triggers. They try to eat him every chance they get.

He's found a hiding place now, so hopefully he'll put on a little size and they'll leave him alone.

Hope adding the Bandit Angel goes better this weekend

Getting a bit discouraging!

... but hey the Midas Blenny we added around the same time seems to be cool with everyone... The Chevron bothered him for a few hours, now nothing...

 

[lance1337]

He won't last long.

 

[jason2459]

I added an egg crate divider in my tank when I introduced a CBB with a Yellow tang already in it. Had to keep it in there for a little over a month.

 

[horseplay]

Those with Copperbands and Zebrasoma Tangs...

I had the CBB for a while before introducing a smaller scopas tang. Now I want to remove the scopas it's too active and does flash the CBB occasionally. If you want to start keeping some of the more difficult fish I would remove the tangs.

You seems to have a good size tank maybe some timeout will work.

 

[jason2459]

My current CBB lives with 3 tangs. My A. pyroferus did chase it a lot at first but has died down now considerably. My yellow belly blue has strangely ignored the CBB as it hates everything in my tank. My yellow eye kole just hates my sand sifting goby.

 

[davocean]

I have found being of similar shape to tangs and the fact they often pick at pods makes them look like competition for both space and algae/food.
Tank size can be a big factor.
Hopefully it calms down for you

 

[pinnatus]

I had the same problem. I threw in a large piece of egg crate, the copperband could hide behind it and the tangs were afraid of it. Slowly over days, the copperband expanded his territory and eventually the tangs left him alone. But it took weeks. Re-arranging the rocks helps too if possible.

Problem is that copperbands are hard to get eating anyway, and the stress of being attacked all the time may be enough to stop it from eating, or just stress it to death. Good luck, copperbands are a very difficult fish.

Oh, in case you were wondering how mine turned out, it ate aptasia very well, but nothing else. When the aptasia was gone, it starved to death.

 

[MrsReefK]

I don't have experience with this, read it in another thread so take this as you will. I read to put a mirror on the outside of the tank, the tangs will likely be more concerned with their reflection giving the new fish time to settle.

 

[MondoBongo]

my yellow tang bullied my CBB for about 3 days pretty heavily, it did subside a little after that, but he still likes to take runs at him.

however my CBB was clever enough to start using his dorsal spines to parry some of the attacks, and my YT knows enough now to keep his distance from the dorsal area of the CBB.

they still squabble though. this is in a 150 gallon long mind you, and no one is wanting for food. i'm not sure if things will stay the same, get better, or get worse with time. previously my YT was living with a yellow eyed kole tang for several months, before he decided enough was enough one day and killed him.

 

[Sounds Fishy]

I added an egg crate divider in my tank when I introduced a CBB with a Yellow tang already in it. Had to keep it in there for a little over a month.

I put a very small CBB in my display a few weeks prior to Christmas,and I have 2 medium Yellow tangs and there are no issues.My Moorish Idol (larger than the tangs because he has grown a lot), chases the CBB occasionally,however,it isn't too dramatic. The CBB seems fairly active and eats well.

 

[jason2459]

I put a very small CBB in my display a few weeks prior to Christmas,and I have 2 medium Yellow tangs and there are no issues.My Moorish Idol (larger than the tangs because he has grown a lot), chases the CBB occasionally,however,it isn't too dramatic. The CBB seems fairly active and eats well.

That's cool. My yellow tang wanted to kill the CBB. I split the tank 3/4 to the Yellow tang and 1/4 to the CBB for around a month. It was much better after that.

 

[nuxx]

Thanks for all the replies guys

Here is a video of how everyone's acting:




Sorry for the GHA and frag racks. Getting rid of the last batch of GHA and letting the coral acclimated on racks from our frag tank. I know it's ugly!

Every few minutes the Black Tang will rush him, then when the CBB moves higher in the tank, the Black Tang will leave.

Also seems like the tiny Crescent Tail Wrasse found a rock to hide in. He pops out every now and then, but he's being cautious. Yesterday he was sitting at the water line or on the sand in the open, and was free game for the Crosshatches. He avoided some pretty direct attacks, hopefully he'll be smart and stay out of their way until he puts some size on.

BTW: How do you think the Bandit will do with the tangs, triggers, etc...? I plan on keeping him in the acclimation box a few days longer. Not sure if he'll just be accepted like the Midas (He did find a hiding place quick though), or if it'll be WW3 all over again. He still hasn't really found a prepared food he eats 100% of the time, but I tried frozen blood worms (that everyone hates) today and he loved them. He's been fattening up on live Clams and Mussels, along with nori and live sponges.

BTW2: I did also remove our Yellow Bellied Blue Tang a few weeks ago. He turned into a true terror. He was around 5" and was the boss of the tank. One day both Crosshatches and the super male Flame Wrasse refused to come out of the rocks. Took me a week to figure out it was the YB Blue. After pulling him, and tearing the tank down (lol), everything was back to normal...

 

[ca1ore]

I gave up on CBB many years ago. I prefer tangs, and never could them to coexist acceptably. CBB always 'lost'.

 

[nuxx]

I gave up on CBB many years ago. I prefer tangs, and never could them to coexist acceptably. CBB always 'lost'.

 

[Blue spot]

Had a very similar situation. My suggestion would be move some rocks. Change the territory this helps. The. I Can't tell what lightning system you have but if you have radions this is the only time I have ever found a use for the thunderstorm mode. If your getting aggression , flick on the thunderstorm for a couple of minutes. My fish freak out a little and go into hiding , if they come out and act all dominant again, back on they go.

 

[nuxx]

Had a very similar situation. My suggestion would be move some rocks. Change the territory this helps. The. I Can't tell what lightning system you have but if you have radions this is the only time I have ever found a use for the thunderstorm mode. If your getting aggression , flick on the thunderstorm for a couple of minutes. My fish freak out a little and go into hiding , if they come out and act all dominant again, back on they go.

Man I just moved the rocks a few weeks ago haha :deadhorse1:

Just using Kessils, no thunderstorms.

Maybe putting the acclimation box with the Bandit in tomorrow or Saturday will create more disruption in the tank.

The last CBB we had seemed much more skittish than this one. He was also much smaller. It would be great if he could use his spines to ward off some of the aggression.

 

[Husterix]

For me the trick with the mirror worked out pretty well. My yellow tang was busy, trying to intimidate it's own reflection. This helped unbelievably well for my CBB, as it was no longer chased around the tank all the time.

Sadly I lost the CBB when my tank was out of aiptasia. It couldn't keep up with others to get enough food.

 

[oseymour]

I put my CBB with a small yellow tang in my small tank while I upgrade to a larger tank and WW3 broke out. Had to remove the tang.

On a sadder note, just this morning, my CBB developed a taste for my brain corals and he has to go.

Here is the damage he's done in the last 2 hours!

 

[jason2459]

I think I saw someone mention above they couldn't keep their CBB alive because it was being outcompeted during feeding time.

They will peck at rocks all day long but it's not enough for them and do need that extra feeding. They will get to some food if it's broadcasted but they are much more timid and potentially not enough that way either. Some will depending on CBB and other tank mates. Good options for those not getting enough food is setting up something like a feeding station PaulB has setup feeding live baby brines in, some will setup a feeding station with PVC and holes for them to get their mouths into, or hand feeding.

I like hand feeding mine. Usually mysis, black worms, chopped up clams, or muscles. I cut the tip of a pipette off so only it can get it's mouth into it. Other fish try but I suck it back up in there.

 

[nuxx]

Just tried the mirror trick...

Seems to be working, the Black and Yellow aren't as interested as the wrasses, chevron and anthias.

We'll see how it goes...