Urgent- Need Help

[garvondavis14]

i bought a skunk cleaner today and put him in my tank a few minutes ago. i have a small, maybe 2-3"yellow tang in there. the shrimp was hanging upside down on a rock, and the tang came over and bit his feelers a couple times, and ripped part of one off. i have no clue why...anyone know? i don't want my tang to kill him, please let me know what's going on.....

 

[garvondavis14]

c'mon guys, i don't know whta to do....

 

[Dunky019]

maybe the shrimp is intruding the tangs territory?? does it only bite the shrimp when its under the rock?? If the biting is consistent, it would be best to remove either the shrimp or tang . I had a prob with my clowns, one was agressive towards the other so i replaced the agressive one lol.

 

[garvondavis14]

yeah but have you ever heard of a yellow tang attacking a cleaner shrimp?

 

[CrazyLionfish]

Yes, all tangs can be very territorial and at times will bite anything.

 

[Dunky019]

no but not every fish is the same. I don't have experience with tangs as my tank is too small.. Try calling the place you bought the shrimp from, see if they have any suggestions. do you have a quarantine tank??

 

[garvondavis14]

they are already closed...

 

[garvondavis14]

should i move the tang since the shrimp is already stressed?

 

[CrazyLionfish]

Well if the harassing continues constantly, then you just have to decide which one you like better. However, removing the tang (if you had another tank to put him in) and then putting the tang back in, say, a week later, he may not be as territorial because he will be in a whole new surrounding.

 

[garvondavis14]

so if i move the shrimp to other side of tank , do u think he will wander over to the tangs side again and get attacked?

 

[integlikewhoa]

possible but this is the way of life. Move him close your eyes and check back tomorrow.

 

[Dunky019]

unless you have something to divide teh tank temporarily, I don't think that moving the shrimp somewhere else in the tank will do much (can't really control were it stays). You could give it a shot though, if this is a territory issue.

 

[garvondavis14]

so if i block the tang off fromthat half of the tank, do you think it will mess up the tangs territory enough that he won't attack him?

 

[Dunky019]

does the tang usually stay in the spot that the shrimp is hiding right now?? If so, try moving the shrimp out of that spot, but I can't guarantee that the shrimp won't go back.

 

[garvondavis14]

anyone?

 

[teena]

is your shrimp the same kind as a blood shrimp, or something differnt? i have a shouldertang & it stays in my shrimps face all the time, but all he does is gets up close to him so the shrimp will scrach on him.

 

[BLAMMOTOR]

I have always heard that a tang is the last fish or speciman to add to a system because the tang will show that behavior to new fish introduced to the system. The astablish there territory rather quikly at lest ours did

 

[garvondavis14]

I did not think the establishment would matter too much with a cleaner shrimp?

 

[garvondavis14]

Do you think it would help if I took the tang out for about a week, then put it back in?

 

[garvondavis14]

anyone?