Yellow tang bully!!

M

MBizzo

New member
Just got a baby yellow tang yesterday he's about 2". I noticed last night that he was bullying my firefish and now today he's bullying my two clowns and the firefish, also picking on some snails. The only fish he's not messing with are the 3 green chromis, I think it might be because the came from the same tank at the LFS. Is this something normal or should I take him back and get a different one, I don't want all my fih stressed out. He also eats flakes like crazy!!
 
Maybe not, I have a yellow tang in a 400 and he bullys everybody except a naso that's three times his size. But he was the guitars fish in the tank.
 
Well in a 50 gallon cube there isnt much of any swimming space for a tang...maybe 2 foot.

From my readings they arecommended min 100 gallon tank and can be quite the bullies anyway. But the size of the tank Im sure is a big contribution to his behavior.
 
I don't think it's the size of my tank, there's plenty of swimming space and he's tiny. The tank he was in at the LFS was only like a 10 and he was fine with the other fish.
 
I mean the lenght isn't adaquit for an adult which is 7"-8" but for a 2" juvenile it should be fine. Plus I did my rock work so that there's tons of swimming room, caves, crevices and all the good stuff. I seriously doubt the space is a factor right now, he swims out from he corner/small cave, goes all the way to the other side of the tank and cases the clowns to his side and back. Then decides that the firefish isn't cool and cases him in circles until he goes into his bolt hole. He's beautiful but a ***!
 
If thats the case...here is what I think....either too little room, the yellow tang is just a jerk or establishing pecking order
 
Yea with the amount of fish u have in ur tank he doesn't have enough reef territy (real estate) he's starting to fight for his niche and staking a claim in the reef. You need around a 75 gallon tank for him and all the others to be happy. I would take him back and get a nice dwarf angel, maybe u could look into a yellow. Watch ur polyps corals
 
Of course like the guy before me said, maybe he's just an ahole cuz he was bullied as a kid and his parents didn't love him enough or read to him at night.
 
It doesn't matter if the fish is tiny, its territory needs are more than a 50 provides at the size it is now & it will need more as it grows.
 
I have a friend that has a purple tang in the same size with more fish than me. He doesn't bother anyone, is very friendly and about a inch bigger. I'm not really looking for tang police answers, I plan on going bigger in the future. Just want to know if it's possible that he might just be a a**hole fish. I think there was a pretty big wrasse in the LFS tank with him too.
 
You asked why he was bullying your other fish & I told you why. It's not a "tang police" answer, it's a fact. It's your choice to ignore it.
 
What works for one person may very likely not work for another. The tank needs to be bigger, no way around it as that is the way tangs are. They need lots of swimming space. Their natural behavior in the wild is swimming vast distances looking for algae to graze on.
 
None of these are tang police responses. As reefing newbie said this is about the fish's individual needs. Its like mandarins eating pods or jawfish needing a deep sandbed. Its about their nature and what is engraved into their behavior way before they are born. You cant change it. Tangs need space. Big or small. The end.
 
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