HELP! Old tang not friendly with new tang
 

So I added a new tang today and my other tang really didn't like it. TO the point of doing the tail whip thing and cutting the new tang open. I promptly moved the new tang to the sump. I moved some rock around and tossed some pellets in the tank but that did not stop the mean tang. ANy other suggestions?

I have added other fish and even other tangs with no problems.

The only thing I can think of is the new tang is smaller than the other tang and any other tangs that I have added previously.

Also the new tang I added is fairly sickly looking. Skinny, nipped at fins, and not very yellow. I dont know if any of this applies but more info the better I figure.

ON a possitive note as I was moving my rock around I found a mushroom that I never knew i had :biggrin:

Can you QT him for awhile and fatten him up? When you do put him back in the DT, move the rockwork around and try the mirror trick. It does quite often keep the aggressive fish busy. Feed well for awhile after introducing him. Good luck.

What kind of tangs are we talking about? Old and new, what tangs are they?

You can try placing a mirror in or near the tank so that the old tang is distracted by his reflection.

Ps. Why did you buy a sickly looking tang? He won't stand a chance against the resident tang. If you are set in keeping the sickly new tang I would take out and sump the old tang while the new tang acclimates to your tank.

I have a suggestion, give up the new tang. It's been my experiance that if the one tang is being bullied to the point where he is cut open and looking stressed, he probably won't make it with the other tang around. Do you have lots of live rock? He would also require a good place to hide. Tangs can be tough sometimes, hit and miss whether they get along. Also what type of tangs are they??

Scopas tang old yellow tang new. My last yellow died from ich. Luckily he was the only casualty. The new yellow tang I purchased quickly from a Lfs because my mom was in town and she wanted to buy me a fish and it was the only tang they had. Blah blah blah.

I moved rock around. Did nothing.

Is there any reason I can't keep a tang in the sump for a few weeks?

Should I just get rid of this tang?

Yes lots of rock.

Run before naesco finds you

Sounds like an impulse buy. Just because you can get something "now" does not make it the right decision. Hopefully it lives and your mother's money is not wasted.

i think you should set up a quarantine for your new tang to give him a chance to get fat and healthy, if hes the smaller of the two and is now wounded he wont survive many more attacks like that, i too have used a mirror when i introduced my sailfin to my large yellow tang who is quite aggressive, he went nuts for the mirror and with some pvc i added to the tank the new sailfiun had a chance to find polaces he was allowed to go.

they can survive in your sump but the new tang would probably stress pretty bad down there and its not an ideal place for a tang to live anyways, you can try swapping out the two and then introduce the scopas after some rock has been moved and the yellow finds his own territory and becomes familaiar with the tank.

i had to feed nori on each end of the tank in the dark to keep them from fighting over food even if my yellow wasnt eating just the sight of my sailfin eating his food was enough to attack:):)


when fish are fighting if one isnt as healthy as he can be there at a huge disadvantage and this is another prime example of why you need to quarantine fish not just for disease but to make sure your putting in a fish that is healthy enough to keep up with the other tank inhabbitants who know the tank inside out and all have their own territorys:)

You make a mistake and now want to banish the tang in a sump!!!
Immediately offer it to the nearest reefer near you so it has a chance to live and do not add any more tangs to your tank.

Please get some advice here before you decide to add any more fish