Have a situation here... Naso with Unicorn tang
 

I am currently caring for a fellow members large female Unicorn tang. She is in my 90g holding tank in my basement. It was supposed to be very temporary, but due to how tanks cycle slowly, my buddies tank is still not ready for this fish. The conditions in the 90g are not what they should be as it is cramped for such a large fish and she has no other vegan fish to give her a feeding response. She was eating mysis but is not eating at all now. Because she is isolated in a basement tank she hides from me when I go down to feed and I stress her out.

My friend and I discussed what can be done and we agreed she should go into my display (have no IDEA of how I'll get her out of there, but will worry about it at a later date), with my Naso, Achilles, Sailfin and Purple tangs...

Now, the questions is, will this be a good idea? I know Unicorn tangs are in the Naso tang family and I don't know if my female naso will fight with the Unicorn or not. My naso is peaceful but since they are loosely within the same species and are the same sex, I worry about the outcome.

The tank is a 260g tank the fish will be house in, in case some of you don't know. I have not brought the fish out of the 90g of course and am awaiting opinions and advise on this matter.

The Unicorn is not happy downstairs but if I will cause issues upstairs she will stay down there until my friend is ready for her. At this point if they got along, I know it would be beneficial to the fish to be with other vegan fish and have a large tank to swim in.

So what do you all think? Thanks in advance for any replies.

Maybe move one of your other fish downstairs? Or get another tang to put in the 90g... i know it'll make the space situation worse, but if the unicorn goes into the large tank and STILL doesn't eat, then you have a bigger issue.

I thought of this, but there is no chance that I will ever get one of my other tangs into the tank downstairs. I also don't want to put one of them into a less then ideal situation. The tanks upstairs is a 260g, the one downstairs a 90g... I cannot put one of my own into a less then ideal situation if you know what I mean.

Upstairs my other tangs taught both my Achilles and Naso tang how to eat... also when there is a school of fish together they all trigger feeding responses between each other. I notice a single fish in QT never does that well compared as being in a community of fish.

Thanks for the reply!!!

Knowing your tank and knowing how everyone is doing well and getting along, I wouldn't want to rock the boat and risk the unicorn picking on someone or vice versa. Plus it would be a nightmare to get the unicorn back out once you put him in.

You are on the same page as me Laurie... maybe Lee can get a small tang to bring here to put in with the Unicorn or something...

According to Bob Fenner from Wet Web Media, these two species are found together over a good part of their natural range. With a large enough system these fish should get along. When referring to a "large system" he is speaking of 800 gal.

You might not want to risk it.

Bob Fenner is almost the God of fish. I have a very happy tank and really don't want any issues. I have not added anyone since my Achilles in early May. He was my last fish to go in according to plans. I just hate seeing an unhappy fish in the holding tank downstairs though. It was an emergency situation and of course the the tank she's supposed to be in is cycling more slowly then anticipated. What to do, what to do...

My personal experience might be appropriate for you.

My 400 gallon contains: Naso elegans, Naso literatus, Naso unicornis, Naso vlamingi, Achilles and Yellow Tang.

The only fish that seem to dislike each other (mildly) are the vlamingi/yellow...and the literatus (female)/elegans (male). The unicornis has no problem with anyone and the vlamingi just a big submarine in low gear.

My experience is...if the tank is large enough you won't have any problem at all.

In case you are wondering...yes, I'm concerned they might outgrow me...and the N. literatus was an accident as I attempted to purchase N. unicornis and got her by mistake. (easy to do when they are juveniles)

If you want to watch their behaviour, check out the webcam below. My personal experience with Nasos in general is that they are pretty laid back overall.

I think doing that might be better. I realize it's not an ideal situation for the tang in the 90g but even if the unicorn did get along with everyone in your main set up, the PITA it would be to catch him once Lee is ready for him, well in a word *YUCK*

I would strongly advise you not to put your friends tang in your tank.
The risk is simply too great. You have had problems in the past and you do not want to go through that again.

You need to speak to her as to why she is buying fish before her tank is even cycled.
The unicorn grows far to large for the tank she is planning anyway.
Also, the problem with larger naso tang species, like angels is that they often simply refuse to eat and therefor should never be purchased.

You need to get her on this board seeking advice before she makes more mistakes.

Have her remove the fish and return it to the LFS.

You can try garlic extreme soaked nori. The garlic sometimes acts as a appetite enhancer.