new tang introduction combat

[jedimaster1138]

So I have an approximately 4" Blue Hippo. He's mild mannered, I've had him since he was a baby the size of a half dollar. Other fish: 1x Ocellaris Clown, 4x blue chromis, 1x firefish, I used to have a 4 - 5" Kole Tang, but she died during the big tank transfer. The 2 tangs got along fine, even with the Kole VASTLY out-sizing the Hippo.

4 days ago I added a Copperband Butterfly and a Powder Brown Tang from Diver's Den. Copperband is small and mild mannered (and needs to learn how to eat frozen, but that's another story) Powder Brown is another story.

The Powder Brown is about 3 1/2 inches, maybe 4. Length wise they are nearly the same, weight wise Blue is in another class thanks to his beer belly. The Powder Brown is not happy with the Blue Hippo at all. Nips / noses at him during the course of the day. Blue turns and gives him the tang tail wag, they spin in circles a few times then go back to their grazing. Blue isn't a total doormat though. I've seen him race out of his hidey hole, buzz the Powder Brown, then go back to business.

When I feed, the Blue Hippo DEMOLISHES food without any issues. The Powder Brown is actually the slower, more deliberate feeder.

I'm just curious how long I can expect this to continue. Is it just posturing, establishing who is boss, or will it continue for eternity or until one fish succumbs to the stress? If forced to choose, I'd remove the Powder Brown in a second and keep the Blue Hippo. Obviously I'd like to keep both, but I won't if they are going to go all mortal combat on me. Hindsight being 20/20, I wouldn't have gotten the PBT if I had estimated the sizes right. I thought Blue had him beat on size and any aggression wouldn't be a problem. Live and learn I guess.

120g, 5 foot, mixed reef with lots of open space.

 

[ZephNYC]

I say they will continue to fight for all of eternity. It should decrease, but there will always be aggression and every now and then you will find some torn fins, etc. My tangs still fight all day long and theyve been in the same 210 for nearly 8 years, but overall it has not been a problem. Nice purchase on the powder brown, I hope it works out for you, but if it doesnt....well....guess who will take it ?

 

[jedimaster1138]

I'm attempting to catch him, but am having no luck. He's too fast to net. I guess I need to build a trap. Bah.

 

[Flushtown Reefer]

i have a sailfin and added a big blue hippo. they fought for a few days and now they're best friends. I later added a scopas and him and the sailfin had words but again after a few days all was good, they don't hang out but they're civil.

 

[felix tesler]

All tangs will fight as long as they are not the same genus they should be fine but all tangs fight for dominance I have a purple chevron and clown tang and they all fight alk the time bu the nothing crazy they just but tails a little and go there ways you should be fine

 

[Justin_NY]

How about hippo tang nd yellow tang?

 

[jedimaster1138]

How about hippo tang nd yellow tang?

I'd be interested in people's experiences with that combo as well as I was considering at YT before I got the PBT. As far as I know they would be OK. But at this point I'm assuming nothing.

I spent 2 hours tonight trying to snag the Powder Brown. So far no luck. He's way smarter than me and orders of magnitude faster.

 

[peteyboyny]

I recently added a powder brown to my tank (Thanks again editour2!). i was worried about him and my Atlantic blue going at it. The powder brown is about 4-5", the Atlantic blue is 3-4". No problems so far. Its been 2-3weeks and there hasn't been ANY aggression from either. A few months back (before the PB), i added a Copperband Butterfly and my Atlantic blue made pretty short work of harassing him to death. The PB and AB tangs graze all day together with no aggression towards each other.

 

[reefs4life]

In my 210 I have the following tangs:

Vlamingi
Blonde Naso
Blue Hippo
Yellow
Purple
Scopas
Mata
Kole
Desjardini Sailfin
Atlantic Blue
Mimic

I can tell you their relationships from what I have observed:
(Also worth noting that all tangs have been together since July 2012 except for the mata tang that was added a couple months after and the naso who's the newest member, 2 weeks in)

Blue Hippo, Naso, Sailfin, Kole and Vlamingi DO NOT fight with any other tang in the tank and not even between each other.

Yellow DOES fight with my Purple, I would say more than I would like them to fight, so frequency is often. Either tang does not have any damage.

Mata was very shy at first but now he DOES fight with my Atlantic Blue on occasions. I noticed a tore fin on the Atlantic Blue about 2 weeks ago, but it has healed since then. However, I did not see it happen so I can't assume it was the Mata.

I few more things, the Kole and Sailfin are very friendly all they do is graze all day long and mind their own business. The Vlamingi and Naso kind of just swim back and forth constantly and pretty much put themselves on display as if they're in some sort of fashion show or something lol. And lastly, the Hippo, he's interesting because sometimes I see him and sometimes I don't. Usually when I feed he's guaranteed to be seen since he eats like a beast, but I've noticed that he likes to stay between a big rock on top of an even bigger shelf rock that I have. The two rocks make like a little hut because the shelf rock is flat and the other rock is concave so he kinda just hangs out in there as much as he's out and about, so half in the hut and half swimming around. Kinda reminds me of Patrick in SpogeBob lol

 

[reefs4life]

Oh and I forgot to mention...if I were you, I would get a Yellow and a Sailfin. Add them together and call it a day lol

 

[jedimaster1138]

Good info. Thanks.

The hippo behavior doesn't surprise me. Mine hides in between some rocks, head first. He doesn't realize how big he is and that his bright yellow tail hangs out behind him. LOL

After watching them last night and a little this morning, I'm basically of the mindset of getting the PBT out. I just can't snag him. Maybe if I get my buddy to help me I might be able to pull it off. But I'd like to avoid ripping my aquascape apart and/or fragging my corals with my poking around.

 

[jedimaster1138]

In my 210 I have the following tangs:

Vlamingi
Blonde Naso
Blue Hippo
Yellow
Purple
Scopas
Mata
Kole
Desjardini Sailfin
Atlantic Blue
Mimic

I can tell you their relationships from what I have observed:
(Also worth noting that all tangs have been together since July 2012 except for the mata tang that was added a couple months after and the naso who's the newest member, 2 weeks in)

Blue Hippo, Naso, Sailfin, Kole and Vlamingi DO NOT fight with any other tang in the tank and not even between each other.

Yellow DOES fight with my Purple, I would say more than I would like them to fight, so frequency is often. Either tang does not have any damage.

Mata was very shy at first but now he DOES fight with my Atlantic Blue on occasions. I noticed a tore fin on the Atlantic Blue about 2 weeks ago, but it has healed since then. However, I did not see it happen so I can't assume it was the Mata.

I few more things, the Kole and Sailfin are very friendly all they do is graze all day long and mind their own business. The Vlamingi and Naso kind of just swim back and forth constantly and pretty much put themselves on display as if they're in some sort of fashion show or something lol. And lastly, the Hippo, he's interesting because sometimes I see him and sometimes I don't. Usually when I feed he's guaranteed to be seen since he eats like a beast, but I've noticed that he likes to stay between a big rock on top of an even bigger shelf rock that I have. The two rocks make like a little hut because the shelf rock is flat and the other rock is concave so he kinda just hangs out in there as much as he's out and about, so half in the hut and half swimming around. Kinda reminds me of Patrick in SpogeBob lol

Thanks to some persistence, and a ton of help from my lovely and talented AlmostWife (less than 2 months till D-Day, aaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhh) we caught Mr. Powder Brown Tang. He's a holding facility now waiting to go to my buddy's house to be rehabbed and taught to not be a jerk.

All my other fish are much happier now. I actually saw my firefish again last night. He'd been terrified into hiding for a week.

Oh and I forgot to mention...if I were you, I would get a Yellow and a Sailfin. Add them together and call it a day lol

How do you like the Desjardini vs the "regular" sailfin? I know the Desjardini have cooler coloring and have been known to chomp bubble algae.

I'm not adding anything for a while, definitely not till after the wedding, but when i do, only baby tangs. By that time Big Blue will be a good 4+ inches and porky. Also hopefully my CBB will have grown up some.

I'm avoiding the Acanathurus genus like the plague. I think I'll stick to Zebrasomas. Yellow and/or one of the Sailfins. I'd love a Naso, but I have a feeling they will outgrow my 5 footer too fast.

But yeah, simultaneous introduction or bust.

 

[reefs4life]

How do you like the Desjardini vs the "regular" sailfin? I know the Desjardini have cooler coloring and have been known to chomp bubble algae.

I'm not adding anything for a while, definitely not till after the wedding, but when i do, only baby tangs. By that time Big Blue will be a good 4+ inches and porky. Also hopefully my CBB will have grown up some.

I'm avoiding the Acanathurus genus like the plague. I think I'll stick to Zebrasomas. Yellow and/or one of the Sailfins. I'd love a Naso, but I have a feeling they will outgrow my 5 footer too fast.

But yeah, simultaneous introduction or bust.

Well in the past I had regular Sailfin tangs and they were nice but after my tank crashed I bought a bunch of tiny fish, including fish that get big.

I got my Sailfin as just a plain Sailfin and I did notice the colors on it were extremely vibrant, but then again it was a baby, literally an inch all around. So I figured that he'd outgrow the colors and be a regular Sailfin once he got older since he wasn't labeled as a Desjardini Sailfin. Well anyways, now I've had him for 8 months like the most of my other fish and he's now a solid 4" and super fat BUT he has all his beautiful color from when he was a baby.

To make a long story short, from having 'regular' Sailfins in the past to having a Desjardini now, I would say that they are much nicer looking in terms of color and pattern, especially around the face. Mine has spots all over his face, I think my old one used to have just a dark line across his face. The regular Sailfin is also mainly darker and much fewer colors on it in comparison to the Desjardini. Either one is a great choice though!

The pictures below are obviously not mine but that's exactly what mine looked/look like so you can see the clear difference.

Regular

Desjardini

 

[jedimaster1138]

Reefs man, thanks for the detailed reply. You always go above and beyond on your replies and I really appreciate it. It's just the level of information i'm looking for. PS - I read through your entire thread, your tank looks awesome, well done sir.

I'll have an interesting decision to make in the summer. It might depend heavily on the growth and general health of my Copperband. The coloration and patterns on both the CBB and Sailfins are so similar, I'm slightly worried about them squabbling. I might just go with a yellow tang to compliment my hippo. We'll see. I suppose if the CBB has hit a good 3+ inches, adding a baby desjardini sailfin in the 1" range wouldn't cause issues. But we'll see. I can probably still be talked into a Naso, even though I know he's probably going to get too fat for my set up. :Blurp:

In the meantime - time to collect more coral. TWITCH

Well in the past I had regular Sailfin tangs and they were nice but after my tank crashed I bought a bunch of tiny fish, including fish that get big.

I got my Sailfin as just a plain Sailfin and I did notice the colors on it were extremely vibrant, but then again it was a baby, literally an inch all around. So I figured that he'd outgrow the colors and be a regular Sailfin once he got older since he wasn't labeled as a Desjardini Sailfin. Well anyways, now I've had him for 8 months like the most of my other fish and he's now a solid 4" and super fat BUT he has all his beautiful color from when he was a baby.

To make a long story short, from having 'regular' Sailfins in the past to having a Desjardini now, I would say that they are much nicer looking in terms of color and pattern, especially around the face. Mine has spots all over his face, I think my old one used to have just a dark line across his face. The regular Sailfin is also mainly darker and much fewer colors on it in comparison to the Desjardini. Either one is a great choice though!

The pictures below are obviously not mine but that's exactly what mine looked/look like so you can see the clear difference.

Regular

Desjardini

 

[Pablo]

I have used this trick with 100 % success rate when introducing a new tang to my 125 gallon.
Get small mirror and tape it against the glass in the most visited area of your Powder Brown. When he sees he own reflection on this mirror he will leave alone your other tang . When you see no more fighting then you can take this small mirror off. Hope this help.

 

[mqur1963]

i have use mirror and it work but since i have QTANK 40 gal and 30 gal attached i QT all my tang and introduce same time at night in my DT and it is fine for 24 hr they will run around and will come down just introduce 2 powder blue 4 inch and 7 inch and 5inch wt cheek(gold rim) and naso tang 5 inch with hippo 4 inch no issues after 24 hr they all eating together but they were in QT for over months even from diver den i always QT them for 3 weeks until they eat a aggressively.

 

[pappy1299]

Give them some time I have a hippo and a powder blue they went at it for about a month and now they are best friends.

 

[ZephNYC]

In My 210 I have the following tangs:

4 blue Hippo tangs
4 yellow tangs
red sea sailfin tang
Christmas Island black tang
powder blue tang
kole tang
2 purple tangs

most of the fighting occurs between the yellows and the purples. They really go at it all day long and have been for many years. The sailfin fights with the purples too, but I think thats about it. The purples are the most aggressive ones in my tank, and they have also bothered clams by constantly slurping slime of the mantles. They get a lot of fin tears and so does the sailfin, but it heals incredibly fast and does not seam to incur any long term problems. About a year ago I dropped a Scopas tang in this tank and the purples and yellows harassed him to death in 3 days.
...just my 2 cents worth =)

 

[ZephNYC]

...also, jut FYI...the Christmas Island Black tang was the last to be added. I was expecting a harsh welcome when I added him, But to my surprise he IMMEDIATELY dominated the entire tank, and NOBODY even looked at him crooked!

 

[peteyboyny]

I have used this trick with 100 % success rate when introducing a new tang to my 125 gallon.
Get small mirror and tape it against the glass in the most visited area of your Powder Brown. When he sees he own reflection on this mirror he will leave alone your other tang . When you see no more fighting then you can take this small mirror off. Hope this help.

+1. I've heard this works really well. Tried it though.