3 Yellow Tangs - Suddenly killing each other

Ashish Patel · Jun 25, 2017

I got 3 yellow tangs 2 months ago and all was good until today morning.. At first it was just survival of the fittest, now it seems they have choosen the weakest tang resulting in bite marks on its fins. I've heard about this issue with larger group of yellow tangs but never thought it would happen with young tangs. Tank is about 125gallon

Has anyone experienced this with 3 tangs?

Is their a solution besides removing the tangs?

CarolinaReefs · Jun 25, 2017

As they get adapted to the tank they will try to establish their own territory. One will end up left and the other two will be killed. I the wild the others would be forced to leave and find another area but in your small tank they have no where to go.

Flippers4pups · Jun 25, 2017

Were they introduced at the same? I'm assuming so. This can happen as they establish their pecking order. Your tank looks fairly new and they maybe competing for food. Try providing nori all the time and if possible in multiple places in the tank.

Feed more if possible.

If the behavior continues, you may have to rehome one or two.

Gweeds1980 · Jun 25, 2017

Flippers4pups said:
Were they introduced at the same? I'm assuming so. This can happen as they establish their pecking order. Your tank looks fairly new and they maybe competing for food. Try providing nori all the time and if possible in multiple places in the tank.

Feed more if possible.

If the behavior continues, you may have to rehome one or two.

+1

More food = less aggression generally. If the status quo is kept then once the first dies, the stronger of the two survivors will start on the other.

If you have a spare tank you could try removing the stronger two and then reintroduce them later on, they'll then be the trespassers on the others territory.

Or... try a rescape to destroy territorial lines.

eatbreakfast · Jun 25, 2017

Multiple yellow tangs works much better in much larger tanks.

For the longterm well-being of the tangs keep one and remove the other 2.

Ashish Patel · Jun 26, 2017

territory for sure! They all are fighting for the space under the rock on the left side of the tank.. i've tried to net the fish out today with zero luck! I like to keep fish in groups so they can at least get it on, but I guess all they care about is their sleeping area

nanomania · Jun 26, 2017

That tanknis way too small for 3 tangs. One is enough. I have a 130g and i jus have 1 acanthurus.

Mr. Bill · Jun 26, 2017

nanomania said:
That tanknis way too small for 3 tangs. One is enough. I have a 130g and i jus have 1 acanthurus.

Agreed.

"Like other Tangs, this member of the Acanthuridae family demonstrates territorial aggression towards its own species, or Tangs in general."

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/392/yellow-tang-hawaii?pcatid=392&c=15+43+392

Unfortunately, even fish that swim in large schools in the wild are rarely so peaceful toward one another in captivity.

Gweeds1980 · Jun 26, 2017

Mr. Bill said:
Agreed.

"Like other Tangs, this member of the Acanthuridae family demonstrates territorial aggression towards its own species, or Tangs in general."

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/392/yellow-tang-hawaii?pcatid=392&c=15+43+392

Unfortunately, even fish that swim in large schools in the wild are rarely so peaceful toward one another in captivity.

Tbf, acanthurus tangs generally need more space than zebrasoma. However, agree that the tank is too small for 3 yellows long term... the aggression the OP is seeing is proof of that. You could try the other ideas I posted, but ultimately you'll need to upgrade or move 2 of them on... leave it as it is and they'll sort the problem out for you!

eatbreakfast · Jun 26, 2017

Gweeds1980 said:
Tbf, acanthurus tangs generally need more space than zebrasoma. However, agree that the tank is too small for 3 yellows long term... the aggression the OP is seeing is proof of that. You could try the other ideas I posted, but ultimately you'll need to upgrade or move 2 of them on... leave it as it is and they'll sort the problem out for you!

Both of the genera Acanthurus and Zebrasoma are in the family Acanthuridae. So thecquote still aplies to Zebrasoma.

Gweeds1980 · Jun 26, 2017

eatbreakfast said:
Both of the genera Acanthurus and Zebrasoma are in the family Acanthuridae. So thecquote still aplies to Zebrasoma.

Yep, sorry wasn't suggesting they weren't, just marking out the general difference between the two as often acanthuridae as the family is confused with the acanthurus genus and we're talking specifically about zebrasoma here.

Thanks for the clarification

Dennco2000 · Jun 26, 2017

Not sure if this will help your situation but it helped mine..

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i...ablished-tank-experiment.310058/#post-3838486

4FordFamily · Jun 26, 2017

Another thing you have working against you is that there aren't many fish in there period. Easier to focus on one victim in the absence of several fish.

I do agree that trio of yellow are not the best "only tangs" and best suited for larger systems.

Also individuals have different personalities so that can of course make things easy or difficult. For aggression and general health, your tangs should have access to nori at least 1/2 of the day if not more.

Ashish Patel · Jun 26, 2017

Dennco2000 said:
Not sure if this will help your situation but it helped mine..

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/i...ablished-tank-experiment.310058/#post-3838486

Wow - never heard of someone doing this. If I can't fish out the tang I might give this a try.

Ashish Patel · Jul 6, 2017

They all where fighting for the one piece of LR with the multiple holes and tunnels. The one tang that was getting bullied went herculean on the the other 2 and eventually won...I did add a seaweed grid but not sure if it was this or the fish just exhausted themselves out.. But they have stopped fighting for now and even swimming around together. I have a lot of space behind the rock work so I am planning on making some small structures out of rubble, epoxy, and maybe some PVC pipe so to add more territory and sleeping space

Dennco2000 · Jul 6, 2017

Sounds like you may be out of the woods. I would add nori twice a day for a while, keepem full and hope for the best.

Good luck.

chevegan · Jul 8, 2017

You can keep the tangs if you add more LR. Old school lots of LR tanks were better for situations like this. New tanks with little LR causes all kinds of territory issues. If you have ever been diving or snorkeling you see all the tanks grouped around mounds of rock. You just don't have enough rock real estate

Ashish Patel · Jul 8, 2017

Yeah this is exactly what I am seeing in my tank. Im adding alot more areas for them to hide.

mtraylor · Jul 9, 2017

I have had this happen before. Once the pecking order is started. The 2 will team up and kill the third. The solution is to remove the weakest tang and keep the other 2. They will occasionally fight....but since they teamed up they will be friends who like to fight. LOL.