Adding smaller PBT to established larger YT

[Aquavaj]

This will be in a 120g with YT at about 4" and PBT at about 3.5". YT is the tank boss. PBT are known to be the more aggressive of tangs so what will likely happen?

Will the YT try to maintain its dominance with its size? Or will the PBT hold its own and may even try to become the new boss?

 

[CC13]

This will be in a 120g with YT at about 4" and PBT at about 3.5". YT is the tank boss. PBT are known to be the more aggressive of tangs so what will likely happen?

Will the YT try to maintain its dominance with its size? Or will the PBT hold its own and may even try to become the new boss?

Its literally impossible to try and guess if the Yellow and PBT will fight, get a long or a mix of both. I had a Blond Naso who for the most part are gentle giants and he absolutely ran every aspect of the tank to the point where he needed to be removed.

Right now, I have a Yellow and PBT together in my system. There is the occasional little tail nudge when one goes into the others bedroom but nothing at all that resembles aggression.

I would suggest placing the new fish in a acclimation box. You can see how they each react to each other for a day or two to try and better estimate how they will take to each other.

 

[PatW]

I added a small PBT with a larger yellow tang and a Kole tang. I put up mirrors at the ends of the tank as a tang distracter. The Kole tang was initially the most distracted but gave up on the first day. The PBT was far more effective at dishing it out. The PBT really only had trouble if he was ganged up on. The yellow tang was pretty aggressive for a couple of days. After that the PBT seemed to actually provoke the yellow by swimming to its favorite resting spot. The PBT was much faster and would just stay ahead of the yellow tang.

Now the PBT is the undisputed champion and also the largest fish in the tank.

 

[Aquavaj]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Unfortunately my PBT died in QT on Friday. Came home from work to find him already dead. He looked fine and was eating the night before. I was going to start slowly raising salinity this week and add it to the DT this coming weekend.

 

[CC13]

Thanks for sharing your experience. Unfortunately my PBT died in QT on Friday. Came home from work to find him already dead. He looked fine and was eating the night before. I was going to start slowly raising salinity this week and add it to the DT this coming weekend.

That's too bad... did he look sick at all? Sometimes QT can be stressful for fish to begin with. PBT tang is one of my personal favorites they are beautiful fish.

 

[Aquavaj]

Nope no visible signs of illness. He was already getting use to my presence by coming out of its hiding spot to greet me if I put my face right up to the tank. Yes, they are beautiful fish and maybe one day I'll give another a shot.

 

[CC13]

Nope no visible signs of illness. He was already getting use to my presence by coming out of its hiding spot to greet me if I put my face right up to the tank. Yes, they are beautiful fish and maybe one day I'll give another a shot.

What treatment were you running him on?

 

[Jesterrace]

Powder Blues are notoriously delicate (even for Tangs), so this doesn't surprise me. Too bad as they are one of my favorite Tangs for color. Absolutely beautiful.