CanadianReefer
Active Member
Okay, so...
About 3 months ago, I had the opportunity to purchase a rare tang (a Maculiceps) and I jumped at it. I had been looking for this fish for a long time, but they are simply not easy to get a hold of - at least not here in Canada. Beautiful fish...! Very peaceful, so far as tangs go. He reminds me of my Blonde Naso (though far more zippy since he's an acanthurus) in that he doesn't bother anyone.
After he was done with QT, I tried introducing him into my DT. I did the lights out, rearrange rock work, add the fish, turn the lights off during the day when I had aggression etc., but my purple tang wasn't having it and beat him up pretty badly... he was so weak that I was able to scoop him up in my hands.
I added him to another tank with more peaceful inhabitants and nursed him back to health. Within a day or two, he actually didn't look that bad at all. I was surprized at his quick recovery.
Skip forward a few months, I needed to try and add him to the big DT again. This is not a small fish, and the 75g he was in would not harbour him for very long (he's only 4" right now but grows to a similar size as the Naso). I put him in an acclimation box for a few days, and although I only saw my purple tang puff up at him for maybe the first half hour of his acclimation, I was still concerned, so I trapped the purple tang, put him in an acclimation box and released the Maculiceps in hopes that they would get used to one another while giving the Maculiceps a chance to settle in...
There were absolutely no problems with my Naso and Kole tangs. He and the magnificent foxface played the puff up game for an hour or two, but now they are swimming around the tank together. He fits in nicely.
Now the question is, what should I do with the purple tang? He's been in the acclimation box for a few days. It's a large box (maybe 7g in size), but still... tangs need to swim and I don't like the idea that he remains in there for too much longer. He's near impossible to catch, so if I release him and there are problems, however, I'm up the creek. He's not going to fall for the trap again easily - he was very leery of it in the first place.
So, should I release him back and see what happens? If so, how long should I keep him in this acclimation box before releasing him? Alternatively, am I best to remove him from the tank for a week or two? I could put him in the fish chamber in my sump (about 20g). I suppose I could also add him to the 75g (temporarily, of course), but after fishing out the Maculiceps, the One Spot Foxface that's in that tank went into camo/hiding mode and I don't want to add to his stress... I'm just trying to figure out what is most likely to reduce the purple tang's aggression.
Thoughts?
About 3 months ago, I had the opportunity to purchase a rare tang (a Maculiceps) and I jumped at it. I had been looking for this fish for a long time, but they are simply not easy to get a hold of - at least not here in Canada. Beautiful fish...! Very peaceful, so far as tangs go. He reminds me of my Blonde Naso (though far more zippy since he's an acanthurus) in that he doesn't bother anyone.
After he was done with QT, I tried introducing him into my DT. I did the lights out, rearrange rock work, add the fish, turn the lights off during the day when I had aggression etc., but my purple tang wasn't having it and beat him up pretty badly... he was so weak that I was able to scoop him up in my hands.
I added him to another tank with more peaceful inhabitants and nursed him back to health. Within a day or two, he actually didn't look that bad at all. I was surprized at his quick recovery.
Skip forward a few months, I needed to try and add him to the big DT again. This is not a small fish, and the 75g he was in would not harbour him for very long (he's only 4" right now but grows to a similar size as the Naso). I put him in an acclimation box for a few days, and although I only saw my purple tang puff up at him for maybe the first half hour of his acclimation, I was still concerned, so I trapped the purple tang, put him in an acclimation box and released the Maculiceps in hopes that they would get used to one another while giving the Maculiceps a chance to settle in...
There were absolutely no problems with my Naso and Kole tangs. He and the magnificent foxface played the puff up game for an hour or two, but now they are swimming around the tank together. He fits in nicely.
Now the question is, what should I do with the purple tang? He's been in the acclimation box for a few days. It's a large box (maybe 7g in size), but still... tangs need to swim and I don't like the idea that he remains in there for too much longer. He's near impossible to catch, so if I release him and there are problems, however, I'm up the creek. He's not going to fall for the trap again easily - he was very leery of it in the first place.
So, should I release him back and see what happens? If so, how long should I keep him in this acclimation box before releasing him? Alternatively, am I best to remove him from the tank for a week or two? I could put him in the fish chamber in my sump (about 20g). I suppose I could also add him to the 75g (temporarily, of course), but after fishing out the Maculiceps, the One Spot Foxface that's in that tank went into camo/hiding mode and I don't want to add to his stress... I'm just trying to figure out what is most likely to reduce the purple tang's aggression.
Thoughts?
I'm not planning any new additions for a very long time to come, so things should remain calm for quite some time. Thanks everyone for the advice!
