Purple Tang Going After Angelfish

[Lil' RegalReefster]

Hi there, I was at my LFS yesterday when I saw a beautiful Xantharus cream angel. This morning I went back and decided to buy him. When I added him to the tank everything was fine for about five minutes until my purple tang started going after him. He keeps "tail slapping him" and he is now missing some scales. Whenever he starts to come out of the rock structure my PT bullies him back in. I fed Mysis and brine to the tank and he did eat which hopefully is a good sign. I might try and relocate the purple tang to the sump for a while to see if that helps. Please advise.

 

[Lil' RegalReefster]

I am very worried any advice helps! I am worried he might kill the poor angel!!!!

 

[nereefpat]

Purple tangs can definitely be aggressive. They don't like other laterally compressed fish.. It could be that a time out in the sump could help, but maybe not.

What's the tank size?

 

[mike321]

Purple tang should be last fish introduced into aquarium. Just my opinion

 

[Lil' RegalReefster]

It's a 5 foot long 120 gallon. How long should I keep the PT in the sump.

 

[Lil' RegalReefster]

will the PT kill the Angel or will they sort it out?

 

[G Santana]

Try a mirror against the tank, it does work. You might distract him enough to let your angel get settled

 

[vetteguy53081]

Reduce light to blue only at 25%. Purple will be more interested in hiding than playing. It should start to simmer in the next day or two.

 

[Spieg]

You might also try keeping one or the other in an acclimation chamber for a day or two so they can see each other but not actually touch each other.

 

[Lil' RegalReefster]

Does Anybody else have some advice? It is very appreciated. I will try the mirror on the side of the tank and I will try and find an acclimation box. I simply want the angel to stay alive or for them to sort it out.

 

[argiBK]

Try a mirror against the tank, it does work. You might distract him enough to let your angel get settled

I do this whenever I add a new fish to the tank with my Purple. Mine tends to focus on and "bully" their reflection while the new fish gets settled. The aggression will take about a week to begin to settle down.

You also might want to offer Nori on a clip throughout the day to keep your PT satiated.

Otherwise, you may have to separate (either remove the Tang to QT or place a divider) and re-arrange the rockwork.

 

[Thaxxx]

Things I have gotten to work.....
The already mentioned mirror. But you have to keep doing it. Don't expect it to work instantly.
Move some of your rocks around if you can. Especially where the Purple likes to hang out. It forces him to reestablish.
Also, it's only been a 1/2 day. Unless the Angel is getting beat up really bad, your Purple will get tired of messing with him. He's just protecting "his" tank.
Most of all give it a few days if needed. After that time, if he's still harrasing him, it's time to move one of them.

 

[najer]

Move some of your rocks around if you can. Especially where the Purple likes to hang out. It forces him to reestablish.

This, behind the cabbage coral is the cave that two of my scopas "live", the cabbage is on a hand sized piece of rock, if I move it back about 3 inches I can block the main entrance to their cave, there are a couple of backdoors, it really unsettles them.

 

[Squidward]

Purple Tangs are bullies. I have an Achilles who puts it in check.

 

[MONTANTK]

My purple tang did the same thing to my Venustus Angel and ended up killing it. I was not a happy camper considering how long it took to get my Venustus. The best option is removing the Tang for a few days and letting the Angel get established. If you can’t catch it then the next best option is probably to cut down the lighting cycle for a few days and maybe even feed a little more frequently.