Random acts of aggression from tang. ???

Joshua Agostoni · Dec 2, 2017

So today i add a new fish to my tank its a eiblii angle. To my suprise the tomni tang i have started chasing him around.. being mean and rude... this bothers me cause i just added him and hes stressed enough... I noticed that the tang really go at him when he swims in the cave the tang i guess has claimed for himself..

So i broke the cave down and removed that area. was this the right move. I'm guessing the tang stake a claim on that cave and it angered him when the new angle went in it. so i figure maybe with no cave then no aggression
???

Thoughts?

rayn · Dec 2, 2017

A acclimation box could have helped here, but that is hindsite now. Remember for possible future additions.

Rearranging the rock structure kills off the claim any fish make and could reduce aggression, so good move there. Just be ready to intervene if need be.

Jason mack · Dec 2, 2017

Yes I believe changing your rocks and cave should help .. you could always try putting the tang in an acclimation box for a day or too if you can catch him ..

Joshua Agostoni · Dec 2, 2017

yeah once i took that away things seem to have calmed down... my main concern is ick.. my LFS keeps telling me that ick is always present in every tank and if the fish gets to stressed he will lose slime coat and get ick. But most of the R2R community disagrees with that and says its brought in

Syed123 · Dec 3, 2017

I've found bristletooth tangs can be aggressive towards dwarf angels. They both occupy similar niches (picking surface algae and rocks). Good idea changing the rock work.

Marine ich is always present in tanks where it was introduced. More than likely it is in your tank. You have 2 choices, remove all of your fish and start copper treatment on them immediately or keep them in the tank and feed feed feed to curb aggression and boost their immune system. Since you just introduced your angel I would suggest the second option. In the meantime while you boost their immune system you can setup a Quarantine tank. Once the fish are stronger and the QT is ready you can treat them with copper medication in the QT and leave you tank fallow for 72 days.

Of course you can live with the ich and just rely on keeping the fishes immune system strong.