Should I give up on my dream fish?

[stanleo]

The only other two fish that I want are a flame angel and a powder tang (either blue or brown). The problem is I have a yellow tang that I have had for a year and a half and I don't think he is going to let me get either of these fish. I tried a flame angel a month ago and he died in two days. I got a powder brown tang last night and acclimated him for an hour and half and added him after lights out. He was very healthy in the store, eating well, great color, no fin damage or any sign of decease. By all accounts, a perfect specimen. I saw the yellow go after him a few times but it didn't seem terrible but I might not have seen the worse of it. I can't find the brown anywhere today. The yellow completely ignores the other fish I have added recently and they are thriving. Watchman goby, mandarin and a blenny but they all occupy different areas of the tank and look completely different. Am I doomed to just no be able to get these fish?

 

[jerrod]

This has worked for me so far but some fish will always be aggressive. I have multiple tangs and my Kole tang as of right now the worst one as far as aggression. Theres no guarantees but feed them seaweed to help minimize aggression and put it in multiple areas so they have there own grazing areas so they don't see each other as competition. I have a large 12"x12" mirror that I will tape to the outside of the tank for a few days to distract the fish when I add a new one and that has helped distract the aggressor until they adjust to the new addition. So far that has worked for me and I have Desjardini, Kole, Naso, Clown and Achilles in the same tank.

 

[Billldg]

With a 4ft 120 gal tank, fighting is going to happen, trust me, I know. I have the same tank with a LT Tang, Gold Rim Tang, and a Tomini Tang. The 2 acanthurus tangs fought obviously, but eventually it settled down to just bickering, where before they tried to kill each other. On a 4ft tank it’s possible, you just may need to try a mirror, or keep the PBT in a acclimation box for a few days. I put nori on 2 clips on either side of the tank which seemed to also help. Also, it’s best to keep tangs in multiples of 3 so the aggression isn’t 1:1.

 

[Billldg]

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating

Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating So what's the deal with tangs? How do I keep them together? Why are they so aggressive and difficult to keep sometimes? It's a common discussion point. Some may dissent with what I have to share but I've never had less than three tanks running at a...

www.reef2reef.com

This is a great article @4FordFamily wrote.

 

[George81]

Just let them sort it out. My dream fish was a copperband. I got one and for the first week my powder brown tang was a real butthead. Constantly harassing....to the point where I considered getting rid of the powder brown Because I worried for the butterfly’s safety. They don’t live in harmony but the powder brown every once in a while asserts its dominance and give the copper band a little chase nothing more then darting at him..he tries with the yellow tang to who doesn’t put up with him....most of the day the powder brown and yellow tang swim together like best buds. At night before lights out there is a bit of jostling.

edit. I too added the powder brown after the yellow tang. I don’t recall there being any issues...

 

[JumboShrimp]

Maybe get the other two Tangs you want and add them at the same time, and simultaneously trade your Yellow Tang back in to your LFS? Then introduce the yellow color back into your tank via a completely different kind of fish. Just a thought.

 

[stanleo]

So do you guys he could be in there just hiding? There are a lot of places for a fish to hide but I would think an active swimmer like a tang would have been seen by now. Or maybe it was another issue? Did I not acclimate him enough? The store I got him from keeps there fish at hyposalinity so maybe an hour and half of putting a cup of water in his bag every 15 minutes wasn't enough?