STRANGE TANG BEHAVIOR

[stevieduk]

Has anyone else experienced this. I have a tank that i was just going to have corals in, Then a good while ago my local fish store had in a baby yellow tang and a baby purple tang, really small, but i thought well they can grow up together and maybe not fight, so into the coral tank they went.
Move on 9 months to present day, they have both grown nicely, and swim around together like they are best buddies.
I bought a new L. e.d black box and after setting it up switched it on, on the blue lights as my old one was, always had it on the blues for the corals, then after a couple of days i decided to try the whiter lighting.
Immediately i switched them on the purple tang started chasing the yellow all over the tank, really nasty, so i switched it off and immediately they are best buddies again. I have tried it a couple of times since and get the immediate same response each time.
Could it be that the purple tang does not see the yellow tang as a yellow under the blue lighting ???

 

[maevepotter]

That's really interesting... Following.

 

[Xanthurum]

It’s not a case of mistaken identity, it’s more of a territory issue. You have 2 tangs that are well known for behavioral issues in aquariums. However when the lights go down most fish settle down. It’s very common for similar fish to seek shelter together at night. You have created an almost permanent night time scenario by only using your blue lights. When you change that they revert back to not enjoying having to put up with another tang in their territory.

 

[ZoWhat]

I would say the lighting change, changed the color appearance of the Yellow giving the Purple the "perception" that the Yellow is a 3rd unwanted tang in the territory.

Just my educated guess....

 

[stevieduk]

no the blue lighting is quite bright. bright enough for corals to thrive so its not as tho its like night time

 

[Frtdrmrose7]

Interesting.... following along

 

[ca1ore]

Who knows. Just understand that they are not and never were ‘friends’ LOL.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Try a test and go back to old lighting or duplicate the intensity of old lighting to see if behavior changes back. If so, use low light and acclimate the intensity over time.
If still chasing, possibly has been going on and you just noticed

 

[Xanthurum]

Even if the blue lighting is bright enough for your corals to thrive it does not take away from the instinct of the fish to seek shelter at what they perceive as night time. You gotta remember that they came from the ocean where there is a drastic difference between day and night and they are adapting the best way they can. My Achilles and Powder Blue Hybrid can barely allow the other to exist in the same tank during the day but I often see them side by side at night. Same goes for my Purple and my Gem. I have my Radions set to a lunar cycle and at the time of a full moon it can be pretty bright at night and yet they still calm down and huddle together.

 

[McPikie]

I have this but with my tellowtail wrasse. I have 3 of them in different sizes. All well and good at normal lighting, but as soon as it's "nightime" blue lights at 9:00pm, the largest of the wrasse chases the middle one around the tank for around 15mins