Tang Aggression - Understanding and Combating

[4FordFamily]

Would a desjardini and velifer with a yellow count as a trio, or are the two Sailfins too similar?

I've seen it done but I've also seen it go very wrong. Again it depends on temperament. I would advise against mixing multiple sailfins, and to a slightly lesser extent the two "variants"

 

[Black Pearl]

Speaking of temperament, I have a Clown tang that I wish I had never laid eyes on, started attacking all his tank mates as soon as he got in the DT. Model citizen while in QT with two MI, very territorial and just really has it in for my purple tang that I've had for about 5 years. Mirror doesn't work, keeps him busy for awhile, then he is all worked up, turns almost black in color and goes crazy chasing everything but the Trigger. one week I've been feeding the fish through a trap to get them accustom to it in the tank, every fish in the tank has been in the trap to eat except you know who, finally today saw him go in momentarily, maybe now it won't be much longer before he is out and my tank will be at piece again

 

[steveaus10]

I have a yellow tang and a sailfin tang together in a 150 reef for the most they get along I have observed a bit of flashing almost equally with no ill effects yet they have been together about 8 months now

 

[germs101]

I have a yellow tang and a sailfin tang together in a 150 reef for the most they get along I have observed a bit of flashing almost equally with no ill effects yet they have been together about 8 months now

Were they introduced at the same time, and what sizes are they?

 

[4FordFamily]

Speaking of temperament, I have a Clown tang that I wish I had never laid eyes on, started attacking all his tank mates as soon as he got in the DT. Model citizen while in QT with two MI, very territorial and just really has it in for my purple tang that I've had for about 5 years. Mirror doesn't work, keeps him busy for awhile, then he is all worked up, turns almost black in color and goes crazy chasing everything but the Trigger. one week I've been feeding the fish through a trap to get them accustom to it in the tank, every fish in the tank has been in the trap to eat except you know who, finally today saw him go in momentarily, maybe now it won't be much longer before he is out and my tank will be at piece again

I'm guessing those two are your only tangs or perhaps there's one more at the most based on your behavior. Many acanthurus but especially clown and sohal are best with many other tangs as disincentive to behavior as you describe.

My 3" clown tang is with a 6"+ emperor angel, 4.5" king angel, 4" annularis angel, 3" moorish idol, 4" yellow belly hippo, 4.75" magnificent foxface, banana wrasse, pink face wrasse, and red coris wrasse.

He's soon to have a scribbled angel and rock beauty added to the mix, my angels are surprisingly tolerant of each other but the emperor and king rule the tank and don't tolerate aggression from other fish even if it's towards other fish.

My sohal is the biggest tang now in his tank and he by and large ruled his domain, but with 9 other tangs present aggression is spread pretty efficiently.

 

[4FordFamily]

I have a yellow tang and a sailfin tang together in a 150 reef for the most they get along I have observed a bit of flashing almost equally with no ill effects yet they have been together about 8 months now

You'll most likely be fine after 8 2 months together successfully, typically. Especially if the tank is well stocked of tang shaped fish.

 

[Black Pearl]

I'm guessing those two are your only tangs or perhaps there's one more at the most based on your behavior. Many acanthurus but especially clown and sohal are best with many other tangs as disincentive to behavior as you describe.

My 3" clown tang is with a 6"+ emperor angel, 4.5" king angel, 4" annularis angel, 3" moorish idol, 4" yellow belly hippo, 4.75" magnificent foxface, banana wrasse, pink face wrasse, and red coris wrasse.

He's soon to have a scribbled angel and rock beauty added to the mix, my angels are surprisingly tolerant of each other but the emperor and king rule the tank and don't tolerate aggression from other fish even if it's towards other fish.

My sohal is the biggest tang now in his tank and he by and large ruled his domain, but with 9 other tangs present aggression is spread pretty efficiently.

My tank inhabitants are Desjardini, purple, blonde Naso and Clown tang, two foxface, blue jaw trigger, three Banggai Cardinal and 3 Anthias and a Moorish Idol. There is a juvi Achilles Tang in Qt and I was considering another Naso or Orange shoulder

 

[germs101]

I've seen it done but I've also seen it go very wrong. Again it depends on temperament. I would advise against mixing multiple sailfins, and to a slightly lesser extent the two "variants"

I'm not sure I can find this one, but what about a Scopas, Sailfin, and Yellow? I love the Purple in a trio, but they're a little more than I want to spend.

 

[nervousmonkey]

They're not usually bullied either for some reason. Not saying it is not possible but they must look mean or something. I am sure size works in their favor!

Keep in mind, my list is just my opinion. Others may have vastly different opinions. I think it's pretty valid but outliers exist, also.

They look like the tattooed steroid juiced Harley rider to other fish. Scary.

 

[madcanary]

I had a sailfin and a orange shoulder for about a year with no issues. added a purple small amount of flashing by the sail so all good, then... finally added a yellow and he pretty much destroyed my purple only stopped when I finally put them in the 210, now they school together. my sail has never really bothered anyone but he's pretty big, oh I have a yellow eye but he don't bother anything. purple like the kole never bothered anyone and my yellow is an butt. id honestly say the most aggressive fish is my 6 line he's single handled killed and chased to death anything small than 4 inches.. he's in the sump awaiting rehoming...

 

[4FordFamily]

My tank inhabitants are Desjardini, purple, blonde Naso and Clown tang, two foxface, blue jaw trigger, three Banggai Cardinal and 3 Anthias and a Moorish Idol. There is a juvi Achilles Tang in Qt and I was considering another Naso or Orange shoulder

That clown will destroy a juvenile Achilles, they're very very very fragile. I would probably add tangs simultaneously for best results!

 

[4FordFamily]

I'm not sure I can find this one, but what about a Scopas, Sailfin, and Yellow? I love the Purple in a trio, but they're a little more than I want to spend.

That should work fine!

 

[4FordFamily]

I had a sailfin and a orange shoulder for about a year with no issues. added a purple small amount of flashing by the sail so all good, then... finally added a yellow and he pretty much destroyed my purple only stopped when I finally put them in the 210, now they school together. my sail has never really bothered anyone but he's pretty big, oh I have a yellow eye but he don't bother anything. purple like the kole never bothered anyone and my yellow is an ***. id honestly say the most aggressive fish is my 6 line he's single handled killed and chased to death anything small than 4 inches.. he's in the sump awaiting rehoming...

Geesh!

In my experience I have seen a massive swing in temperaments among zebrasoma, particularly yellow and sailfins but even purple. Factors of course affect their behavior such as number of tang tankmates, tank size, availability of food, and many others mentioned in my first post. But I've seen extremely laid back sailfins and yellows and I've seen literally spawn of satan yellows and sailfins. Aggressive sailfins are often more laid back than nasty yellows but I have always wondered if it's a sex thing, since it seems to be half and half (to varying degrees).

I've NEVER had issues mixing zebrasomas in trios and I've kept four different trios over the 12+ years I've kept fish. I used to sell them once they reached 4-5". I'm guessing that's because I overstock and feed well.

 

[Black Pearl]

That clown will destroy a juvenile Achilles, they're very very very fragile. I would probably add tangs simultaneously for best results!

AT not going in the DT until he has grown some and the CT is gone

 

[4FordFamily]

AT not going in the DT until he has grown some and the CT is gone

Good deal! That's smart!

 

[nervousmonkey]

@4FordFamily , thank you for your tang expertise (and others as well). This really helped; almost added a new purple to my tank until I read your list, the only tang I have in my smaller tank is a Kole so that would have ended badly (the purple is a DT tang in the LFS, so he's big and ******). I really appreciate your help in all this, I am sure there are a ton of people who you have helped that are just reading along like me. Thanks again man!

 

[4FordFamily]

@4FordFamily , thank you for your tang expertise (and others as well). This really helped; almost added a new purple to my tank until I read your list, the only tang I have in my smaller tank is a Kole so that would have ended badly (the purple is a DT tang in the LFS, so he's big and ******). I really appreciate your help in all this, I am sure there are a ton of people who you have helped that are just reading along like me. Thanks again man!

First off all, you're more than welcome! I love tangs, I find them iconic, graceful, and beautiful -- but they're also sort of nuts, until you understand the underlying drivers of their behavior.

You were going to add the purple tang to the Kole tang? You may not necessarily have issues with that, Kole are pretty laid back and since you're adding a larger zebrasoma I highly doubt the Kole goes after the purple. On the other hand, eventually once the purple takes over and is tank boss he will likely heckle other tangs added (not sure how large your tank is though). In my experience purple tangs are aggressive but not evil, I've rarely seen them go after fish other than tangs. That cannot be said about nasty yellows and sailfins (when you find one) - although they're more likely to go after other tangs they may decide to go after any species of fish to assert dominance and defend their "algae patch"

 

[nervousmonkey]

First off all, you're more than welcome! I love tangs, I find them iconic, graceful, and beautiful -- but they're also sort of nuts, until you understand the underlying drivers of their behavior.

You were going to add the purple tang to the Kole tang? You may not necessarily have issues with that, Kole are pretty laid back and since you're adding a larger zebrasoma I highly doubt the Kole goes after the purple. On the other hand, eventually once the purple takes over and is tank boss he will likely heckle other tangs added (not sure how large your tank is though). In my experience purple tangs are aggressive but not evil, I've rarely seen them go after fish other than tangs. That cannot be said about nasty yellows and sailfins (when you find one) - although they're more likely to go after other tangs they may decide to go after any species of fish to assert dominance and defend their "algae patch"

Oh sweet! The purple I was going to get is always available. The LFS doesn't normally sell him as he's a DT tang, but he's big and ******. I'm afraid he will become tank boss on day one. My Kole is super afraid of everything, even my pygmy angel, so I am reluctant to add anything to the tank because of his being scared... He doesn't even like Nori, although he eats it. He'll follow the other fish in the tank and eat frozen food before he'll eat his own food. He's very weird but I love the dude... Needs to get fat and big before I add the purple....

 

[4FordFamily]

Oh sweet! The purple I was going to get is always available. The LFS doesn't normally sell him as he's a DT tang, but he's big and ******. I'm afraid he will become tank boss on day one. My Kole is super afraid of everything, even my pygmy angel, so I am reluctant to add anything to the tank because of his being scared... He doesn't even like Nori, although he eats it. He'll follow the other fish in the tank and eat frozen food before he'll eat his own food. He's very weird but I love the dude... Needs to get fat and big before I add the purple....

I would be surprised if a new addition heckles a current tang. Anything is possible, but I would say it unlikely based on species and size differentials. To be safe you could purchase an acclimation box.

 

[nervousmonkey]

Man, that's great advice. I already have an acclimation box, and I love the purple that's a display tang, so it's good to hear that he won't kill Cole (his name). Cole is super nervous already, but the purple is smaller than Cole, so that gives him a better chance I guess, right? I won't let someone kill Cole. I mean the guy is scared of a pygmy angel.... He used to hide under a rock when I went near the tank, now he is used to me, but still goes to his "safe spot" when I get near the tank.
You sure adding a purple will be safe? I don't mean 100%, nothing is that precise, but like 50/50 that adding a purple would be OK?

Tanks again @4FordFamily !!!!!