Tang Stocking

[FarmerTy]

Hi ARC,

I have an potential issue with stocking levels in my tank and wanted to get a general consensus. I'm new to fish but old to corals.

So currently I have a 125-gallon, 6' long tank which I read is the minimum size tank for a Desjardini sailfin. I currently got two beautiful tangs from Hydro (aka Stephen) which never showed aggression towards each other in his large tank (200 gallons plus, sorry, I forget the size). Now, in my 125-gallon, the 6" sailfin is def showing aggression to the 4" yellow tang. The yellow comes out every once in awhile but usually doesn't stick around long as the sailfin will immediately come up and try to intimidate it. The yellow doesn't always run but to say they are friends, is over exaggerating. The yellow seems skittish anyways because he runs even when I approach the tank but the sailfin just ends up following me around, even swimming by my hand even as I move coral around.

So, questions are:

1) Will they eventually seek a balance and stop being aggressive once they settle in (they are both new to the tank, about a week now)?

2) Will the addition of smaller fishes (clowns, wrasses, etc.) make both a little more easy in the tank and less focused on yellow versus sailfin? They are the only two fishes in there right now.

My hypothesis is that since the sailfin is the larger of the two, and also the more dominant. He is projecting himself on the yellow in a new environment. And with only the yellow to focus on, it's his mission to let him and only him know who's boss in the tank. With other fish (non-competitive), he will be a little more distracted and realize the tank is to share.

2nd hypothesis is that the relationship worked in a larger tank because each got his own territory but in a 125-gallon, the size is stressing the sailfin tang and causing him to be even more territorial, knowing there is only so much room to be had and he needs to exert his dominance on what he can claim now, since there is such a scarcity.

Additional variable being as I got my last tang addition and currently QT'ing him right now. It's a 3" hippo tang. True to their species, he's shy as all get out. That was going to be my tang population in that tank but the more I look at it, the more I'm concerned it will not work out.

I would like all to be one big happy family but I'm thinking the sailfin may have to move on to a bigger tank and I'll let the yellow tang and hippo tang play with each other since they are the same size. Would I be crazy to try to introduce the hippo to the group in about 2 weeks? Or just go ahead and let the sailfin go to a bigger tank with someone else and have the yellow and hippo make friends?

Thanks for all your advice.

-Ty

Edited March 24, 2011 by JeeperTy

[pbnj]

I don't think there's anything you can do to get two fish to get along. They either do/don't or they will/won't, all on their own.

I've read that re-arranging the rockwork after the've established their own territories can be helpful (kind of creates a state of territory confusion), but who knows.

[Derek]

As a tang enthusiast I have found that they do eventually strike a balance. If they hated each other one of them would be dead already.

[+Hydro]

I would get rid of the yellow, he was always kind of a jerk. That yellow I bet is a big part of the problem, it won't submit to the sailfin and that's why they are fighting. In my tank there was the occasional argument but there are more gallons to call home. I have a 3" hippo in my tank and the sailfin never even looked at it. There was such a size difference there was no contest.

[FarmerTy]

I guess I'll see once the hippo is done with the quarantine and I put it in the tank, what happens after that. I figured the sailfin was the issue since the yellow tang runs at the sight of me, making me think he was a little skittish and was getting bullied.

-Ty

[Juiceman]

I had a Sailfin in my tank once I gave up on the Hippos. Then a few weeks later a added a slightly larger Yellow Tang. maybe 1/2 inch bigger.

The Sailfin was keeping the Yellow in check for a long time, the Yellow would always be skittish, and retreat whenever feeding was going on or anything.

They eventually seemed to get along, and were always out swimming and eating together.

Then one day I noticed that the Yellow flipped the script on the Sailfin, and Claimed dominance, the next day the Sailfin was lying on the bottom of the tank, and hiding in the back, he didn't come out all day until the main lights went out, after the feeding already occured. They next day, the Sailfin was dead.

I'm not sure what happened to flip the dominance, but now, the Yellow Tang is the aggressor in my tank. I'm currently working on a trap to get him out!

[Timfish]

As long as there is not any actual injuries being caused and the submissive fish is maintaining excellent body weight and is coming out to eat with the other fish I would wait and see what happens after adding more fish. If you are still seeing a lot of aggression a month or two after getting all the tangs you want in your tank then I would seriously consider taking out somebody again based on whether there is any actual injuries being caused and the submissive fish is maintaining excellent body weight and is coming out to eat with the other fish . I have had tangs that were together for as long as five years suddenly decide that cohabitation was not an option. I am assuming just from what I've seen the fish are maturing and in some cases I suspect have paired off but I haven't seen any research on this.

[FarmerTy]

Fortunately both are still eating and coming out to eat. I'm more worried about the new addition hippo tang then the yellow and sailfin right now. They are fighting but the yellow is aggressive enough to not be scared off from getting some food, and nobody is getting hurt. The hippo is chicken #@!# and I'm afraid once introduced, he'll run and hide and starve to death. That's why I'm going to acclimate him to me feeding him before he goes into the main tank.

-Ty

BTW, sizes of the fishes below:

yellow: 4"

sailfin: 6"

hippo: 3"

[+Hydro]

If there is fighting going on in the tank I would wait to introduce the hippo for a couple reasons. Mainly hippo tangs are ich magnets and if introduced to a stressed tank it could cause it to break out in ich. If you have good QT setup I would leave it in there for the suggested 6 weeks. Those fish are so sensitive not much stress kills them, I would wait till they yellow and sailfin work things out. Maybe some smaller fish added would help things, divert some of the attention.