Can someone please loan me a fish trap?

[cdf]

.....

[cdf]

.....

[cdf]

.....

[Isaac]

In the past i made a fish trap w/ an old breeding net cube (lets call it a hangon tank made of mesh), and the opening of a minnow trap from academy (cut bottle openings never worked for me). you slit the mesh on one side, sew the minnow trap opening into the mesh, put it in tank, add food to the trap. I cant find my old one or i'd take picts. worked well!

[mFrame]

Which fish is he bullying? Is he the largest in the tank?

[cdf]

.....

[mFrame]

It actually sounds like you need more large fish. Clowns are basically territorial and will guard the spot(s) they choose to host. Firefish and notoriously shy. The tang is probably bored. I'd look at getting another, something like a Kole tang (great fish, don't get too large) and maybe some dither fish (chromis or other smaller schooling fish that stay out).

In dealing with fish aggression I've found you either need very few fish, or many more. The many more serve as distractions so that one in particular won't get picked on.

Interested to see what others say.

(Note, moving this thread to Reefkeeping instead of Emergency)

[+BobcatReefer]

That was my thought as well Mike. Tang is the biggest by orders of magnitude and needs another larger, active fish to pal around w/. Based on the description of actions, the tang isn't going after the other fish, as he stops after a quick charge.

[FarmerTy]

Here are my thoughts. Mike has a solid theory on the fish, either keep it mininally stocked, or stock it enough that no fish has the ability to stake out a territory.

The problem I see is either way the yellow will need to be removed as it has claimed the tank as its territory already. Adding another large fish is going to encite a war. The yellow tang will defend its territory. If the yellow was added with other large fish together, they'd more than likely all coexist.

You can either remove the yellow and put it in another tank for awhile, get your new big fish and introduce them all together, or if you are able to actually catch the yellow, just move him along to another home that is more suitable.

[cdf]

.....

[FarmerTy]

FWIW, I mean no offense to Sam but those tangs needed a bigger tank than what he had. There was really no open swimming space and nasos and hippos need a ton of lateral space to swim back and forth. They were healthy as all get out but just looked cramped everytime I saw them. Luckily he's in the market for a larger tank so those giant tangs can stretch out a bit soon.

I don't know if you want to go tang crazy in there but you could look at other options as well. Even just getting a bunch more smaller fish may be helpful, such as anthias or wrasses.

Personally, the craziest fish I ever owned was a yellow tang. She would just streak across the tank for no reason, flash at nobody... just did it because she felt like she needed to. Her nervous energy always spooked the other fish but they eventually got used to her craziness. I would probably never keep one again after the experience with her.

I was actually thinking a foxface but looks like that option may be off the table.

[cdf]

.....

[FarmerTy]

I always like the look of a tank being dominated by a ton of small fishes than a few large fishes. Don't take my own tank for example as I have a bunch of large fishes.

Keep the tang and just add some wrasses and anthias and call it a day. They eat lots and have high metabolisms so hopefully that'll keep your nitrates where you want them.

[Timfish]

Well, I'm going to throw in my 2 cents. First off I didn't see you mention how much and more importantly how often you feed. I have seen the "spastic" and aggression level of fish dramatically reduce by adding an autofeeder that feeds multiple times a day. (Notably this worked very well with Elvis when he was rehomed he became very spastic which would upset everybody http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/30396-elvis-is-20-at-least/ ) It doesn't have to feed very much and it can be positioned so it drops food in the return output spreading it around the tank. And whether or not you keep this tang any fish that is primarily a herbivore or planktivore will do better if their feeding is more frequent throughout the day.

If you do use a trap it might work better if you can stick a mirror in it. This doesn't usually work for me but in one instance with a purple tang that refused for several days to go into the trap to feed putting a mirror in it caught it almost immediatly.

As far as adding more tangs my experience has been long term success greatly increases if different ages (read as different sizes) are added. A group of tangs as juveniles may get along but as they become sexually mature social dynamics can change significantly. Using Yellow Tangs as an example I've had excellent long term success even with just two by getting a juvenile first then adding a mature one (at least 5 years old) after the first is acclimated.

The caveat though is these are pretty smart animals and they do have their likes and dislikes and sometimes you end up with two that just do not like each other.

[FarmerTy]

... I've had excellent long term success even with just two by getting a juvenile first then adding a mature one (at least 5 years old) after the first is acclimated...

Wait, I joined ARC in 2007 and you joined in 2009. I think I was pretty acclimated by the time you came around Tim. How come it didn't work out?

[cdf]

.....

[Timfish]

... I've had excellent long term success even with just two by getting a juvenile first then adding a mature one (at least 5 years old) after the first is acclimated...

Wait, I joined ARC in 2007 and you joined in 2009. I think I was pretty acclimated by the time you came around Tim. How come it didn't work out?

Well, there's this observation Ty:

. . . The caveat though is these are pretty smart animals and they do have their likes and dislikes and sometimes you end up with two that just do not like each other.

[Timfish]

Cdf, with Elvis the autofeeder was set to feed 8 times a day but the pellets would all be eaten in in about half a minute at the most. They are also feed in the evenings about an 1/8th teaspoon of pellets. When increasing feed (and with most changes in an ecosystem) single cell algae will invariably be the quickest to react. It takes time for corals and the other animals to catch up so more frequent water changes and more aggressive algae removal may be needed.

[Timfish]

... I've had excellent long term success even with just two by getting a juvenile first then adding a mature one (at least 5 years old) after the first is acclimated...

Wait, I joined ARC in 2007 and you joined in 2009. I think I was pretty acclimated by the time you came around Tim. How come it didn't work out?

Wait, did you just call me an old geezer?!

[cdf]

.....

[FarmerTy]

... I've had excellent long term success even with just two by getting a juvenile first then adding a mature one (at least 5 years old) after the first is acclimated...

Wait, I joined ARC in 2007 and you joined in 2009. I think I was pretty acclimated by the time you came around Tim. How come it didn't work out?

Wait, did you just call me an old geezer?!

The "mature one"!

[Timfish]

That's what I thought Ty!

[Reburn]

Don't worry Tim, Ty is that spastic yellow tang

[FarmerTy]

Don't worry Tim, Ty is that spastic yellow tang

Woohoo! Look at me! I'm crazy! Give me attention!

[Timfish]

Don't worry Tim, Ty is that spastic yellow tang

Woohoo! Look at me! I'm crazy! Give me attention!

Cdf, I think this would be a good example to demonstrate the usefulness of an autofeeder. I'm quite certain if Ty's wife rigged up some kind of autofeeder for him, her life would be much easier and he would be easier to deal with!

(At Ty )