Wild and Crazy Yellow Tang

[Rob West]

I have the most beautiful Yellow Tang except for one thing, he's wild
and crazy. I am at the point where it might be time to take him back
to his LFS home so that I can have the chance to have other fish and
calm my tank, unless someone has a suggestion or idea I have not
tried.

This perfect specimen is the dominant fish in a 72 gallon fish only
tank but in the 10 months or so that I have had him, he shows not one
sign of calming into his environment. If I approach the tank to feed
or just walk by, he races to the back of the tank where he just tears
back and forth, speeding to one side, jamming on the brakes and then
back and forth with same act over and over. There's lots of cover in
the tank including spots where he can't get that other smaller fish
can as well as spots for him to hide. He's about four inches of disk
body and his tank mates are a 3" Niger trigger, a 2.5" tomato clown
and 3 stripe damsel and a smaller yellow tail blue damsel. The tang
is frequently trying to spike the trigger and often goes after the
clown and the 3 stripe. Tank maintenance time is one the events that
causes him to get aggressive and attack. All of the existing fish are
in apparently perfect health, eat well and even the trigger is
peaceful with the others other than occasional harmless posturing but
the tang is pretty nasty with his scalpels, actively trying to rip
open his mates. I lost a beautiful Flame angel to a wound I could not
heal from his aggression and the intimidation of having to hide in a
coral cave where the tang cannot fit. Flame would come out to eat or
browse and he'd get attacked. I tried rearranging the rocks to put
them all on equal footing but that did no good.

I know fish are all individuals but my impression has been that Yellow
Tangs are peaceful, inquisitive and gentle. I'd eventually like to
add a Flame and have it survive as well as maybe a Naso and if I can
find a hearty species, some kind of butterfly, all in slow time. But,
I'm afraid that as long as the Yellow is there, its going to be chaos
and early death.

Anyone run into this with Yellows before or have another suggestion?
The tank is beautiful, stable and water quality is about as close to
perfect as it can be. Fish are fed a varied diet of mixed frozen,
Prime Reef flakes and Seaweed Selects to browse. I hate to think of
giving up this beautiful Yellow Tang but that's pretty close to where
I'm at. He might be just fine in a large tank where he's the junior
in size.

Suggestions appreciated.

Thanks.
Rob West

Sarasota, FL

[Dsybok]

I have never had a yellow tang that could tolerate any of his tankmates, and
as a result I no longer keep yellow tangs. I would say your experience is
normal, except that I have heard of people keeping them with no trouble.

Mine always attacked anything that looked remotely like them, any fish the
same size, or color, and god forbid another tang was in there, it wouldnt
last the night.

Schooling this fish should be possible, as the agression can be moderated by
having several specimens and letting them establish their pecking order etc.

Good luck, Id take him back and trade him for a Hippo or a sailfin, much
more sociable.

D
"Rob West" > wrote in message
om...
> I have the most beautiful Yellow Tang except for one thing, he's wild
> and crazy. I am at the point where it might be time to take him back
> to his LFS home so that I can have the chance to have other fish and
> calm my tank, unless someone has a suggestion or idea I have not
> tried.
>
> This perfect specimen is the dominant fish in a 72 gallon fish only
> tank but in the 10 months or so that I have had him, he shows not one
> sign of calming into his environment. If I approach the tank to feed
> or just walk by, he races to the back of the tank where he just tears
> back and forth, speeding to one side, jamming on the brakes and then
> back and forth with same act over and over. There's lots of cover in
> the tank including spots where he can't get that other smaller fish
> can as well as spots for him to hide. He's about four inches of disk
> body and his tank mates are a 3" Niger trigger, a 2.5" tomato clown
> and 3 stripe damsel and a smaller yellow tail blue damsel. The tang
> is frequently trying to spike the trigger and often goes after the
> clown and the 3 stripe. Tank maintenance time is one the events that
> causes him to get aggressive and attack. All of the existing fish are
> in apparently perfect health, eat well and even the trigger is
> peaceful with the others other than occasional harmless posturing but
> the tang is pretty nasty with his scalpels, actively trying to rip
> open his mates. I lost a beautiful Flame angel to a wound I could not
> heal from his aggression and the intimidation of having to hide in a
> coral cave where the tang cannot fit. Flame would come out to eat or
> browse and he'd get attacked. I tried rearranging the rocks to put
> them all on equal footing but that did no good.
>
> I know fish are all individuals but my impression has been that Yellow
> Tangs are peaceful, inquisitive and gentle. I'd eventually like to
> add a Flame and have it survive as well as maybe a Naso and if I can
> find a hearty species, some kind of butterfly, all in slow time. But,
> I'm afraid that as long as the Yellow is there, its going to be chaos
> and early death.
>
> Anyone run into this with Yellows before or have another suggestion?
> The tank is beautiful, stable and water quality is about as close to
> perfect as it can be. Fish are fed a varied diet of mixed frozen,
> Prime Reef flakes and Seaweed Selects to browse. I hate to think of
> giving up this beautiful Yellow Tang but that's pretty close to where
> I'm at. He might be just fine in a large tank where he's the junior
> in size.
>
> Suggestions appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
> Rob West
>
> Sarasota, FL

[Rick]

I have had some Tangs act the same way but in the recent years no
trouble. When I buy a tang I look for them in the med size not a large
mature adult.

The yellow tang I have now darts around from time to time just as you
mentioned yours does. I think its just their nature. My Tang has been
in my tank for over a year now and has almost doubled its size, I
don't have any other tangs and I won't buy any for the same
reasons, I don't want any trouble. My tang does get along with the
others in the tank (Angel fish,Gobys, Clowns ect..) and I will add more
fish, but 1 large tang is it.

I remember when I was younger 15-16 I had the same problem with a
yellow tang you are having so I got some competition for the dominate
Tang. (Himself)

I Put a mirror against the side of the tank where the Tang likes to
hang out and he went nuts for a few days seeing and sparing against
himself but after sometime when he started to settle down. Then I took
the mirror away and he started to play well with the others. It's
like breaking in a bronco. Putting a mirror against the tank will also
tell you somting about you fish.. and thats if they go really nuts for
to long dont buy another of the same kind. Rule of thumb you shoulnt
do that anyway.

If the fish does not settle down after a couple of days seeing himself,
take him back because if the fish goes ape to long it will stress him
out and we know that causes diseases.

I once had a puffer that hung out in the corner of the tank an watched
the TV. (true story, but he never had any favorite shows and it didnt
matter if the show was in living color or not.. LOL). These critters
are really interesting.

Good Luck.. Rick








Rob West wrote:
> I have the most beautiful Yellow Tang except for one thing, he's wild
> and crazy. I am at the point where it might be time to take him back
> to his LFS home so that I can have the chance to have other fish and
> calm my tank, unless someone has a suggestion or idea I have not
> tried.
>
> This perfect specimen is the dominant fish in a 72 gallon fish only
> tank but in the 10 months or so that I have had him, he shows not one
> sign of calming into his environment. If I approach the tank to feed
> or just walk by, he races to the back of the tank where he just tears
> back and forth, speeding to one side, jamming on the brakes and then
> back and forth with same act over and over. There's lots of cover in
> the tank including spots where he can't get that other smaller fish
> can as well as spots for him to hide. He's about four inches of disk
> body and his tank mates are a 3" Niger trigger, a 2.5" tomato clown
> and 3 stripe damsel and a smaller yellow tail blue damsel. The tang
> is frequently trying to spike the trigger and often goes after the
> clown and the 3 stripe. Tank maintenance time is one the events that
> causes him to get aggressive and attack. All of the existing fish
are
> in apparently perfect health, eat well and even the trigger is
> peaceful with the others other than occasional harmless posturing but
> the tang is pretty nasty with his scalpels, actively trying to rip
> open his mates. I lost a beautiful Flame angel to a wound I could
not
> heal from his aggression and the intimidation of having to hide in a
> coral cave where the tang cannot fit. Flame would come out to eat or
> browse and he'd get attacked. I tried rearranging the rocks to put
> them all on equal footing but that did no good.
>
> I know fish are all individuals but my impression has been that
Yellow
> Tangs are peaceful, inquisitive and gentle. I'd eventually like to
> add a Flame and have it survive as well as maybe a Naso and if I can
> find a hearty species, some kind of butterfly, all in slow time.
But,
> I'm afraid that as long as the Yellow is there, its going to be chaos
> and early death.
>
> Anyone run into this with Yellows before or have another suggestion?
> The tank is beautiful, stable and water quality is about as close to
> perfect as it can be. Fish are fed a varied diet of mixed frozen,
> Prime Reef flakes and Seaweed Selects to browse. I hate to think of
> giving up this beautiful Yellow Tang but that's pretty close to where
> I'm at. He might be just fine in a large tank where he's the junior
> in size.
>
> Suggestions appreciated.
>
> Thanks.
> Rob West
>
> Sarasota, FL

[Richard Periut]

Dsybok wrote:

> I have never had a yellow tang that could tolerate any of his tankmates, and
> as a result I no longer keep yellow tangs. I would say your experience is
> normal, except that I have heard of people keeping them with no trouble.
>
> Mine always attacked anything that looked remotely like them, any fish the
> same size, or color, and god forbid another tang was in there, it wouldnt
> last the night.
>
> Schooling this fish should be possible, as the agression can be moderated by
> having several specimens and letting them establish their pecking order etc.
>
> Good luck, Id take him back and trade him for a Hippo or a sailfin, much
> more sociable.
>
> D
> "Rob West" > wrote in message
> om...
>
>>I have the most beautiful Yellow Tang except for one thing, he's wild
>>and crazy. I am at the point where it might be time to take him back
>>to his LFS home so that I can have the chance to have other fish and
>>calm my tank, unless someone has a suggestion or idea I have not
>>tried.
>>
>>This perfect specimen is the dominant fish in a 72 gallon fish only
>>tank but in the 10 months or so that I have had him, he shows not one
>>sign of calming into his environment. If I approach the tank to feed
>>or just walk by, he races to the back of the tank where he just tears
>>back and forth, speeding to one side, jamming on the brakes and then
>>back and forth with same act over and over. There's lots of cover in
>>the tank including spots where he can't get that other smaller fish
>>can as well as spots for him to hide. He's about four inches of disk
>>body and his tank mates are a 3" Niger trigger, a 2.5" tomato clown
>>and 3 stripe damsel and a smaller yellow tail blue damsel. The tang
>>is frequently trying to spike the trigger and often goes after the
>>clown and the 3 stripe. Tank maintenance time is one the events that
>>causes him to get aggressive and attack. All of the existing fish are
>>in apparently perfect health, eat well and even the trigger is
>>peaceful with the others other than occasional harmless posturing but
>>the tang is pretty nasty with his scalpels, actively trying to rip
>>open his mates. I lost a beautiful Flame angel to a wound I could not
>>heal from his aggression and the intimidation of having to hide in a
>>coral cave where the tang cannot fit. Flame would come out to eat or
>>browse and he'd get attacked. I tried rearranging the rocks to put
>>them all on equal footing but that did no good.
>>
>>I know fish are all individuals but my impression has been that Yellow
>>Tangs are peaceful, inquisitive and gentle. I'd eventually like to
>>add a Flame and have it survive as well as maybe a Naso and if I can
>>find a hearty species, some kind of butterfly, all in slow time. But,
>>I'm afraid that as long as the Yellow is there, its going to be chaos
>>and early death.
>>
>>Anyone run into this with Yellows before or have another suggestion?
>>The tank is beautiful, stable and water quality is about as close to
>>perfect as it can be. Fish are fed a varied diet of mixed frozen,
>>Prime Reef flakes and Seaweed Selects to browse. I hate to think of
>>giving up this beautiful Yellow Tang but that's pretty close to where
>>I'm at. He might be just fine in a large tank where he's the junior
>>in size.
>>
>>Suggestions appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks.
>>Rob West

>>Sarasota, FL
>
>
>

My 2 cents:

The yellow tang I currently own had an episode of what I call psychosis.
He killed my baby hippo tang (probably because he had a bit of yellow,)
and he would constantly fight with this own image. So much, he started
to show a (on his sides) line of what I assumed to be blood.

Eventually, he stopped doing it except on rare occasions.

I guess I enjoy the color and gracefulness so much, I stuck with him/her.

Rich

--
"Dum Spiro, Spero."

As long as I breath, I hope.

Cicero (Ancient Rome)





ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø,¸¸¸,ø¤° `°¤ø,¸¸,ø¤°`°¤ø
><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·.¸. ><((((º> ·´¯`·. , .·´¯`·.. ><((((º>

Let there be fish!!!

[Rich R]

I do best with sets of three if you must have a fish like a tang.And one
always works the best of course
www.reeftanksonline.com



"Dsybok" > wrote in message
hlink.net...
>I have never had a yellow tang that could tolerate any of his tankmates,
>and
> as a result I no longer keep yellow tangs. I would say your experience is
> normal, except that I have heard of people keeping them with no trouble.
>
> Mine always attacked anything that looked remotely like them, any fish the
> same size, or color, and god forbid another tang was in there, it wouldnt
> last the night.
>
> Schooling this fish should be possible, as the agression can be moderated
> by
> having several specimens and letting them establish their pecking order
> etc.
>
> Good luck, Id take him back and trade him for a Hippo or a sailfin, much
> more sociable.
>
> D
> "Rob West" > wrote in message
> om...
>> I have the most beautiful Yellow Tang except for one thing, he's wild
>> and crazy. I am at the point where it might be time to take him back
>> to his LFS home so that I can have the chance to have other fish and
>> calm my tank, unless someone has a suggestion or idea I have not
>> tried.
>>
>> This perfect specimen is the dominant fish in a 72 gallon fish only
>> tank but in the 10 months or so that I have had him, he shows not one
>> sign of calming into his environment. If I approach the tank to feed
>> or just walk by, he races to the back of the tank where he just tears
>> back and forth, speeding to one side, jamming on the brakes and then
>> back and forth with same act over and over. There's lots of cover in
>> the tank including spots where he can't get that other smaller fish
>> can as well as spots for him to hide. He's about four inches of disk
>> body and his tank mates are a 3" Niger trigger, a 2.5" tomato clown
>> and 3 stripe damsel and a smaller yellow tail blue damsel. The tang
>> is frequently trying to spike the trigger and often goes after the
>> clown and the 3 stripe. Tank maintenance time is one the events that
>> causes him to get aggressive and attack. All of the existing fish are
>> in apparently perfect health, eat well and even the trigger is
>> peaceful with the others other than occasional harmless posturing but
>> the tang is pretty nasty with his scalpels, actively trying to rip
>> open his mates. I lost a beautiful Flame angel to a wound I could not
>> heal from his aggression and the intimidation of having to hide in a
>> coral cave where the tang cannot fit. Flame would come out to eat or
>> browse and he'd get attacked. I tried rearranging the rocks to put
>> them all on equal footing but that did no good.
>>
>> I know fish are all individuals but my impression has been that Yellow
>> Tangs are peaceful, inquisitive and gentle. I'd eventually like to
>> add a Flame and have it survive as well as maybe a Naso and if I can
>> find a hearty species, some kind of butterfly, all in slow time. But,
>> I'm afraid that as long as the Yellow is there, its going to be chaos
>> and early death.
>>
>> Anyone run into this with Yellows before or have another suggestion?
>> The tank is beautiful, stable and water quality is about as close to
>> perfect as it can be. Fish are fed a varied diet of mixed frozen,
>> Prime Reef flakes and Seaweed Selects to browse. I hate to think of
>> giving up this beautiful Yellow Tang but that's pretty close to where
>> I'm at. He might be just fine in a large tank where he's the junior
>> in size.
>>
>> Suggestions appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Rob West
>>
>> Sarasota, FL
>
>
>

[Gerard Tremblay]

I had this same problem. I added a Copper Banded Butterfly and my Yellow
Tang terrorized it to the point it hid in the corner. Then one day the
Butterfly had a huge gash on its back I ended up getting a tank separator
and split the tank down the middle. I left it low enough so that the smaller
fish could cross over the top. This worked for a couple of weeks and then
one day the Tang managed to find a way to cross over. I then ended up
putting the Tang in another tank.(I have a 10 gallon hospital/quarantine
tank) The Butterfly died from its wound and the Tang died a few weeks
later. I have several ideas why but wont get into it here. I recently got a
new Yellow Tang. This one is small (about 1") and put him in with a Coral
Beauty Angel at the same time. I have several other fish including a large
Blue (Hippo) Tang which is about 5". So far everyone is playing together
nicely. The Yellow Tang doesn't seem to have claimed any territory and swims
side by side with the Blue Tang. Its been about three weeks. Now I'm
wondering if adding more fish will be a problem in the future. From all this
I can offer one suggestion. The Yellow Tang, being so aggressive and
territorial should be one of the last fishes to be added to a tank.
"Rick" > wrote in message
ups.com...
>I have had some Tangs act the same way but in the recent years no
> trouble. When I buy a tang I look for them in the med size not a large
> mature adult.
>
> The yellow tang I have now darts around from time to time just as you
> mentioned yours does. I think its just their nature. My Tang has been
> in my tank for over a year now and has almost doubled its size, I
> don't have any other tangs and I won't buy any for the same
> reasons, I don't want any trouble. My tang does get along with the
> others in the tank (Angel fish,Gobys, Clowns ect..) and I will add more
> fish, but 1 large tang is it.
>
> I remember when I was younger 15-16 I had the same problem with a
> yellow tang you are having so I got some competition for the dominate
> Tang. (Himself)
>
> I Put a mirror against the side of the tank where the Tang likes to
> hang out and he went nuts for a few days seeing and sparing against
> himself but after sometime when he started to settle down. Then I took
> the mirror away and he started to play well with the others. It's
> like breaking in a bronco. Putting a mirror against the tank will also
> tell you somting about you fish.. and thats if they go really nuts for
> to long dont buy another of the same kind. Rule of thumb you shoulnt
> do that anyway.
>
> If the fish does not settle down after a couple of days seeing himself,
> take him back because if the fish goes ape to long it will stress him
> out and we know that causes diseases.
>
> I once had a puffer that hung out in the corner of the tank an watched
> the TV. (true story, but he never had any favorite shows and it didnt
> matter if the show was in living color or not.. LOL). These critters
> are really interesting.
>
> Good Luck.. Rick
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> Rob West wrote:
>> I have the most beautiful Yellow Tang except for one thing, he's wild
>> and crazy. I am at the point where it might be time to take him back
>> to his LFS home so that I can have the chance to have other fish and
>> calm my tank, unless someone has a suggestion or idea I have not
>> tried.
>>
>> This perfect specimen is the dominant fish in a 72 gallon fish only
>> tank but in the 10 months or so that I have had him, he shows not one
>> sign of calming into his environment. If I approach the tank to feed
>> or just walk by, he races to the back of the tank where he just tears
>> back and forth, speeding to one side, jamming on the brakes and then
>> back and forth with same act over and over. There's lots of cover in
>> the tank including spots where he can't get that other smaller fish
>> can as well as spots for him to hide. He's about four inches of disk
>> body and his tank mates are a 3" Niger trigger, a 2.5" tomato clown
>> and 3 stripe damsel and a smaller yellow tail blue damsel. The tang
>> is frequently trying to spike the trigger and often goes after the
>> clown and the 3 stripe. Tank maintenance time is one the events that
>> causes him to get aggressive and attack. All of the existing fish
> are
>> in apparently perfect health, eat well and even the trigger is
>> peaceful with the others other than occasional harmless posturing but
>> the tang is pretty nasty with his scalpels, actively trying to rip
>> open his mates. I lost a beautiful Flame angel to a wound I could
> not
>> heal from his aggression and the intimidation of having to hide in a
>> coral cave where the tang cannot fit. Flame would come out to eat or
>> browse and he'd get attacked. I tried rearranging the rocks to put
>> them all on equal footing but that did no good.
>>
>> I know fish are all individuals but my impression has been that
> Yellow
>> Tangs are peaceful, inquisitive and gentle. I'd eventually like to
>> add a Flame and have it survive as well as maybe a Naso and if I can
>> find a hearty species, some kind of butterfly, all in slow time.
> But,
>> I'm afraid that as long as the Yellow is there, its going to be chaos
>> and early death.
>>
>> Anyone run into this with Yellows before or have another suggestion?
>> The tank is beautiful, stable and water quality is about as close to
>> perfect as it can be. Fish are fed a varied diet of mixed frozen,
>> Prime Reef flakes and Seaweed Selects to browse. I hate to think of
>> giving up this beautiful Yellow Tang but that's pretty close to where
>> I'm at. He might be just fine in a large tank where he's the junior
>> in size.
>>
>> Suggestions appreciated.
>>
>> Thanks.
>> Rob West
>>
>> Sarasota, FL
>