Aggressive Yellow Tailed Tang?

[emhcee]

Hello one and all, I'm a long time reader of these forums, this is my first post. I love this place! So much information and great feedback.
I have a 75 Gallon reef tank that's been set up for almost a year now... I'm going extremely slow on adding things, based on cost and my being meticulous. I've got a lot of live rock in the tank, some star polyps and two tank raised perculas. I also have a very small yellow tailed tang and things have been fine.
Last week I added a pair of mustang sea horses... and it seems like the tang is just harrassing them non stop! Is this normal? I collected the seahorses and put them into a protective netted area for the time being.
What's up? Thanks in advance for the comments!

 

[dogstar]

Im not sure why the tang is being aggressive to the seahorses. IMO thats unusual. But nothing suprises me.
However a 75 g is considered by most people to be to small for Tangs, esp. a Hippo ( if thats what you are calling a YTT ) and it may just be protecting its limited space.
I think that even if the aggression stops and the fish do ignore the horses another issue will be feeding the horses because they move to slow and the fish much faster and the horses will not be able to get the food befor the other fish do.
Typically, sea horses are kept in a species only tank and tankmates should be chosen very carefully for them, passive and slow moveing like the horses are.
Sorry this is not much help but I tried.

 

[promisetbg]

Welcome! I would like to suggest that you do alot of research on keeping seahorses. They should not be kept with tangs or any aggressive fish. Pipefish and mandarins are a couple that are suitable.

 

[emhcee]

Thanks Dogstar, and promisetbg, I found that information about the seahorses too, only a little too late. I will say this, these two seahorses feed aggressively and get right into the mix when it's time to eat!
Now I just need to figure out what to do...

 

[promisetbg]

You could take the tang out and get some peaceful fish, or take the horses and put them in their own tank. Which would have to be at least twice as high as thier adult size. A 29 or 45 gal would work. Are they CB horses?

 

[emhcee]

What's a CB horse? I got these two from Ocean Riders... I switched em up, and put the tang in the extra tank for now. The perculas don't seem to mind the horses at all.
Thanks!

 

[promisetbg]

CB= Captive bred...TR=tank raised...WC= wild caught.

Sounds great...good luck w/ them.

 

[lion_crazz]

Yep, I would keep the sea horses only with extremely peaceful fish. Even the clowns may become a problem after a while. Like stated, pipefish, mandarins, and other extremely slow eaters are the only things I would put in a seahorse tank.

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by emhcee
What's a CB horse? I got these two from Ocean Riders... I switched em up, and put the tang in the extra tank for now. The perculas don't seem to mind the horses at all.
Thanks!
Ecellent choice. My Mustangs are with one tomato clown and an assortment of other not-so-aggressive fish. The horses can live in a community, just be mindful.