Bad Yellow Tang!

[madness]

Every time I try to put new fish into my 90 gal tank my yellow tang tries to hurt them. I just introduced a pearlscale butterfly to my tank on Saturday and now it looks like he's dying because the yellow tang keep bothering him. How do I prevent this from happening in the future? I don't have a QT, or Refugium.
My yellow tang is about 2", I also have a 3-striped damsel, a cardinal, and a blenny. They have been in the tank for about 7 months now...my tank is about a year old.
90gal tank, about 90lbs LR, and 3" LS bed.
:help:

 

[g-dude]

Yeah... Im not surprised. Tangs are usally like that. What i like to do is turn off the light before i add another fish. I leave it off until the next day. Now when i turn on the light the next morning and my yellow tang gives chase to my new fish. I will turn off the light and throw a blanket over my tank and keep the rooms light off until the next day. At this point my tang is okay with my new addition. Dont worry about feeding theyll survive.
Good luck to you.:happy:

 

[dragonfli]

could you get a QT ? i put my territorial guys into the QT and rearrange "their area" a bit. put the newbie in, and a day later put mister hot shot back in. not sure if you are willing to rearrange a little( really it doesnt take much moving to do the trick). i have found it works for me and i get to change things up a bit.

 

[madness]

Thanks guys.
I'll try the "black-out" thing when ever I get new fish in the future, I hope that works. As far as getting a QT I've been thinking about it but I just don't have the space for it....at least I don't think I do. Maybe I can see some pics of your QT setup so I can really know.

 

[knots]

How or why does the "black out" work? Does the tang forget or what?:notsure: Sounds like a great idea but I don't understand the logic. And do you know if it works for other fish also.

 

[madness]

Yeah, I'm willing to try it but don't fully understand the logic myself. Can anyone explain?

 

[madness]

Maybe fish can't see well in the dark?

 

[tuna dan]

Try Rearraging the rock before you put the new fish in the tang will be confused and wont think it is his tank so much anymore.

 

[pontius]

imo, fish the size of a tang and butterfly are going to be too much, not just the bioload, but the territoriality of the tang. even if it could work, the butterfly should've been added first.

 

[madness]

Why should butterflies be added first, I thought tangs were more aggressive?

 

[pontius]

Originally Posted by MAdNESS
Why should butterflies be added first, I thought tangs were more aggressive?
exactly, the more aggresive should be added last.

 

[1journeyman]

If your live rock is an issue, I've had luck in the past by adding some objects to the tank (pipes, big fish nets, etc..). This also throws off the fishes sense of "home turf".