Can anyone explain why my purple firefish is like deadly afraid of my yellow tang?

[fishygurl]

I just got a yellow tang a few days ago and my purple firefish will not come out when it is around. The yellow tang has gotten along with everyone in the tank so far swimming with each fish but not attacking them, i think the yellow tang is trying to go greet and swim with the purple firefish too but when ever the yellow starts headin towards the firefish the firefish will DART into the rock and the yellow tang will try to follow for a couple seconds till it gives up and goes and swims with another fish, the firefish takes awhile to come out again and it normally is in the front of the tank which it hasnt been since the yellow tang was added, but the firefish does eat still so thats good.
My flame angel will bully my firefish every once in awhile for a couple seconds but the firefish darts into a rock and then comes out shortly after, so i dont know why its so afraid of the yellow tang

does anyone have any ideas why?

 

[dinogeorge]

In the world of small fish, EVERYONE looks like a shark to you. Until your Gobie clearly understands that your yellow is not a threat, he'll stay hidden. No big woop. Just a natural reaction and nearly all small fish do it for survival. They don't think like we do, because we don't have many things that try and eat us every day.

They will get along fine in four or five days..you watch!

 

[dogstar]

I'll let Bob Fenner explain it..this is from his web site..
"" By and large, they are easily intimidated by active community fishes that will out-compete them for food, if not outright terrorize them. Active fishes like damsels, tangs and wrasses are unsuitable tankmates in all but the largest aquariums and may contribute to the slow attrition of shy Microdesmids......Too often, they find themselves in mixed community tanks with active or aggressive fishes in whose company they dwindle...... The list of bullies that will nip, chase or harass Dartfishes is very long. The sheer presence of active community fishes like wrasses and tangs can intimidate Microdesmids into not feeding well or at all, leading to starvation and undue stress. ""
Hopefully this want be the end case with yours.

 

[fishygurl]

ya i dont think he is gonna die or anything its just i enjoyed looking at him so i was wanting to know if i would see him alot again or not... we will see in a couple days if he does any better. And he does come out to eat, just not in the front of the tank where he used to spend his entire day, even with the flame.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by FishyGurl
ya i dont think he is gonna die or anything its just i enjoyed looking at him so i was wanting to know if i would see him alot again or not... we will see in a couple days if he does any better. And he does come out to eat, just not in the front of the tank where he used to spend his entire day, even with the flame.
He is likely to hide for a few days. These fish are not that shy, just cautious.

 

[schmidthouse]

a couple of months ago My purple firefish (Streak) wasn't seen for about two weeks because the damsles we had were such buttheads...we figured that Streak had died. Then one day he popped his head out. When we upgraded to a bigger tank were finnally able to catch the damsles and took them to our lfs. So now Streak is liven large and gets along with all of our fish and so he is not skiddish at all anymore