Kole Tang picking on Coral Beauty

[ukcats]

I have had a Kole Tang for about a year now. I just introduced a Coral Beauty a coulpe of days ago and the Kole has him pinned down under some rocks. Will this behavior subside or will I have to rearrange rocks/remove then reintroduce the Kole? I also have a Maroon Clown and a very small Mandarin in a 65 gallon tank. Thanks for your time.

 

[ukcats]

anyone?

 

[speg]

Its strange to hear because kole tangs are very passive fish. They are probably the least aggressive tang there is. That being said... has he actually attacked the CB? Or is he just checking him out more or less? You said he pinned him down but you didnt say if he is trying to take a nibble out of him or not
If fish can survive the stress of being introduced into a new tank with more aggressive fish attacking them.. then after a week or two things should start settling down and he'll become one of the 'posse'. Though it wouldnt be a bad idea to move things around in the tank at night or something which would cause the kole tang to hopefully become less aggressive towards the newcomer.

 

[aquafox]

I absolutely disagree with the above statment that kole tangs are very passive - that is not my experience at all!! I have 220 reef and the kole is my tank bully! I have a naso and a yellow tang that are more than twice his size and he picks on them! All fish in the tank give him a wide path because he is such a meanie - I also have a coral beauty but luckily he was a resident before the kole, with developed territory and able to hold his own - his size is large enough and he is fast enough to contend with the kole.
Some advice - first of all, lights out, for several hours at least. Then I definitely agree with rearranging the tank - and not just a little, but as drastically as you can stand. Then watch for damage to the coral beauty - perticularly punctures from the kole's spine. It's not a bad idea if you have a separator of some kind to use it - I have a tank divider that I put in from time to time in the form of a large white mesh laundry bag - it distracts all the fish - they are too busy checking it out to fight - and I can divide the tank up a bit so the new resident can get used to some of the surroundings without trauma. Just be careful if you try this that no one gets tangled in the mesh - and don't leave it indefinitely.
Good luck...and post up the progress....I have had my kole and coral beauty together for about 7 months now and all is well....I just know with this kole, I can't add any fish without some stress and trauma - heck, he even picks on shrimp and crabs!

 

[ukcats]

All is well. They have made their peace and the Kole is now being tolerant to the CB. I didn't even have to rearrange the tank. Thanks for the responses.

 

[ophiura]

Watch out for an ick outbreak in a few days though. I never got this particular combination to work in my smaller size tank. But they hated each other equally. The Kole, though quite small, was the established fish and was not a pacifist at all. The angel had been an established fish in someone else's tank...so not newly captured. It resulted in an ick outbreak that grew progressively worse. I rearranged the tank several times but eventually the angel was taken out, and with it the stressor that resulted in the ick. The sixline wrasse, which didn't care either way, never had signs of ick.

 

[andretti]

Koles and yellows are very agressive for tangs! No matter what I put in my 125 tank (with the exception of corals/inverts) these two thugs pick on it. I call the cole Sadam, and the yellow Hitler. They (Hitler & Sadam) only pick on the new tennants for about 1/2 of a day or so and that's it. I did lose a blue hippo (from stress)

one due to these tyrants. If you are thinking about a yellow tan, make sure it's one of the last fish you get or the yellow will bully the others.

 

[speg]

Maybe i've just got sweet fish or something You hear so many horror stories about yellow tangs being vicious.. yet mine welcomes any newcomer to the tank for about 2 seconds by getting close and checking it out.. then it continues on its way waiting to be fed