My Tangs

[mike22cha]

I got my first fish last sunday!

It's a yellow tang.
Then tonight I went to another fish store and got a purple and salfin tang.

But then I left and my mom called and said Bubles(yellow tang, kid @ fish store named him) and Jules(named after Jules Verne, 20000 Leaguges Under the Sea) were fighting so now Im scared that a 90 dollar fish is going down the drain. It was going to be a great night, Im going to see Casino Royale, and got accepted into a Duke e-studies, but then they are fighting so now Im worried.
They are fighting over my large honeycomb rock. When I got bubbles a week ago, he stayed behind the rocks, so I moved them back. there is still a small gap between the rock and the glass and both Bubles and Jules hid behind there while I was there. Now there fighting over that territory. Should I move that rock forward or farther back so there is no gap?
Reply soon if possible cause Im heading back in that area so I could stop and try to move the rocks if neccasary. :help:

 

[mike22cha]

Bubles:

 

[ophiura]

For these 3 similar tangs, you really must have a tank larger than at least a 150. I know people will disagree, but your $90 fish is very likely to have problems with ick or similar. How much rock do you have???
Several other things:
How old is your tank? Rarely are tangs good first fish.
In a new tank, I would not recommend adding more than a fish or two per week. Watch water chems very closely.

 

[pallan]

rearrange the rock work to diffuse the territory problem. I agree with ophiura that tangs in a new tank could be problems (if the tank is new) they have a huge bioload impact IMO. what size tank are we talking about here. im not a big tang police as i bend some rules to but you do have 3 similiar shaped aggressive/territorial tangs here and if it is a smaller tank, territory is gonna be an issue.
are they all about the same size?

 

[pallan]

just some quick reading of some other posts by you and i see its a 125. thats a plus for you. the bad news is its a young tank and you just added three fish that Poop alot.
watch your chems, rearrange Rockwork to break up territories the tangs may fight some but it should just turn into some flashing for dominance. if things get carried away i would guess it will be the sailfin that will take the brunt of the bullying. be prepared to have to return one or two if that happens.
the purple and yellow are very hardy fish in a mature system. in a new sytem I do worry some
Good Luck sorry if not much help. rearrange the rock hoepfully they will stop fighting

 

[pallan]

ahhhg cant believe i forgot this
Lights shut them off and leave them off ASAP
fishes will go to sleep, and let everyone destress. only turn lights on for short times to feed for at least the next 3 days longer if possible (assuming you dont have corals in there yet) whole nother issue but corals will make it some time without light as well.
the less light the better you can even cover the tank with a blanket or sheet to keep daylight and room lights out if it
feed fish daily (tangs need algae strips) at signs of aggression more than a casual tail swipe shut lights off. They will go back to their respective corners like boxers hearing the bell.
Again good luck let us know how it turns out

 

[mike22cha]

I got my tank already used and the seller said it was ready for fish but I waited for three months to let the chemicals settle.
My mom called this morning and said they were "playing" and the sailfin joined in. My lights were off all last night and probally will be much of today.
I haven't seen them since so is it just first time stress aggressiveness type of thing? I look today to judge if they are "playing" or fighting. How do tangs fight? they dont have a mouth or jaw that big to attack something?
When I last looked they were just sitting their with the tail fins slightly hitting each other and oblivious to each other.
I dont really know how much rocks are in there pound wise but someone who is good at judging by looking can look at my old photos. I really would like to move the rock work all the way back so my tangs come up front and don't hide but Im willing to move them up more for the fish.
When I got the two last night the seller said that two tangs weren't a good idea and have an odd number of tangs. At first I felt it was to soon to add two more in but my dad confinced me into it. I will look today at my fish tank to see if everything is okay but at least they are all alive!

 

[mandarin w]

If you look at the tails of these tangs you will notice a small spike on it. That is how they fight. They tail slap each other until one gives up and goes hide. That is bad, if they go hind they usuall are not allowed out by the other fish to search for food ect. Then this fish usally gets overstressed and can develope ick. Then you have a big problem. Tangs are ick magnets. For the ones that don't coward down they can be seriously hurt by those spikes, that is what they are there for.
The best chance you have is to totally rearrange your rock work. Hopefully the tangs will believe they are in the other tangs territory and behave themself. But if not, which is also a possibility, you may have to decide which one you want to keep and take the other two back to the store. Three tangs in one system is usally not a good ideal unless the system is at least 180gal. But even at that you should get tangs from different families. Yellow and Purple tangs are diffenately from the same family.

 

[mike22cha]

Okay well I never heard that while reading and I heard also that for my size of tank two is the minimual so why did the fish store say to get two and to have three? Wouldn't two just divide the tank so each has its territory?

 

[mandarin w]

Originally Posted by MIKE22cha
Okay well I never heard that while reading and I heard also that for my size of tank two is the minimual so $$$$$why did the fish store say to get two and to have three? $$$$$ Wouldn't two just divide the tank so each has its territory?
Fish aren't born with thought, compasion, logic, reasoning etc. They know one thing, eat to survive. If both fish feel that one certain spot in the tank is the best to get the food they want, they will fight to the death for that spot. The stronger fish wins.
In 10 plus year of dealing with fish, I've never seen a fish back away from food and say excuss me, I've already had five pellets and I've noticed you only got the one, so you should have this last pellet. It wont happen.

 

[ophiura]

I would not say that these fish are "playing." That is a human interpretation of a behavior and it is likely not correct.
There is a logic in similar shape tangs to not only have 2, to have 3. But I would limit that to larger, more established systems. What other fish do you intend for this tank? IMO, you just basically filled it up, except for a few smaller fish.
I would watch your water parameters very very closely every day. I would watch closely for ick as well.

 

[mike22cha]

Dang I hate that fish store. Of course I could have stayed on the road and not listened to my dad and went home and did research.
My mom doesn't really understand animals that well so Im going over there tonight to check on my fish.
Other fish I want are some neon gobies, pair of perc. clowns, and I was hoping for a lemonpeel angel. Mostly I saving for some nice lighting and getting corals and some invertabrates. Im also saving money because my parents are liking the tank and I hope to upgrade to a larger tank. If that happens then Id move my Salfin because they get pretty big and keep the yellow and purple in the 125g soon to be reef tank.

 

[mike22cha]

Well I got home Sunday and Jules and Bubles were fighting hard so I over reacted and put Bubles in the naughty tank.(my 20g waiting for b&w percs.)
He did fine and I put him back in Monday morning. Jules took charge and is the new boss in the tank. Bubles just swims from side to side of the tank avoiding Jules who hids in a little cave. They fought a little tonight. All fish are looking heathy and are doing great.

 

[mike22cha]

Sorry bad pics. Had to adjust alot to make them fit.

 

[mike22cha]

Ill try to get closer next time. By the time you cut it the quality stinks!

 

[pallan]

IMO if you take one of them out again to put in "Time Out" you might as well return him. the stress of being caught again and again cant help matters.
you have a 125 gallon 6 foot tank not optimum for three large tangs but not terrible either I just worry about it being to young for the bioload. really watch those parameters. dont know how much Rock but the more the better. keep the lights out until they are used to each other than only on for times when you can supervise until your comfortable that they have settled down. try feeding with two algae clips one on each side of the tank. so both get a chance to eat.
hope all ends well. Good luck, keep us informed.

 

[mike22cha]

The lights stay out most of the time and I fed them some flakes and spirlina or whatever its called. They tend to get more aggressive when the food comes. The naughty tank was my overreaction and I do regret that but now Bubles is not the bully and Jules is, which is good because Jules is laid back. Luckly Regal is so small they don't see him much as a threat so he isn't picked on as much. After at least a moth would it be okay to add the fish I mentioned before? I understand if there isn't enough room for the lemonpeel.

 

[mike22cha]

Any Responses if large enough for a lemonpeel?

And the tangs are settling down. No major fights and Bubles and Jules are swimming side by side in peace. They do literaly swim beside each other which is good compared to last weekend.

 

[pallan]

I dont know much about angels. your tank is already gonna have 3 large fish in it if all goes well. and im not sure how well an angel would fare in their midst. Im quessing by the name and basic knowledge of angels that a lemonpeel is gonna be yellow and a body shape somewhat similiar to a Tang. the yellow Tang might not like him much.
From personal experience though i would wait a long time before adding any angel. even longer than a Tang. I personally have not had luck keeping them when i had a younger system. others might have better advice on this. I just gave up on Angels a long time ago. might try them again now that my tank has matured and is stable. but now i dont have the room for them. and my yellow tang has killed a coral beuty angel by openign a large gash in its side. so beware.
Good Luck hope it continues to go well. Im glad the fighting has slowed down.

 

[mike22cha]

Okay I won't get an angel, but the clowns and gobies should be good.
I didn't know much about the sailfin when I got it because I wasn't to intrested until I saw it so I may have to sell it in a couple years (or upgrade to a larger tank

) so I may consider a lemonpeel then. I like yellow fish because of my blue background and stand so the fish add a San Diego Charger theme to my room. But first I got to convience my dad about getting a larger tank before I could even plan about upgrading tanks.