Tang warfare

[my2rotties]

I have four tangs in my tank but my Sohal and Sailfin have been fighting. Now my sailfin is pretty badly injured and is hiding out in a quiet corner. She looks really bad but I know how tangs mend quickly. I am well aware that Sohals and sailfins are quite nasty, but they were fine until a couple of weeks ago.

Now for my question

Will these fish establish dominance and stop fighting now that there was a loser in a battle, or will they eventually kill each other?

I don't want to remove the sailfin since it will stress her out for the healing she needs to do. After she is healed up, is it advisable to rehome one of these beautiful fish? It is unfortunate since I got this sailfin as a tiny baby and she is getting so big now. The Sohal is just so darned striking and has such a personality. I hate to part with either one of them.

What is your experience with quarreling tangs?

[fdiddy]

Well, no direct personal experience, but the LFS here has a convict tang that has taken a liking to the yellow tang. This convict tang is constantly initiating the squabbles and the yellow tang is the clear victor in this case. He can't catch the convict tang and it is quite beat up. I would probably advise moving one of these fish as this convict tang situation is pretty rediculous. It's been going on for about a month now and I have not seen it settle at all.

[marie]

I only keep 1 tang per tank so I have no first hand knowledge of tang wars but from what I've read Sohal tangs can be mean sobs and the fighting will only get worse

[dkcrx]

Seems tangs just get ****ed off at one another, I had a yellow and scopas battle out for about 6 months and just last week the scopas was not to be seen again ( little night time creepy crawleys made quick work of the corps )
I had them fof about 8 years and then the just decided to go at each other.
PS tank's to big to catch anything.

[my2rotties]

Thanks for the replies...

I do have a fish trap that I have never used yet. My friend borrowed it and had success with it. It's strange no other fish even dares to bother my female Naso tang.

[reeferious]

my purple and blue tangs have been almost inseparable. except for initial flareups when first introduced, they are swimming together most days and part only when light about to go off which they seem to sense. lol i get a kick out of seeing them wedging themselves into holes 5 to 10 mins b/4 lights go off. come to think of it i think their different body shapes are what keep them peaceful.

[fishytime]

Its the sohal.....they have a reputation for being aggressive. He probably sees the sailfin as his biggest competition for food and dominance and will likely not stop his assault until its "Mission completed". I have heard about and read about many nasty tang fights.

[my2rotties]

Yeah I know it's Sunny (sohal) he has been a jerk to everyone for the past two weeks. When we bought him, I knew they had the potential for aggression. There were several sohals at the store and I watched them all for over an hour. Sunny was very mellow. The sailfin has grown very rapidly as well Sunny.

As for shapes, Sunny and the sailfin look very different. He picks on the foxface these days too, grabbing her by the spikes and tipping her over.

I sure hoped he would work out, but I guess I might have to try to get him out of the tank... wish me luck since I did such a great job of making caves, tunnels and hiding spots. Hopefully the fish trap pans out but I have no place to put him after that.

Maybe it is breeding time in the ocean for these fish and perhaps this is why he has turned into suck a jerk. Perhaps they have a biological clock that ticks which would make perfect sense. I love this fish, he is so beautiful, one of my favorites.

I hope he doesn't end up killing the sailfin before I manage to get him out. She is staying out of his way, and prior to being split open, she was fighting back. I still hope the issue has been resolved now.

Originally Posted by fishytime

Its the sohal.....they have a reputation for being aggressive. He probably sees the sailfin as his biggest competition for food and dominance and will likely not stop his assault until its "Mission completed". I have heard about and read about many nasty tang fights.

[naesco]

IME you need to remove one of the two tangs from your tank.
IMO your sailfin is doomed unless you do so.\
You should remove the sailfin to a QT in any event.

[Razz]

I would let them go for now, if you can shift a bit of rock for one of them (sailfin) to get behind it may work it self out. You are still running a sizeable tank so a little seperation and a bit of real estate ownership transfer may just solve it. Try to keep the front to back seperated for them, I had a powder blue chase a sail for over three months but next thing they are together go figure?