Bullying

[Jcj0033]

I recently bought a Scott's fairy wrasse from my local fish store and my regal tang hates him. He has been picking on him and biting him every chance he gets. He won't let him come out of the rocks. I was able to catch my blue tang and stuck him in my sump. How long should i leave him in there. Should I feed him or just let him eat the algae in the sump?


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[Reefing Madness]

Usually will last a few days, if he keeps at it for longer than 3 days, then I'd rearrange the tank. That'll mess up the Tang enough, that he won't have any territory to defend anymore.

 

[carey]

I agree with the above, changing around the rockwork usually helps.

How large is the tank? Is there room for both to have territory? As a side note, I have found fairy wrasses to be somewhat skittish to begin with, they seem to let other fish take advantage of them lol. But letting him get comfortable in the new tank will def help as well.

is there a large size disparity between the two fish? I can def see a very small fairy getting the short end of the tang stick hehe...But it really should calm down in a few days. I've only ever had to remove fish one time, a pair of clowns that were in a 125g with another pair of clowns so I knew going in that it night be a bad thing. But tangs typically will harass any new addition, even other tangs or fish larger than them.

 

[ezy33]

IME marine fish have longer memories than fresh water fish. I'd wait 2 weeks before moving your Tang back to the DT. When I add any fish to my tank I first feed the DT. Then add the newbie at lights out. This gives the new fish time to adjust to it's new surroundings and the other fish will see the new one as less of a territorial threat.


You could try the net the bully trick where you become the bully. Just net the bully when he is in attack mode and hold in the net in the water for a minute or 2. After a few times just picking up the net will stop the aggression.

Good luck!


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[SeanMonster]

Maybe explain to the fish that bullying is wrong and won't be tolerated. ?


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[ReefBoy]

Maybe explain to the fish that bullying is wrong and won't be tolerated. ?


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Haha nice one That's what I did. But the tang kept saying, You better watch your wrasse buddy.

 

[ReefBoy]

Like Carey said, you might have luck rearranging the tank. The only thing that I would do in the mean time is at least make sure he is getting enough food. If he's being chased all day that means he must be using a lot of energy to get away. I'm no expert but I would def. do my best to make sure he is getting a good meal a couple times during the day. That way he can last the 3 days before you go rearranging the tank and possibly stressing other fish out best of luck and again only my opinion. Take it with a grain of sand

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[Adamski]

I have the same thing with my tang and royal gramma. I stuck the nori sheet at the furthest point from the gramma and all is now going well


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