My sailfin tang killed my poor mans idol.

[penhryn]

I have a sailfin tang (zebrasoma) which I have had for a while and we added 2 poor mans idol (heniochus) to our tank yesterday. As soon as they were put in the sailfin started to nip at their fins and therefore stressing them out and eventually they died. He was really having a good go at them and we couldn't do anything about it. Once he nipped the bottom fins of that was it. We have added other fish to the tank and the sailfin was not bothered. Is there some reason for this behaviour because I have read that the sailfins and not aggressive. He has always been peaceful up until now. Any ideas would be appreciated.

 

[steve r]

i just looked at a picture of a heniochus. at frist glance they have a similar look to the sailfin. tangs can be very agressive with fish that look similar to them. i would say this was the problem. just a guess but the stripes and large fin probably triggered the tang

steve r

 

[Hara]

some tangs are just aggressive as well...you may have one. My tangs harrassed my copperband butterfly for a long time. He was smart enough to stay behind the rocks and out of site for a week or two and they finally accepted him.

 

[penhryn]

I thought that might be the case with the sailfin. The dumbo at the fish shop said they would be fine with the sailfin. When I picked the fish up, they were in the tank with a sailfin and they seemed fine but when I got them home that was it. I will know now. Maybe they were caught and put in the tank together from the start. Nevermind.

 

[lando]

How big is the tank? For any future additions I would QT the new fish for a few weeks. After that, remove the sailfin to the QT and let the new fish settle in to the main for a few weeks before introducing the tang back into the main.