The Yellow Tang Bully

[jbz324]

I'm a newbie although the tank has been up and running for about 1 year. The tank is a 90 Gallon salt water tank -- we have no coral so I gues sit is not a reef tank at this time.

We recently lost a Naso Tang and added some new fish. The new additions are a Juvenile Coran Angel Fish and a FoxFace Fish. The Yellow Tang has now become the bully of the tank and the FoxFace fish has been sent hiding into the rocks and will not emerge. I'm also concerned that it is not eating.

I'm looking for suggestions as how to handle this situation. I have been keeping the lights off in the tank to try to allow the balance of power to shif a bit. I even considered removing the Yellow Tang and placing him in the refugium for a period so the FoxFace fish could get acclimated and then return the Yellow Tang back to the tank. Unfortunately, I can't catch the Yellow Tang.

Any advice is appreciated.

 

[chazertis]

maybe try to rearrange the rocks so the yellow tang doesn't feel so much at home. that way the yellow tang would have to restake his territory?

 

[Lenny718]

How long have you had your new fish in the tank? Sometimes it takes a little while for your fish to get along with new additions.

 

[jbz324]

Oh, I forgot, we did also rearrange the rocks to try to slow the Yellow Tang down.

Our result is that the FoxFace fish is still in hiding and the Yellow Tang is still the "king" - but somewhat less so.

The new fish went into the tank on Tuesday evening.

 

[Mamaroneck]

You can try putting a small mirror in a corner/side of the tank, the bully will normally fight his image and forget about the fox face...

 

[Awibrandy]

If all else fails you can go back to catching the little bugger, and isolate him for a few days. And once again rearrange the rock work before returning him to the tank.
To catch him what you need to do is get a large net, and feed them out of the net. Meaning do not allow any of the food to go in to the water column. Eventually the fish will go in to the net to get some food. Do not try to capture him the first time he goes in to the net for the simple fact that you won't be able to do so on the first try. You need to let him get comfortable going in to the net for the food. I place the net in such a way that the food stays to the back of the net so that the fish has to go all the way in to get the food. Be patient it works every time for with the tangs.