Jestersix

Looking for some experience based perspective

C

Corallus

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I’ve scrounged around various other forums, and haven’t really found anyone post about a situation like mine, so I’m hoping to hear about experiences from folks who may have done something similar, to help me guide how I approach this.

I just purchased a complete, 5’x2’ footprint, 125 gal system, that includes, along with some other beautiful fish, a nice little yellow tang. I already have a nice, very slightly larger yellow tang that I’ve had for a couple of years now. I’ve already moved over the livestock and have everyone spread out over a couple of smaller tanks, with tangs (of course) separate. I’m moving the new tank this coming weekend, at it’ll take me another week or 2 to get it all plumbed and setup, and then I can start moving everything into it. For those who have kept multiple YT’s, has anyone tried keeping 2 of them as the only tangs? I feel like there’s a big dependence on the individual attitudes, and I think it will help if they go in at the same time, but Im not interested in trying if it’s a guaranteed bloodbath...
 
Years ago I did something similar, I had an adult yellow tang I had had for years, and got another adult yellow tang from another system as part of buying that other larger system. I put them together and it was fine. They will occasionally chase each other a little aggressively, but nothing more than that.

Now 8-10 years later they are still fine.

I’m not saying this is the optimal way or even a recommended way to do things, but you asked for real experience. Definitely not a guaranteed bloodbath.
 
Most people that keep multiple yellows do it in a large tank and start them all of them are small, and in a large enough tank they shoal together just fine. I have a yellow and a purple of different sizes that were put in at different times, and years later they do alright together. There's still some "passive" aggression here and there, but nothing to worry about. The first few weeks were very bad though.

My suggestion is if you have to try it then have mirrors ready to go. You can kill most of the aggression for at least a week just by putting a mirror near where each one of them picks as "home territory."
 
i agree depends on personalities. not just theirs either. you could have another boss fish be so imposing it supersedes their quarrels for example.
but as a rule, i'd say get the smaller guy to have the advantage, like get comfortable in the tank first, then introduce the bigger fish.
 
When you transfer them to the new home, there might be a little “set my territory” kind of behavior. I’ve in the past set a mirror on one side of the tank when I’ve noticed aggression among the tangs; the fish don’t recognize their own reflection and get a bit busy fighting the glass. After a little while, they stop aggression towards each other.
I still have the plastic mirror if you want t give it a try.
 
It’s also worth considering adding a third, different tang at the same time. I went from one to three for just that reason. Powder Brown and then smaller purple and Tomini.
 
Just a note that Yellow Tangs are worth a ton of money now.
Opinion: Don't take the risk. Sell one to a good home, and buy several other fish instead.
 
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