[mattga6985]

I just bought a coral beauty today and my yellow tang will not let it come out from behind the rock work and it chases it, does any body have any ideas on what I can do! by the way this is a 90 gallon tank.

[mattga6985]

is anybody there

[marxsman]

This may be more of a pain, but when I expierienced this with my clowns and tang (a long time ago) Ii did this... Catch the tang and re-arrange the tank a little and then put the tang back. It will think it was put in to a new tank and be less agressive because now he is the NEW guy.

Other than that. there is not much you can do with an agressive fish but hope they come around and that is not fair to the coral beauty. My clowns dominate everything in the tank and I will catch them and move thier habitat around just to put a new fish in. This works for me but is a PAIN in the butt.

[leebca]

The Yellow Tang is a very popular fish. In part this is due to their very large numbers in the ocean. Their capture and sale make a very large profit for the industry.

Unfortunately the fish does not have a very good disposition for a community aquarium. Once established the Yellow Tang gets to the point of considering the entire tank its personal property. Any new fish is an intruder even when that fish may not be a direct competitor for the resources (food, nutrients, space, etc.).

The action of your Yellow Tang is a culmination of a perceived limited set of resources (maybe the fish is not being fed enough of the right kinds of foods), the size of the display tank (your 90 is too small for a Tang -- Tangs, including YTs need at least a tank that is 6 feet long -- a 125g or best is a 180 or 300), and finally good ol' Ma Nature.

You may try to trick the YT by doing several things which may make it think it's in a new display tank. Rearranging landscaping (best done by removing the fish for a few weeks into a quarantine tank, changing things around and putting the YT into the tank later), or moving the YT into a new home (making sure it is the last or one of the last fish you want to add to the aquarium).

Sometimes the YT will settle down after a week or so. Increasing feedings and making sure the YT is getting the top nutrition will help the settling down process. But it would have been much better if the Coral Beauty had been in quarantine and trained to eat prepared foods and gotten used to you, so that now in the display tank, it would not also be afraid of you, where and how it will eat, in addition to having to contend with the YT.

If the problem persists after a week, I'd suggest taking either the YT or CB out. Keep in mind that the chaser (the YT) is under stress as well as the 'chasie' (CB).

Some suggested reading is the first page of this post:
A Fish Quarantine Process