Powder blue issues

[fsbbn@hotmail]

I have a powder blue that has been living with a purple tang in a 2000 gal FOWLR tank for the last six months. The last couple of weeks it has started to harass the purple tang. The tang now hides in one corner of the tank and any time the powder blue sees it, it goes for it till the purple can hide again. It is diabolical. I can't catch a fish in such a huge tank. I have tried the mirror trick and also taped some photos of powder blues against the tank but nothing is working. Not sure what to do. Usually fights don't last this long and not in a tank this large. Hope it ends soon or else I will lose a very nice fish.

Anyone have experiences with a vindictive tang?

[palmer373]

My 4" PBT goes after my 6" lieutenant but the lieutenant holds his ground and wins the fights. I haven't had to separate them because the PBT knows when he's beaten. Hope the purple pulls through, I love mine and can't fathom losing him.

[sandwi54]

what other fish do you have in the system? This is not usually recommended but since you have such a large system, it will be good to actually get more similar-looking tangs to spread out aggressions. Ever heard of the "only get 3 yellow tangs" rule?

[dzfish17]

Im having the same problem with my PBT. He is in a 600g tank and cant be removed. I have 7 tangs in the tank but he still goes after the smaller hippo alot. The fish is from a screw up made by Live Aquaria DD... he was supposed to be 4" but is at least 7 1/2". All my other tangs are in the 3" range. The only thing I can think of is what was already suggested... add more tangs to spread out his aggression.

[Recty]

You could add a new fish that upsets the pecking order... something more aggressive than the powder blue, it has a chance of calming him down.

I'm not sure I'd recommend that, but it might work. Something like a sohal or clown tang, just be aware that adding one of those might cause other issues.

[Sterling07]

It took 2-3 months for my yellow tang to leave my purple tang alone enough for it to finally come out and eat normally with the rest of my fish, but it took another 2-3 months for it to finally leave it alone....Other than some small pieces missing out of my purple tangs fins nothing else happened and they have grown back now. Just takes time but I have friends that were not that lucky and found their purple tang at the bottom of the tank :(

Good Luck and that a huge tank would love to see some pictures of it!!

[fsbbn@hotmail]

Thanks for the ideas. i think i will have to wait. The thing with adding new fish is that i would still have to wait four weeks or so for the fish to go through QT. I am thinking I might get some more LR from my refugium and add to the main tank.

i must say i have not seen a tang hold a graudge for this long. Usually it lasts a week or so. The purple tang has been so subdued even the flame angel is picking on it. The powder blue likes to bite instead of using the scaple. The only good thing is there is enough space for it to hide and be out of the way.

On a side note, some of my fish are getting rather large (a unicon that is 2ft) i would hate to see that thing angry at another fish.