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  #1  
Old 05/08/2006, 02:29 PM
PuffersKick PuffersKick is offline
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Yellow Tang theory. Is this true?

I was at my favorite LFS this weekend talking to the owner. This guy I trust very much as he's been in the business over 30 years and so far everything he's told me has been pretty darn accurate.

Anyway I was telling him about a slight aggresion problem with a few of my fish. I have an EXTREMELY aggresive Sohal Tang. He is definitely the boss of my tank and picks on all my fish. He doesn't do any serious damage as long as the other fish acknowledge he is the leader and swim away. But if anyone stands up to him (or mouths off as I put it) he will chase them relentlessly until they give up.

I mentioned this to him and he told me he had an easy solution to my problem. He said if I put a good sized yellow tang in my tank, I will never again have any aggression problems with my fish. His reasoning was that the Sohal (and all the other fish) would would turn their attention to the yellow tang, but that the yellow tang is so strong that there is nothing they can do to him therefore ALL the fish would mellow out.

He said this only works if you have a tank full of fish and add the yellow tang LAST. I didn't get the yellow tang yet, wanted to do more research and see if my Sohal would mellow on his own.

Has anyone else heard of or tried this? Would this really work?
  #2  
Old 05/08/2006, 02:41 PM
danorth danorth is offline
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It is something that I have found true with triggers also. Once it has some stiff competition, but won't fight til the death because they don't have that level of aggression, then the tank dynamics change and you end up with a more calm tank, but not less aggressive. They are just keeping it in.
  #3  
Old 05/09/2006, 06:54 PM
Wolverine Wolverine is offline
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As people said in your other thread about this, the sohal will eventually be bigger, and could quite possibly eventually kill the yellow tang (and could do it very quickly).

I'm wondering why he is considering the yellow tang to be the "stronger" of the fish. Not many fish can stand up to a belligerent sohal.

Dave
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  #4  
Old 05/10/2006, 04:33 AM
bubbaOPPD bubbaOPPD is offline
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Wolverine, I get the idea that you don't like Sohal tangs in aquariums since this is the 2nd post(that I have read) where you bash Sohals. I know they're aggressive but if they are as bad as you describe them why do people keep them and why does RC have the fish as its mascot? The way you describe them is that they are all little thermonuclear devices that will as time goes by always blow-up and take out all the fishes in the tank. I don't know your whole story but in another post you said you watched a Sohal take out every fish in the tank out, then by that reasoning I would think all Sohals are not bad since I know someone who has had a Sohal in his 210gal for 8 years no problem with 3 other tangs. I'm just worried since I will be moving my Sohal into a 240gal since he has been living in a 120 for a year no problem with 2 other tangs(I know the 120 is small) the 240 is cycling now.
  #5  
Old 05/10/2006, 08:01 AM
Patchy Patchy is offline
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^^ good example of how everyones expierence is different. dont believe wolverine is "bashing" sohals just giving his opinion. and i i agree with it, in general i have seen sohals beat the **** out of some mean fish.
and for why people keep them if they are so mean.... many people keep undualte triggers cause they are pretty and look at what they can do...
  #6  
Old 05/10/2006, 08:11 AM
E-A-G-L-E-S E-A-G-L-E-S is offline
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bubba....you could learn alot from Wolverine and other long time hobbyists............the sohal is too big for anything under 200g and probably 300g. - IMO
...and they are mean to the point of "usually" growing to harass and kill any and all tankmates...especially in such small confines as a 120g or 150g. I don't think the yellow tang would have a chance if the sohal was close to as big or bigger than the yellow(and since they grow 2x as big as a Y.T., well you can figure out the rest)

IMO - they belong in 300g + aquariums with other very aggressive fish
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  #7  
Old 05/10/2006, 03:12 PM
Mad Scientist Mad Scientist is offline
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Re: Yellow Tang theory. Is this true?

Quote:
Originally posted by PuffersKick

I mentioned this to him and he told me he had an easy solution to my problem. He said if I put a good sized yellow tang in my tank, I will never again have any aggression problems with my fish. His reasoning was that the Sohal (and all the other fish) would would turn their attention to the yellow tang, but that the yellow tang is so strong that there is nothing they can do to him therefore ALL the fish would mellow out.

He said this only works if you have a tank full of fish and add the yellow tang LAST. I didn't get the yellow tang yet, wanted to do more research and see if my Sohal would mellow on his own.

Has anyone else heard of or tried this? Would this really work?
YT tangs are pretty chippy but are by no means invincible. In fact, I had a YT really beaten up by a LP angel in my 220. Sohals are bigger and meaner then YTs IME. If you are lucky maybe the shoal with stress the yellow to the point that if gets sick.
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  #8  
Old 05/10/2006, 06:38 PM
Wolverine Wolverine is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by bubbaOPPD
Wolverine, I get the idea that you don't like Sohal tangs in aquariums since this is the 2nd post(that I have read) where you bash Sohals. I know they're aggressive but if they are as bad as you describe them why do people keep them and why does RC have the fish as its mascot? The way you describe them is that they are all little thermonuclear devices that will as time goes by always blow-up and take out all the fishes in the tank. I don't know your whole story but in another post you said you watched a Sohal take out every fish in the tank out, then by that reasoning I would think all Sohals are not bad since I know someone who has had a Sohal in his 210gal for 8 years no problem with 3 other tangs. I'm just worried since I will be moving my Sohal into a 240gal since he has been living in a 120 for a year no problem with 2 other tangs(I know the 120 is small) the 240 is cycling now.
Bubba, I think sohals are awesome fish, and I don't consider what I said to be bashing them. I think it's important that someone who is considering adding a fish to their tank know all the potential issues that could come up. This is one that often gets neglected. It's not just that I've seen sohals blow up and kill every other fish in a tank; it's that I've seen it happen multiple times, in some cases after all of the fish had been in there peacefully for several years. They are typically one of the most aggressive tangs. The only other one I've seen go off that much is the closely related clown tang.
There's also some evidence that they have venom on their spines, so attacks from them are more likely to kill than another tang's.

I also have not said that it's guaranteed or anything, there are several people who have successfully kept them. I feel that it's important for someone to get the full story.

If someone gets a sohal based on a thread like this, and it killed their other fish, and I hadn't said anything, I would feel a little bit responsible for not having mentioned the issue. If they do it now, I'm less inclined to feel guilty.

Dave
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