Is tang aggression reduced by purchasing a juvenile fish?

[RobertK]

Hello,

I'm considering adding a Kole tang (actually a spotted Kole, C. truncatus) to my tank. I'm a little concerned about aggression, especially given the experience of the RC member who's Kole mauled his radiant wrasse. My question is, do you think this fish's aggression tendencies in captivity would be reduced as an adult if I purchased it as a juvenile, compared to purchasing one as an adult?

Tankmates would be a pair of TR ocellaris clowns, a royal gramma, a coral beauty, a melanurus wrasse, a TR springer's dottyback and a TR yellow assessor in a 70 gallon reef tank. The tang would be the last fish for the forseeable future.

Thanks,
Robert

[TampaReefer79]

I've seen this thread sit with no replies all day so I guess I'll give it a shot.

No, I don't think raising a tang from a juvi will change it's aggressiveness once it's maturing. I would think that's something that's hardwired into the fish, not something that is 'learned'. Kind of a nature vs nurture thing. Look at mean dogs for example. If you have an aggressive breed (pitbull, doberman, rottweiler) and raise it from a puppy, it still has the potential to 'snap' at any time. SOME will be great their whole life...some are a ticking time bomb. It's in the DNA.

Just my opinion...which usually means little to a lot.

[TampaReefer79]

I thought of another way to explain it. It's sort of like people...some are just born to be buttheads and some aren't. You could have 2 men grow up in the same family, same parents, same home, same school, same friends...and one grows up to be a criminal and one grows up to be a doctor. They had the same upbringing and same opportunities but one was just meant to be a fool. Applied here to fish, you could raise say a sohal tang from a juvi state in the most loving of community tanks, and it could grow up to be a terror.

LOL

I hope I made my explanation clear enough. hahaha

[RobertK]

Originally Posted by TampaReefer79

It's sort of like people...some are just born to be buttheads and some aren't.

Ha! That explains it!

I guess it comes down to the old nature vs. nurture question. But what if that butthead had an abusive childhood?

[Canoe1]

IMHO i think it is possible for a fish to change or modify it's aggressive behavoir if raised in a less hostil enviroment like a tank verses out in the wild.

[snorvich]

Originally Posted by Canoe1

IMHO i think it is possible for a fish to change or modify it's aggressive behavoir if raised in a less hostil enviroment like a tank verses out in the wild.

Actually, I think the opposite is true. An inherently aggressive fish will become MORE aggressive sooner when confined. The smaller the area of confinement (and hence smaller ecological niche), the greater the aggression and the sooner it will be exhibited.

[RobertK]

So given that, does it make any difference what size/age the fish is when it is acquired?

[Canoe1]

Originally Posted by snorvich

Actually, I think the opposite is true. An inherently aggressive fish will become MORE aggressive sooner when confined. The smaller the area of confinement (and hence smaller ecological niche), the greater the aggression and the sooner it will be exhibited.

What you say makes total sense and I agree. I'm saying this because i have always added tangs first rather than last into my tank but made sure they were small enough to not dominate. I found in general they never got aggressive with any fish with the exception of once and that was a yellow and brown tang. I'm sure my thought would not be good for all aggressive fish just tangs i had in mind.

Regards,

[TampaReefer79]

Originally Posted by RobertK

So given that, does it make any difference what size/age the fish is when it is acquired?

Again I'm just venturing a guess...but I'd say no. Either way you are going to be getting a wild animal. Getting a young one won't 'domesticate it'.

[agreeive?fish]

Is tang aggression reduced by purchasing a juvenile fish?

ill let you know a few years from now as my yellow/hippo/purple were all 3 bought at about quarter to half dollar size in feb 2010 and my sailfin was purchased several years ago as a huge8-9' rescue

listed in order of current status of least agressive to most agressive

yellow ~3" (least agressive)
sailfin ~10"
hippo ~3"
purple ~3"( agressive/mean)

yellow and hippo are in a 6 x 2 fowlr
sailfin and purple are in a 7 x 2 fowlr
at one time all 4 were in the 7x2 but the purple was too mean to the yellow and hippo so i moved them to the 6 x 2

check back in a couple years after the yellow/hippo/purple grow up and ill let you know if things change

[jjk_reef00]

I don't think it does. You always hear those stories about a sohal or queen trigger that just snaps one day. I think it helps if you select your fish with with a controlled pecking order in mind. My 11" queen angel runs my tank. My 8" Naso is second. Even still my Naso will try to challenge my queen from time to time. Every fish is different and every situation is different. If you have similar sized and shaped fish there is always possibility for aggression.