New guys stick together

I recently introduced two new fish in my display. A juvenile Desjardini Sailfin Tang and a leopard wrasse (Macropharyngodon bipartitus).

The tank already had a seven year old regal tang that recently lost his yellow tang buddy so I knew adding a new tang could get tricky but decided to give it a shot and watched closely.

The first couple days were pretty typical, the new tang was timid, the wrasse was hiding in the sand and the regal was demonstrating his dominance. Nothing got too out of hand and the new sailfin wasn't showing any signs of damage or stress.

But it's what I witnessed next that's been interesting. The wrasse has emerged from the sand on day two, and took a few days to get his sleep schedule to sync up with my light cycle. Now that's he's settled in he may prove to be the new muscle of the tank.

The two newcomers spend a good deal of time swimming around the tank together and the regal tang still gives the sailfin a quick chase from time to time, but if the wrasse is around he lets the tang know who's boss. It's hilarious to watch the little guy defend the Desjardini and the big guy back down.

I hope the youtube link works...


Leopard Wrasse vs Regal Tang - YouTube

 

I don't find it hilarious.More like sad.

 

Maybe hilarious wasn't the right word, but these confrontations aren't happening often at all. It took me nearly two hours of sitting with my phone in hand to capture this one.

Otherwise the fish are all swimming past one another without a care in the world and the wrasse is too busy searching the rocks for pods.



Although the wrasse might have some anger problems, he tries to scares everyone away when it's time to burry himself in the sand, guess he doesn't want anyone in the tank knowing his exact location at night. Just another thing I'll have to watch as time goes on