Scared Yellow Tang

[ahmer1781]

My tank (40 gallon) has:
1 Yellow Tang
2 Ocellaris Clownfish
4 Chromis
1 Circus Goby
1 Cleaner Shrimp
critters (porcelain crab, emerald crab, snails, hermits, etc...)

When I put my yellow tang in, the shrimp would harass it and try to clean it, but the tang was not a fan of this and would swim away. Now all the chromis are frequently cleaned by the shrimp, but not the tang. When I come near the tank, the yellow tang swims so fast and goes and hides in a cave. My yellow tang is about 3-4 inches long and the largest fish in the tank, yet for some reason it seems even the chromis give him a hard time. Why is he afraid of everything?? Should I be worried?

 

[fanaglethebagle]

#1 cleaner shrimp hurt! they dont care about you as long as there is food, they will kill if they are hungry.

B: chromis are a type of damsel, they ae still agressive/

and third: I think your tank may be a bit overstocked, tangs need alot of swimming room and may be running into other fish territory.

 

[ahmer1781]

but aren't Tangs aggressive? The chromis are maybe an inch long, they are nothing compared to the tang. I had only 1 chromis for a while, just added 3 more 2 days ago, but the tang's behavior has been like this for the last month.

 

[Scuba_Dave]

My YT is in a 75g by himself & is still afraid of his own shadow
A 40g is small for a YT

 

[dz6t]

tang only aggressive toward their own kind (other tang).

 

[Andy O]

My YT is in a 75g by himself & is still afraid of his own shadow
A 40g is small for a YT

I'll second that about being too small, especially if your YT is truly 3 or 4." He may also be getting stressed out by the small confines and lack of side to side swimming room.

 

[Liquid]

My tangs always hide in their cave whenever I come over to the tank. I don't it is that unusual.

 

[BOSTONBAKEDBEAN]

heh my ye ol' hippo tang was too tame n to freindly. he would just sit at the front of the tank waiting for me to feed em.. or would thoruw rocks around till i did. now i have a lavender tang. and he was shy for about the first week then seemed to become a bit more bold.. but as others have said you may want to upgrade. creigs' list is a great place for used tanks usually get some equipment with them..