Apparently tangs aren't reef safe (1 Viewer)

[darbex]

I had a blue hippo that nipped corals and now my new powder is a nipper. So far only my kole and yellow tangs have been safe for me.

 

[steveb]

What types of corals? I read acans are very appetizing to them.

 

[darbex]

Right now he is going after my brain corals. Man it sucks because they are one of my favorite. Never thought they would. Everyone needs to update their websites for them.

 

[reeftopia]

Had to remove a blue hippo because he was nipping my sps

 

[Mark L.]

Hmm... I have a blue hippo, yellow, purple, and Chevron tang and have never seen them nip my corals. Guess I got lucky.

 

[cobraden]

that kind of bites. they are on my list of fish for the new build. Guess I will have to just cross my fingers.

 

[darbex]

I know Dennis at FJW his Powder is tearing up brains and chalices.

 

[reeftopia]

Had my hippo several years before he started munching by that time he was fairly large saw him tear a sps right out of the rock.

 

[flexrac]

quick fix, go to any asian market and get seaweed aka nori, tear a piece off and tie it to a small rock, they will feed on that and not your corals, feed them this daily.

 

[crvz]

I've had a kole tang nip clam mantles... it really is dependent on the specific fish. sorry to hear, I know it's a hassle to have to make a decision that you face.

 

[darbex]

He doesn't eat the nori. I will try to put more in the tank in different places maybe the other fish chase him off.

 

[Tangs]

Ya that is what I feed my Tangs... sea weed.. I get mine in sheets from the grocery store. I have never had problems with my Tangs nibbeling at corals. The sea weed is not too bad when it comes to degrading water quality.

 

[darbex]

Well update. So I tried the having two separate pieces of the nori yesterday and came home and the brain was still open. I watched him after I got home and he never went after the brain. I put in another sheet for evening and overnight meal. And it became clear that he must have been getting hungry because he was going to go eat the nori but my yellow tang would chase him off. So he could only get bites when the yellow tang was in another part of the tank and as soon as he saw one of the yellow tangs he would take off. He even saw the baby one and got scared and swam off then he seemed to realize it was the baby and came back for more and got a couple bites in when the big one came around. He darted off after that. Now I wonder if this would have solved my Blue Hippo from killing my brains as well. I will update as time passes to make sure this "solution" really is the fix.

 

[steveb]

Very interesting. Thanks for the update. I planned on having a lot of tangs in my new tank as well. So I want this to work..

 

[Tangs]

Yes my yellow tang and domino damsels will try and scare off my hippo tang as well. But I break off the sea weed into many pieces so it spreads around a bit. There is always enough food for everybody that way. 125 gallon coral reef

 

[darbex]

Took the brain out of QT last night which was just a fish trap since it was opening back up again. Well this morning he started at it again he would eat some nori and then turn around and go after the brain. I put it back in the fish trap so I got to decide whether to keep the brain or the powder.

 

[steveb]

I hate that.. I guess I'm going to have to decide if I want a powder or not when the time comes.

 

[darbex]

Yeah its a bit depressing because I love both. I never thought a powder would do this but this is the second one now after seeing Dennis' do it. My only worry about keeping the powder is what if he goes after my acans or chalices once all the brains are gone.

 

[darbex]

Did some research and I read that almost all tangs are capable of going rouge on some LPS the meatier the better and the less sting too. What I have read is that if a tang happens to eat the "feces" of an LPS or when its excess sliming because of damage that is when they find out that its tasty and will begin to munch on it. Though its not 100% that they will but its increases the likelihood. They can also learn this habit if a fish is introduced into a tank that has the habit of doing it already. After reading this I know precisely when the powder went roguy. The brain coral in trouble had a coral fall on it a few weeks ago. When I moved the coral off of it it secreted some excess slime probably to protect itself. Well right at that moment the powder came around and ate some of it that floated off. Ever since then he has been nipping at that brain and primarily only that one the other brains have been open the entire time even after I have removed that brain from his reach.

 

[steveb]

We used hot pepper sauce to train one of our dogs not to chew on things (like the door frame..). To bad we can't come up w/something like that for rogue fish. lol..