Non Reef Safe Tang

[Fitz19d]

So, was happy to find out it was not my flame angel causing wellso grief. Instead, had a chance to watch tank during the dusk hours...... KOLE tang running around like mad taking potshot nibbles at everything from SPS, shrooms, frogspawn, xenia, acans and of course my wellso (which I could see recoiling from the nips). Starting to wonder if this explains other things that aren't doing fine, but not great either.


Anyone heard of a coral chewing tang before? Of course this is the bastard who chased my sleeper banded goby to the carpet, won't eat seaweed from a clip, and otherwise is a bizzare monster. With the discovery of being coral tasting, I don't really even have the option to sell it to a few that offered for a frag tank tang.

 

[fishguy69]

Good for a FOWLR tank! Probably sees bits of algae that you and I cant see and its biting at it. Since it's a bristletooth tang I would suspect that, yes, the corals do not like the sandpaper pecking at them. Let me know if you want to trade it in for something else. Did you buy it from us?

Vince
GWA

 

[aztecdreams]

My blue tang developed a taste for pricey zoas

 

[jda123]

When I had my big FOWLR up in KC, I had free donations of purple tangs, sailfins (really bad), hippo, yellows, PBT (bad too), goldrim and even a black. It really hurt the guy to give the black away, but it was destroying all of his acans. These were mostly larger tangs with long captive records.

When they start, they can mow through a bunch in quick time.

 

[Fitz19d]

Good thing w/ the tank move I now also have a small sailfin too.... Per a chat the other day. Man I am surprised people like bothering w/ tangs.

Catching this guy is going to be nigh impossible way I have things I think. Maybe the ol tiny fish hook route.

Moved the wellso to where he seems to not going back to bother it much vs front and center in the tank. I will have to ponder what route I'll take. (I do like him visually, suppose I should be happy it wasn't my flame angel as a culprit.)

 

[djkms]

I have had blue hippo tangs eat zoas and Sailfin tangs treat my reef like a buffet. I believe all tangs should be labelled with caution and not reef safe.

 

[Fitz19d]

Oh, and now he's aggressive and attacking the red lip blenny. What a pyscho tang. Anyone know best place for tiny tiny fish hooks, just walmart? No way I can catch him w/ my rock work.

 

[BryanF]

Oh, and now he's aggressive and attacking the red lip blenny. What a pyscho tang. Anyone know best place for tiny tiny fish hooks, just walmart? No way I can catch him w/ my rock work.

I've had good luck with the cylinder fish traps. You have to tolerate catching the wrong fish a couple times though..

 

[ReefCheif]

Tangs are grazers. Do you keep any macro of any type in your dt? I kept a clum og calerpa in my dt so the tangs could graze. Ive akways had heavy tang populations and never had problems with them snacking on corals

 

[reeferpueblo]

the only tang I've had a problem with is my blue hippo she has a taste for brain coral never bothered any other coral and didn't even bother the brain till she got 2 like 6 inches have had her for 5 years got her as a tiny dime size, brain gone still have the tang

 

[Fitz19d]

He won't eat seaweed from a clip. I do have some caulerpa. Probably one of the few things it leaves alone.

Flame angel was a tough choice, now that I know it's the tang. And to me not that pretty of a tang. Choice is easy. If it was my little sailfin when it gets bigger, I think it would be a tough choice. Of course since it's attacking everything also makes it easy, rather than being solely the wellso.