Did I mess up

bigkai · Mar 18, 2014

Ok iv done the number 1 bad thing in this hobby. I seen a fish it was cheap and I bought it lol I got a powder brown tang this morning well I done everything like I would with any other fish I get. But as soon as I let him go in the tank he went down toy zoas and took 2 bites are they coral eaters or was maybe he was just hungry. Any help with it would be great

Koaboy · Mar 18, 2014

How big is your tank, and are you prepared to offer veggies to it? Saltwater Aquarium Fish for Marine Aquariums: Powder Brown Tang

Daniel@R2R · Mar 18, 2014

Powder brown tangs (or any tangs for that matter) aren't usually coral nippers... In fact, this is the first I've ever heard of that happening...I'd blame it on acclimation stress, and just watch to see how he does moving forward.

turbo21 · Mar 18, 2014

You never know with some fish

I had a yellow tang that would eat zoas. If you do a quick search on the web. You will see many people have had issues with the random tang

My Vlamingi tang loves to eat acans but touches nothing else

bigkai · Mar 18, 2014

It a 120 tall. Iv had a blue hippo for a little over a year and no problems. My yellow tang died and iv been looking for some thing to replace him. And the powder was only $25

reeffirstaid · Mar 18, 2014

Powder browns are not known coral eaters. The main issue that typically arises with this species, tends to be marine ich. I'd keep an eye on him, he was probably just checking out his new environment. This species likes to constantly graze, and he may have simply accidentally bit your zoos.

Intricateart · Mar 18, 2014

Did he actually eat a zoa? I've seen some algea growing between zoas before that wasn't anywhere else in the tank. Maybe he was after that? Good luck.

bigkai · Mar 18, 2014

I think it maybe stressed a little and niped at a bambam zoa he seems to still be checking everything out on the tank swimming around in and out of the rock work and caves stoping to pick at the algae every now and then I havent seen him go near the hippo yet lol

RonnieBlack · Mar 19, 2014

None of your powder species handle any sort of stress well, and they needs tons of room, a very, very healthy diet for their immune system and to keep aggression down.

fishroomlady · Mar 19, 2014

I agree with others in that the fish is probably acclimating to your tank and my guess was that it was just picking and not "eating" a zoa. I know there's always that rogue fish that doesn't follow standard behaviors but I would just keep an eye on it and keep stress low. Good luck! They are beautiful fish!