Do tangs have a litter box

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Routine maintenance had a joke tang close to a month now, noticed in front corner there was a significant amount of ……detritus. So I used a clothes hanger and stamped it and it was the nastiest dark cloudy brown color, like a very old filter sock. I have noticed her dump out a few times in this corner. While cleaning and not 5 mins later this girls comes and shats in the corner right in the new clean sifted sand.

1) should I be worried that fish is doo dooing in a designated spot? 2 clowns are only tank mates and she completely ignores them

2) any way to keep the corner of a tank, specifically, extra clean? I have noticed a bit more algae and phosphate levels and haven’t figured it out and I think this may be the culprit

pic is fresh terd, there were enough to look like a rock before I noticed it but did not grab pic before cleaning

 

[Jekyl]

Probably a low flow area.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

It’s right under a power head and I can’t run it full blast or it makes a sand tornado and divot… if only there were a happy medium. But is it typical behavior, i have never heard of fish using scat to claim territory

 

[Jekyl]

It’s right under a power head and I can’t run it full blast or it makes a sand tornado and divot… if only there were a happy medium. But is it typical behavior, i have never heard of fish using scat to claim territory

Best to have one on each side running less flow than just the one. Eliminates dead spots.

 

[Uncle99]

Mine just crap anywhere, rude as they are, but the corals say thanks,

 

[Miami Reef]

While cleaning and not 5 mins later this girls comes and shats in the corner right in the new clean sifted sand.

should I be worried that fish is doo dooing in a designated spot?

pic is fresh terd

there were enough to look like a rock

I enjoyed reading this thread! Thanks for the laugh!

 

[vetteguy53081]

I have 20 tangs and they scatter their waste amongst the tank. Its likely what is referred to as a dead spot- an area in the tank and generally in a given corner where there is little flow and/ot light.
If you siphon regularly, you can simply hit that area each time or direct a little flow towards that area to keep waste moving to the overflow.

 

[Tired]

Tangs roam around in areas that usually have very high flow. I don't see how they would evolve any sort of attempt to contain their poo or to somehow scent-claim an area. Probably a low-flow area combined with coincidence.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

47 min later

I enjoyed reading this thread! Thanks for the laugh!

I wanted to use a different noun/verb as a creative exercise

 

[Brit’s Fish]

So one of my Tomini tangs definitely does always go to the same corner to poop. It’s the farthest corner from where she sleeps. I’ve heard others say this about their Tomini tangs specifically but I also have another Tomini (in another tank), a regal blue tang and a yellow tang and they all just poop wherever they please.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

It is 100% making it a point to move to that spot, spin in two circles like a dog/cat, and then take a dump. She opens her mouth too like she’s grunting, maybe I need to feed her less. I gotta get this on video, maybe a time lapse of 2-3 hours cause it’s multiple times an hour. So weird.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

I also must mention she used to be a crop duster so this is a newer behavior

 

[tgafish]

So one of my Tomini tangs definitely does always go to the same corner to poop. It’s the farthest corner from where she sleeps. I’ve heard others say this about their Tomini tangs specifically but I also have another Tomini (in another tank), a regal blue tang and a yellow tang and they all just poop wherever they please.

Yup my Tomini does the same. Has for 2 years

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Probably will update this thread daily with the pewp pile. Less than 24 hr

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Think we might need to look into this more. What a phenomenon. One of my conchs has buried itself in this corner and hasnt moved for over a week. Either 1) its found a spot where it never needs to move to eat or 2) the toxicity of the tangs corner has ceased it from living.

either way i wish there was more info on this. She will not pewp anywhere else. My corals on that end of the tank are loving the fertilizer.

 

[Brit’s Fish]

Think we might need to look into this more. What a phenomenon. One of my conchs has buried itself in this corner and hasnt moved for over a week. Either 1) its found a spot where it never needs to move to eat or 2) the toxicity of the tangs corner has ceased it from living.

either way i wish there was more info on this. She will not pewp anywhere else. My corals on that end of the tank are loving the fertilizer.

What kind of tang is it again? I’m going to try to find the other posts I saw where people were talking about their tominis doing this. I honestly think it’s very funny. I wish I could train all my fish to use the litter box!

 

[LeftyReefer]

So one of my Tomini tangs definitely does always go to the same corner to poop. It’s the farthest corner from where she sleeps. I’ve heard others say this about their Tomini tangs specifically but I also have another Tomini (in another tank), a regal blue tang and a yellow tang and they all just poop wherever they please.

Yup my Tomini does the same. Has for 2 years

My Tomini also does the same. It goes to the furthest corner in the tank, away from its sleeping cave to do it's business. My zoas in that spot seem to love it.

 

[wareagle]

It probably just wants to poop in peace, don't you remember being yelled at for this when you were little ?

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

It is a blue eye kole tang. And she poops probably every 5-10 minutes, so it has become the most apparent activity in my aquarium. I need to get some other livestock in there, my wife and girls are now hyper-focused on her behavior and call out to me every time they see her pooping in the corner, and we have been seeing how high the pile gets before the wavemaker catches it.

When I first imagined what I wanted to get out of having a mixed reef tank... watching a fish poop like a cat... was not on the list...

She is also now making and holding eye contact with me when she does her business. Next on the list is to get her a leash and take her on walks.