My tangs are eating my wellso brain

[saltfishguy18]

Need some ideas on how to stop my purple tang and blue hippo tang from eating my wellso brain. They started picking it about 6 weeks ago. I loaned it to my buddy for 2 weeks and it fully healed and I put it back in my tank the day before Christmas Eve. I caught both tangs picking at it on Christmas Eve again so I put it in my sump until I can figure out what to do with it. I can't re arrange my rocks because everything is in a place for a purpose and if I pull one out all of it comes down lol. I have the wellso on the sand right now. I also have a feeling my tangs are picking at my trachy too, can't tell yet because there are no bite marks but it's not opening like usual anymore. Only thing I can think of is feeding more to stop them from picking. Thing is my fish are not skinny either, they are very fat. I feed a variety of frozen and pellet every day. Any suggestions would be helpful. My buddy said he will buy my wellso if I can't keep him but he is an amazing piece when healthy and one of the originals so I would like to keep him. Thanks guys

 

[puebloreefer]

nothing you can do you will haft to chose your fish or coral! I had same thing happen just my hippo thou but my wellso died so still have the hippo just know not to get any more wellso

 

[puebloreefer]

on second thought you could build a cage out of clear plastic screen like you get from brs to protect it

 

[saltfishguy18]

on second thought you could build a cage out of clear plastic screen like you get from brs to protect it

Hmmm interesting idea. I feel like the coral wouldn't live a good life like that. Worse case I'll sell it to my buddy. Appreciate the idea though

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

You can use egg crate to create a barrier to let it heal and then possibly the tangs will leave it alone.

Question though. Is there algae growing around the edges of the coral and was it in bad shape prior to the nipping?

 

[TJ's Reef]

My guess is that they are lacking greens/algae and finding it within the coral tissue. Do you feed Nori at all, if not it should be your primary food for Tangs. Your LFS should carry it but for a less expensive route look into purchasing from an Asian Market just be sure to get unseasoned Nori, roasted or sun dried only. They usually have at least Green and Brown sometimes Red, though Red, Brown, Green is the order of preference for the fish. Romaine Lettuce will work in a pinch but not the same nutritional properties as seaweed. Let us know what happens.

Cheers, Todd

 

[saltfishguy18]

My guess is that they are lacking greens/algae and finding it within the coral tissue. Do you feed Nori at all, if not it should be your primary food for Tangs. Your LFS should carry it but for a less expensive route look into purchasing from an Asian Market just be sure to get unseasoned Nori, roasted or sun dried only. They usually have at least Green and Brown sometimes Red, though Red, Brown, Green is the order of preference for the fish. Romaine Lettuce will work in a pinch but not the same nutritional properties as seaweed. Let us know what happens.

Cheers, Todd

Feed seaweed (red) at least 4 times a week.