Tang eating corals?

[melhe]

Bummer. Decision time. Fish or corals. Ones gotta go.

I’ll wait one more day and see . I’ll upload more photos . If I have to choose between the two . The tang has to go . But let’s see tomorrow . As I said . The 2nd wellso flesh still intact dispite the tang repeatedly picking on it

 

[Seansea]

You can also pull out hair algae out of your ats and feed but i dont recommend it. Puts algae in the display which i try to avoid.

 

[melhe]

Nori. Twice a day. Will stop that. Tangs normal diet isnt corals but there is algae in their flesh. If they are not getting enough algae or seaweed they will find it somewhere.

Will try tomorrow for sure . Thank u so much

 

[melhe]

You can also pull out hair algae out of your ats and feed but i dont recommend it. Puts algae in the display which i try to avoid.

I don’t have hair algae anywhere. The tank maintenance guy put UV in the system and clean the tank every two to three weeks . Actually the whole tank doesn’t have much algae . The existing two yellow tangs and one fox face doing pretty good job grazing the rocks .

I guess the only way I can try is adding more nori.

 

[hart24601]

I am sorry but I doubt nori will work. It might so it’s worth trying, but unless a fish is a strict zooplankton eater there are always individuals that go after coral. I have had purple, white tail, kole, tomni all eat various corals over the years and clam mantles too. Not just picking algae or mucus although it might start that way, but they learn to eat the coral. I suppose only so much to do swimming past the same corals thousands of times a day.

Fed constant nori, autofeeder 5x a day and frozen feedings a day but it never stopped. This wasn’t one tank but many over a decade or two and the species didn’t always go after coral, but some individuals did. Sorry but you will probably have to choose. It’s really not all that rare but threads get buried sometimes. Any fish that grazes at all can develop a taste for some coral although typically only certain types.

 

[melhe]

I am sorry but I doubt nori will work. It might so it’s worth trying, but unless a fish is a strict zooplankton eater there are always individuals that go after coral. I have had purple, white tail, kole, tomni all eat various corals over the years and clam mantles too. Not just picking algae or mucus although it might start that way, but they learn to eat the coral. I suppose only so much to do swimming past the same corals thousands of times a day.

Fed constant nori, autofeeder 5x a day and frozen feedings a day but it never stopped. This wasn’t one tank but many over a decade or two and the species didn’t always go after coral, but some individuals did. Sorry but you will probably have to choose. It’s really not all that rare but threads get buried sometimes. Any fish that grazes at all can develop a taste for some coral although typically only certain types.

What was your choice over the years ? Got rid of the fish or just let them eat the corals

 

[hart24601]

What was your choice over the years ? Got rid of the fish or just let them eat the corals

I gave the fish away. If keeping a mixed reef the lack of fleshy lps or zoas or clams, depending on what the fish goes after we’re a bigger loss to me than a single fish. Figured I had a reef tank not a fish only tank or even a fish-centric tank so out they found new homes!

 

[BroccoliFarmer]

I literally read the title as 'tang eating' corals. I was half expecting to see a coral eating the tang. Imagine my disappointment when it was the other way around

 

[Timfish]

. . . My tank maintenance guy said the coral must be weak . Usually tangs attack only weak or dying corals . . .

I'd agree with your maintenance guy and worry there's some systemic issue with your corals. I've seen tangs and dwarf angels go after damaged polyps or just a few polyps in a colony and leave others alone.

On a side note, Vlamingi tangs get huge fast (I have one that went from ~5" to ~12" in 2 years). Unless you have a tank in the 300+ gallon range you'll need to rehome it fairly quickly. You might consider rehoming it anyway if you don't want a huge fish in you system.

 

[melhe]

I'd agree with your maintenance guy and worry there's some systemic issue with your corals. I've seen tangs and dwarf angels go after damaged polyps or just a few polyps in a colony and leave others alone.

On a side note, Vlamingi tangs get huge fast (I have one that went from ~5" to ~12" in 2 years). Unless you have a tank in the 300+ gallon range you'll need to rehome it fairly quickly. You might consider rehoming it anyway if you don't want a huge fish in you system.

My tank is about 300 gallon . That’s why I thought vlamingi tang would be ok . This guy is about 4 inches now.

this morning all fish in sleeping mode , the 2nd wellso looks well over night . No flesh damage yet

 

[mfinn]

Once a fish finds a source of food, they will continue going back to it until it is gone, then will continue it's search for food no matter how much you feed them. It's in their nature to graze constantly.

 

[melhe]

Update :

I feed one and half sheets nori since last night . All of them seems bloated and stopped picking on meaty corals or rocks . The Trachy and wellso still shrinking . But better than last night .

someone bite off one leg off one star fish don’t know who . Will keep close

watching

 

[LPS Bum]

Did u get rid of the Hippo tang ?

Yes and no. I took him out of my reef and put him into my large FOWLR. But yes, I did remove him from the reef.

 

[Timfish]

Update :

I feed one and half sheets nori since last night . All of them seems bloated and stopped picking on meaty corals or rocks . The Trachy and wellso still shrinking . But better than last night .

someone bite off one leg off one star fish don’t know who . Will keep close

watching

Just FYI, your starfish doesn't have a good reputation for survival in aquariums. I'd think it has an issue and wasn't damaged by a tankmate.

 

[melhe]

Just FYI, your starfish doesn't have a good reputation for survival in aquariums. I'd think it has an issue and wasn't damaged by a tankmate.

Star fish has been there for 3 months . Is that trauma or something? Why broke a leg all the sudden

 

[Timfish]

Star fish has been there for 3 months . Is that trauma or something? Why broke a leg all the sudden

From what I've seen over the years my guess is they slowly starve. The legs dropping off is an indicator of an infection of some kind. Check these threads:

Anyone Have Success With a Blue Linckia?

Hey guys, I was just wondering if anyone here has had success with a blue linckia starfish. I've had an orange linckia in a nano for about 4 months now and he's doing well which I credit mainly to using live ocean rock but from what I've seen and heard the blues are even more difficult. Has...

www.reef2reef.com

Starfish

Has anyone successfully kept a starfish other than a brittle, sand shifting, or asternia starfish in a 20 gallon nano tank long term? I know some can be supplementally fed and they need an established tank. And there’s some small breeds of starfish.

www.reef2reef.com

 

[melhe]

Thanks sharing the thread . The star fish looks pretty fat to me . Here is the thing . My tank guy told me no worries . The star fish gonna generate a new foot . So I leave it there . I didn’t bother the foot feel off neither since it’s deep in the tank . I figure some fish gonna eat it eventually. Guess what , most creepy thing happened . The chopped off leg / foot didn’t die , it moved around on the glasses . That’s one foot without head . I am sure it won’t grow out a new head . It’s really creepy me out . Has anyone seen the foot of star fish walking all over the places in the tank without head ?

good news is vlamingi tang left my wellso alone now since I over fed the fish .

 

[melhe]

Hi guys , final update . I guess I am lucky . The vlamingi tang left corals alone after I start to feed him a lot of nori . I wish I have known earlier . I could have saved the first wellso .

I guess he likes veggie better than corals

 

[melhe]

Bad news . I didn’t feed them nori yesterday. They ate and finished another wellso . Ugh . I don’t have more wellsos in my tank anymore after ate those two .
They haven’t touched Trachy yet . Let’s see

 

[Stephen Glover]

I had to remove my acans and wellso in the past because of a large 2-spot and Kole. They also nibble on the candy canes but don’t damage them. For me it’s easier to remove corals than fish.