Tomini Tang Swimming towards Powerhead

[Tomini178]

Hi All,

I have a Tomini Tang that swims around normally all day, but after I have fed him he will swim in front of the wavemaker for about 10mins and then go back to normal. when the lights go down to about 50% at about 8pm (lights off at 11pm) he will continually swim towards the wavemaker for a few hours before he goes to hide to sleep at night.
There is no sign of Velvet or Ich in the tank (no flashing), no white dots on any fish and they are all eating well.
The Tomini Tang has been doing it for about 3 weeks now......any ideas why this could be?

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Hi All,

I have a Tomini Tang that swims around normally all day, but after I have fed him he will swim in front of the wavemaker for about 10mins and then go back to normal. when the lights go down to about 50% at about 8pm (lights off at 11pm) he will continually swim towards the wavemaker for a few hours before he goes to hide to sleep at night.
There is no sign of Velvet or Ich in the tank (no flashing), no white dots on any fish and they are all eating well.
The Tomini Tang has been doing it for about 3 weeks now......any ideas why this could be?

Do you know any water parameters, ammonia, nitrate, temp, salinity? Might provide more info.

I have been told that ich isn’t always readily visible as it can and does attack the gills first. That may or may not be an issue.

I have a sail fin that I caught once out of the corner of my eye and thought I had a dead fish blowing around in my tank. It turns out that this fish routinely gets around one of my Nero’s and then lays on its side and wave surfs across the tank. Now that I watch for it I see it doing it most every night. Don’t know what size tank and how much flow you have, but it could be that it likes the flow.

Things that I think you should try to check would be:

Can you observe closely to see if he is breathing rapidly.

Is there Algea or anything that might be attracting it to the flow, many of mine pick at the power heads as they don’t get cleaned as often as the glass and have a small amount of coverage.

 

[StatelineReefer]

For some reason I imagine a dog in a car with it's head out the window. Maybe it just likes the feel of the current.

Obviously take the first instance of unusual behaviour seriously, if it doesn't do it in the wild, it shouldn't do it in a tank, but if the fish is making this a routine, maybe consider it like a tang treadmill.

 

[Tomini178]

Thanks for the comments, it is hard to tell if there is any problem.

Salinity: 1.026
Calcium: 460
Magnesium: 1400
Alk: 9.0
PH: 8.1
Temp 76.3F
Nitrate: 1ppm
Phosphate: 0.08ppm

60 Gallons, 4ft long, Medium flow

Tank has been running 2yrs.

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Thanks for the comments, it is hard to tell if there is any problem.

Salinity: 1.026
Calcium: 460
Magnesium: 1400
Alk: 9.0
PH: 8.1
Temp 76.3F
Nitrate: 1ppm
Phosphate: 0.08ppm

60 Gallons, 4ft long, Medium flow

Tank has been running 2yrs.

How long have you had the tang?

 

[Tomini178]

Since it was about 1.5inches it is about 3-4inches now. I have had him 1year 2months.

 

[HankstankXXL750 Verified Sponsor]

Since it was about 1.5inches it is about 3-4inches now. I have had him 1year 2months.

Ok just wanted to make sure he wasn’t new. I personally would watch him. Pay attention to appetite. See if any other actions seem weird. Hopefully it is just exercising.