Has anyone ever had a fish that they thought was reef safe go rogue?

[Smarriot]

Has anyone ever had a fish that they thought was reef safe go rogue?
Reef Safe? I thought my purple tang was, but I was wrong!

 

[tyler1503]

I had a starfish I assumed was reef safe. I'd only just started in the hobby and found it in a rock pool. I assumed all starfish ate algae. I was so excited to get it home and in the tank. He ate a fungia and did some damage to anther. He was banished to species tank after that!

 

[Kworker]

Has anyone ever had a fish that they thought was reef safe go rogue?
Reef Safe? I thought my purple tang was, but I was wrong!

Are you sure its actually eating the coral and not algae on the coral? What is your feeding schedule?

 

[wildcrazyjoker81]

Never heard of a purple tang eating or nipping at corals. I agree with kworker. I would assume it is picking off algae of the coral or plugs.

 

[ThaBeast]

I had a female lamarck develop a taste for wellso and a copperband that ate the centers out of acans. A buddy had a huge naso that was safe for years then one day decided to eat his micromussa

 

[Smarriot]

Oh he was eating my acans and only my acans. He was getting plenty of seaweed, and various frozen foods. I had never ever heard of a tang doing this, but I watched him do it. Took me a week to catch him, but the new owner loved him in her fish only tank

 

[footballdude2k3]

I am pretty sure you can have a bad kind of any fish, from what I have found, tangs will eat corals if they do not have enough algae in their diet.

 

[eatbreakfast]

I am pretty sure you can have a bad kind of any fish, from what I have found, tangs will eat corals if they do not have enough algae in their diet.

I have found this to be this to be the case with most algea eaters, tangs, foxfaces, blennies.

 

[j.faulkner72]

I bought a aptasia eating file fish, brought him home, got him in the tank and woke up the next morning to every single head missing on my zoa's, lost every colony but one.. My rasta's had one tiny head growing he didn't touch. I'm up to three heads now on the rasta's... Lesson learned.

 

[Ick_Magnet]

I've got a hippo tang right now that eats Acroporas. He only eats the tips and only one colony at a time. If I remove one he is fixated with he'll move onto another.

 

[Ick_Magnet]

Also a lawnmower blenny who decimated my LPS corals the first day I had him. Euphyllias, Welso, and a Heliofungia

 

[six2seven]

wow i've never seen a purple tang eat corals. wondering if it was only eating algae near it as others have mentioned.

 

[Smarriot]

Nope, wasn't picking at algae. I really wish he had been, and he was getting a variety of foods. Several other of my friends that are in the hobby saw him eating them as well and were shocked! Problem stopped when I got him out of the tank.

 

[Livinlocal]

I've heard of purple tangs eating coral... Along with someone's gen tang, sailfin tang, and my old yellow tang would even nip at my acan.


Every fish is different, and some decide they just want to eat corals. And My cleaner wrasse will pick polyps off my sps

 

[Hinecken]

I just went through this twice in 3 months. As a rule, I really don't like fish. The only reason I have any is because my 4 year old likes them. With that being said, I stick to damsels. Cheap, colorful, hardy, and reef safe. Well, almost. 2 of the *******s (a velvet and sunburst ) decided my acans, duncans, and wellsi were delicious. Ended up having to cage the brain before it died and spent at least an hour a night for 12 weeks fishing for damsels. Caught the last one this past Saturday and gave him a sump-release. Little man better be happy with the 4 damsels and watchman goby he's got, because nothing else with fins is going in.