Insane glass surfing - what to do ?

[Idech]

Since you mentioned in post 25 that when you covered the wall with egg crate the tang only exhibited the behavior near the small strip that wasn't covered, I'd expect at least the tang's glass surfing may be reflection-related (which lighting up the outside of the tank should help to confirm if that's the case),

Thanks for your detailed answer !

I will test the light outside tomorrow. I’ve been preparing for the holidays and doing work on the tank.

That said, if the glass surfing doesn't stop/the issue isn't reflection-related, then that would indicate to me that the behavior is being caused by some kind of stressor (illness being one stressor that could potentially be the cause of it; aggression or environmental issues - in or out of the tank - being some other potential causes).

I’ve thought about illness too. I disconnected my in-tank UV about a month ago and it brought dinos (and some algae) to the tank. The kole tang looks good though, no sign of disease. I had my foxface develop a little bit of ich after the UV was removed but that’s all.

This thread shows the brown algae that came after dosing high levels of silicate for 3-4 weeks, to get rid of dinos that leaked from the UV hose when I removed it.

Where do micro bubbles go ?

I hope this is in the right section. If not, please move it. My internal skimmer, right in the display tank, produces tons of microbubbles. To help with this, I turned it off for about 5 days. But today I noticed there are tons of microbubbles on the rocks. It’s not bubble algae as it is...

www.reef2reef.com

To be safe, are any other fish showing signs of something being wrong, or is there anything you can think of other than the shrimp that might be driving the fish to that right side of the tank?

All the fish are fat and looking fine. Except the firefish, who’s skittish and not eating as much.

Today I moved the magfloat that I leave on the left side, where the fish don’t go, to the right side. It might be wishful thinking but I thought the fish were going to the left side more after doing that.

There is an emerald crab that lives on the left side but it’s small and I rarely see it during the day.

How's the flow compare on both ends of the tank?

On the left side, back wall, where the fish don’t go much, there is an internal skimmer with an internal filter besides it. The filter outlet is about 2/3 down in the tank and creates water movement at the surface.

There is also a power head, but not a very powerful one.

On the right side, there is a powerhead aimed at the surface to create water movement on that side too. There is also a powerhead placed a little bit above the one on the left side.

You can see the flow here, mostly on the right side. That was before I moved the magfloat (the fish are all gathering because they are expecting to be fed) :

Any fish breathing abnormally fast?

I haven’t noticed any doing so.

Any oddball inverts (other than the shrimp) that might have taken up residence on the left side there?

Just the emerald crab as mentioned.

Have you changed anything inside or outside of the tank recently?

Besides removing the UV, then dosing silicate for 3-4 weeks to fight it, nothing major. (This is the 4th time I dose silicate and fish were always okay with it).

I changed salts from AquaForest reef salt to Instant Ocean salt but I don’t do a lot of WC, and mainly small ones when I do.

I also stopped dosing AFR while fighting dinos and I resumed about 10-12 days ago.

How long have the fish been preferring that side of the tank?

Now that you make me thing about it, maybe since I started leaving the magfloat in the tank. Maybe, I’m really not sure.

It’s hard to say when it started because it’s not something you really notice. But I would say it’s been months.

 

[Reefering1]

@Reefering1 prompted me to take a second look at this in another thread, so I've been re-reading a bit and this got me thinking: I doubt the fish would be trying to avoid the shrimp (to my understanding, cleaner shrimp can annoy fish, but they shouldn't scare the fish to the other side of the tank; and pistol shrimp aren't aggressive like they're often portrayed to be, rather they really seem to just be defensive of their burrows, so they shouldn't scare fish to the other side of a tank either).

Since you mentioned in post 25 that when you covered the wall with egg crate the tang only exhibited the behavior near the small strip that wasn't covered, I'd expect at least the tang's glass surfing may be reflection-related (which lighting up the outside of the tank should help to confirm if that's the case), but that wouldn't necessarily explain why the rest of the fish hang out over there too (though it could potentially explain that as well).

That said, if the glass surfing doesn't stop/the issue isn't reflection-related, then that would indicate to me that the behavior is being caused by some kind of stressor (illness being one stressor that could potentially be the cause of it; aggression or environmental issues - in or out of the tank - being some other potential causes). That said, I'd imagine it would need to be a rather odd other issue to get a tang acting like that or to cause all of the fish to only swim in half of the tank.

To be safe, are any other fish showing signs of something being wrong, or is there anything you can think of other than the shrimp that might be driving the fish to that right side of the tank? How's the flow compare on both ends of the tank? Any fish breathing abnormally fast? Any oddball inverts (other than the shrimp) that might have taken up residence on the left side there? Have you changed anything inside or outside of the tank recently? How long have the fish been preferring that side of the tank?

Wow, amazing how well some people can put together cohesive thoughts... I don't know what hd is, but the doctor said I have 80 of them... ;-)
Thank you

 

[Idech]

Wow, amazing how well some people can put together cohesive thoughts... I don't know what hd is, but the doctor said I have 80 of them... ;-)
Thank you

It took me a while to understand this… Does this mean I have 90 hd ? ;-)

 

[Reefering1]

It took me a while to understand this… Does this mean I have 90 hd ? ;-)

Maybe buddy, maybe

 

[Idech]

The light on the side of the glass changes nothing. This morning I can see white on its mouth and I guess it’s due to illness.

Thanks to @ISpeakForTheSeas for making me aware that this was a possibility.

I have a new thread in the illness section if you want to check it out :

Kole tang has a white spot on its mouth

I have a thread about this fish that started glass surfing about a week ago now and @ISpeakForTheSeas made me realize it might be due to illness. https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/insane-glass-surfing-what-to-do.1024379/page-3#post-12030218 This morning I can see its mouth is partly white so I...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Uncle99]

My Kole does that on the glass quite frequently, more when I have not cleaned it. He’s the only tang of 4 that does that.

Something on his mouth but he’s moving fast.

If your going away, I’d do nothing but keep everything normal in hopes that it may resolve itself.

 

[Johnnyracer]

change the direction of water flow

 

[romperstomper]

you mention feeding frozen and pellets what about algae clips both you tang and foxface are mainly algae eaters our yellow tang acts like this when he lacks his algae clip .

 

[Idech]

you mention feeding frozen and pellets what about algae clips both you tang and foxface are mainly algae eaters our yellow tang acts like this when he lacks his algae clip .

He won’t eat any, or very little. I’ve tried three different brads and also algae rings. That’s why I make sure to feed spirulina frozen and flakes. He gets that every day.

I still keep trying though so maybe one day.

 

[Reefering1]

He won’t eat any, or very little. I’ve tried three different brads and also algae rings. That’s why I make sure to feed spirulina frozen and flakes. He gets that every day.

I still keep trying though so maybe one day.

Would he eat flake food if you put it in the tank? At 1st my desjardini wouldn't eat from a clip. I would hold it giving the ole "pinch and roll", breaking it up into the water. He immediately took to that then from the clip soon after. Leave it in there, pretty sure they can "smell" it

 

[Idech]

Would he eat flake food if you put it in the tank? At 1st my desjardini wouldn't eat from a clip. I would hold it giving the ole "pinch and roll", breaking it up into the water. He immediately took to that then from the clip soon after. Leave it in there, pretty sure they can "smell" it

He does eat spirulina flakes as mentioned.

I’ve used both a clip and a flat holder with holes. None work. The tang I had before went nuts for it.

I think I’ll start crumbling it into the food.

 

[Reefering1]

Try a piece by itself first. I don't think you need to trick him into liking it, just help him realize that its food magically stuck to the glass(not the natural way of finding food)

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

Try a piece by itself first. I don't think you need to trick him into liking it, just help him realize that its food magically stuck to the glass(not the natural way of finding food)

Alternatively, tie nori to a rock and place on the sand...

 

[Idech]

Try a piece by itself first. I don't think you need to trick him into liking it, just help him realize that its food magically stuck to the glass(not the natural way of finding food)

I’ve done that multiples times already.

Alternatively, tie nori to a rock and place on the sand...

What would you tie it with ?

 

[Reefering1]

Rubber band is fine

 

[KrisReef]

No, I didn’t have a chance yet. Too much to do today.

I’ll report when I do it.

@KrisReef I kept thinking about what you said about the fish liking the right side of the tank. I had noticed it too a few weeks ago and started feeding in the middle, instead of this side. So far it hasn’t changed their behavior.

The cleaner shrimp hangs out on the other side, and so does the pistol shrimp. I wonder if they are just trying to avoid them? It’s kind of sad to have a big tank and the fish only use half of it.

It might not have anything to do with the tang surfing though.

I only see one power head on the right side and that side also has the most cover for fish to hide.

Someone else mentioned changing the flow. Maybe move the power head to the opposite side or get a second one and see if that makes any difference?

The video I looked at doesn’t show any behavior that seems odd except the fish do stay on one side. The shrimp doesn’t seem to be bothering the tang when it swims by so I don’t think it’s a parasite problem since the shrimp is not trying to clean the tang or other fishes.

 

[EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal]

I’ve done that multiples times already.


What would you tie it with ?

Anything. Rubber band as mentioned above, sewing thread, fishing line, etc. Just be sure the rock is shaped such that the string/band/line can't come off one end... Don't want anyone accidentally eating nori-flavored string, lol.

 

[Idech]

I only see one power head on the right side and that side also has the most cover for fish to hide.

Yeah, you’re right. I used to have two but now just one. Nero 3 died.

Someone else mentioned changing the flow. Maybe move the power head to the opposite side or get a second one and see if that makes any difference?

The upgrade is coming soon I hope and it should help. I’ll have 2 outlets and 2 powerheads so it should be more balanced.

 

[romperstomper]

He won’t eat any, or very little. I’ve tried three different brads and also algae rings. That’s why I make sure to feed spirulina frozen and flakes. He gets that every day.

I still keep trying though so maybe one day.

can take them some time to get use to the clip (a week or so )I find having the clip lower down and away from wavemakers helps ,surely your foxface enjoys nora on the clip ?

 

[Idech]

can take them some time to get use to the clip (a week or so )I find having the clip lower down and away from wavemakers helps ,surely your foxface enjoys nora on the clip ?

The foxface is relatively new (a few months) and hasn’t touched it either. He’s very skittish and scared of it. My wrasse hides also when I put nori on the glass so it’s kind of a pain.

I’ll keep trying, I know it’s important. I put some in their dinner food tonight.