Tang eating corals?

[hunterallen40]

My sailfin snacks on my Duncan sometimes. He likes to make sure I'm watching, and looks me in the eyes while he does it. Pretty sure it's out of spite.

In all seriousness, I think it's just because it's green. They just kinda see food, and go for it.

 

[melhe]

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.

Yeah , I removed wellso , it is easier to remove coral than fish

 

[melhe]

My sailfin snacks on my Duncan sometimes. He likes to make sure I'm watching, and looks me in the eyes while he does it. Pretty sure it's out of spite.

In all seriousness, I think it's just because it's green. They just kinda see food, and go for it.

U have cute sailfin . My tangs are like pigs .
first vlamingi tang keeps nipping and damage flesh . Then naso and fox face joined him to finish off , they finish one Wellso in one day

 

[hunterallen40]

U have cute sailfin . My tangs are like pigs .
first vlamingi tang keeps nipping and damage flesh . Then naso and fox face joined him to finish off , they finish one Wellso in one day

Thank! Yeah, we're good friends. We wos my first saltwater fish, and I've had him for more than two years.

That sucks about your wellsos. I wish I had any advice for you there... They sound quite destructive.

 

[i cant think]

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.

This isn’t always true.
I’ve seen cases where tangs are fed everything and yet they still go for the corals. This could be for several reasons however algae certainly isn’t one of them.

Although uncommon, it’s not unheard of.

Honestly, I’ve found it to be rather common. Most fish we sell as 100% reef safe truly aren’t. It’s like blennies… we sell them as being reef safe however I’ve had more blennies go for LPS and SPS than I have butterflies and angels. Likewise with tangs.

And this is saying something as my tank is full of Reef Safe With Caution fish, I’ve found they go for less coral than our actual reef safe fish do. This guy took out Atleast 5 SPS frags if not more.

These guys have been in my 4’ tank and every time I’ve had SPS they’ve ignored it. The LPS and Softies are thriving still.

 

[Seansea]

Those angels dont mess with your corals? Is there certain ones you cant keep because of them or pretty much dont mess with any? My bicolor will pick at all corals but acans are pretty much a no go. Just completely mashes them.

 

[((FORDTECH))]

I got a vlamingi tang from LFS 4 days ago . He started to pick on a wellsophyllia from day one . Then fox face joined him . They finished whole wellso in two days . My tank maintenance guy said the coral must be weak . Usually tangs attack only weak or dying corals . LFS owner said he never heard tang eating corals . Anyway . I took the left over skeleton out yesterday. Guess what , today I saw him started to picking another wellsophyllia . Also most acanthophylia started to shrinking up too . I have those for a long time . yesterday the wellso being attacked today opened up huge . But today it’s all shrinked up . this vlamingi tang just keep picking on it . So far no flesh damage yet . Not sure tomorrow if he keeps picking .

anyone of you seen tang behave like this before ? Please advise . I can’t lose all meat / brain corals because of him.

How about trying to feed the fish a little bit more my guess is they don’t have enough to eat

 

[((FORDTECH))]

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

Watched by Sailfin Tang ripped a leg off of my red starfish. Also about two months ago I watched him do it, and then spit it out as he swam away.

 

[i cant think]

Those angels dont mess with your corals? Is there certain ones you cant keep because of them or pretty much dont mess with any? My bicolor will pick at all corals but acans are pretty much a no go. Just completely mashes them.

Most of the obvious ones (That most Angel/Butterfly keepers probably don’t even dare to touch) are gone with these two;
Acans, Scolys, Trachys, Wellso but those guys are corals that will be gone with any fish that turns on coral no matter reef safe or not.
The other corals are left alone completely and not even picked at.
Heres an FTS, my 3 most likely to go for coral are seen in this, my 4 year old CBB and the Angels.

 

[Rmckoy]

Similar to keeping angelfish
Now you know what they like , perhaps stocking with those corals they leave alone ?

 

[i cant think]

Similar to keeping angelfish
Now you know what they like , perhaps stocking with those corals they leave alone ?

Whilst I do this it’s not always 100% that you’ll have one coral ignored and another one eaten.
You may find that a RSWC fish takes to loving one specific strain of Acan but leaves the others alone (Although this is incredibly rare).

 

[melhe]

This isn’t always true.
I’ve seen cases where tangs are fed everything and yet they still go for the corals. This could be for several reasons however algae certainly isn’t one of them.

Honestly, I’ve found it to be rather common. Most fish we sell as 100% reef safe truly aren’t. It’s like blennies… we sell them as being reef safe however I’ve had more blennies go for LPS and SPS than I have butterflies and angels. Likewise with tangs.

And this is saying something as my tank is full of Reef Safe With Caution fish, I’ve found they go for less coral than our actual reef safe fish do. This guy took out Atleast 5 SPS frags if not more.

These guys have been in my 4’ tank and every time I’ve had SPS they’ve ignored it. The LPS and Softies are thriving still.

Beautiful fish !!!! I don’t have any angels for risk of coral nipping . Can’t believe the tangs eat corals too . I am trying to hang full piece of nori every morning to prevent they attack coral again . I asked my tank maintenance guy to help me install algae scrubber . I am fully prepared for po4 and nitrate spike now

 

[melhe]

How about trying to feed the fish a little bit more my guess is they don’t have enough to eat

That’s what I was trying to do after initiated this post . The day they killed 2nd wellso are the only morning I forgot/ didn’t feed them ( that day only fed at night ). But they finished wellso in one day while I went to work . I don’t even have chance to save it . They have pretty powerful grip . Not sure it’s teeth or what , they grab the flesh and torned wellso down fairly fast

 

[melhe]

Most of the obvious ones (That most Angel/Butterfly keepers probably don’t even dare to touch) are gone with these two;
Acans, Scolys, Trachys, Wellso but those guys are corals that will be gone with any fish that turns on coral no matter reef safe or not.
The other corals are left alone completely and not even picked at.
Heres an FTS, my 3 most likely to go for coral are seen in this, my 4 year old CBB and the Angels.

My wellsos are all gone . So far they haven’t touched Trachys acans and Scoly yet . Let’s see what are their next move . If he try’s to touch my acanthophylia, I’ll get rid of the vlamingi asap

 

[Rmckoy]

Whilst I do this it’s not always 100% that you’ll have one coral ignored and another one eaten.
You may find that a RSWC fish takes to loving one specific strain of Acan but leaves the others alone (Although this is incredibly rare).

What I was saying is if a particular fish likes acans , Duncan’s , trumpets . Those are the few I would not add to my system .
I know with the fish I have I can’t add any fleshy lps such as donuts , acans , open brains , but sps hammers , gsp are ok .

 

[Seansea]

He picks at everything from duncans to blastos to favia gsp but doesnt kill em. Just iritates em. Acans he just mashes. Like even when they are retracted hes down in there skeleton trying to get as much as possible. Super annoying. But hes a cool fish and hes U of M colors so he stays and corals need to deal with it.

 

[Seansea]

I do find that with 2 sheets of nori a day it slows his roll. Even just the clip being in tank he tends to hang around it picking at with no nori even on it. Less time to roll around tank chompin

 

[vetteguy53081]

Having many tangs, I find the only times they get near my coral which is plenty is when they are going after a particle food.

 

[zoomonster]

Always something isn't it? I've never had more than two tangs at a time (powder blue, purple, yellow, regal) and never seen that happen. On the other hand, I have always kept dwarf angels and never had a problem with them until I replaced my orange peel that died. Before I realized it, he mostly devoured the most expensive piece in my tank, a rather unique large Wellso. Having pretty good luck now but I feed pretty heavy including nori available 24x7.

And BTW with angels/tangs they do constantly graze for any algae on rocks/plug and it looks like they are nipping but not necessarily true.