Tangs eating coral?

[USMC4Life]

Hi all,
This is new to me, and what i mean by that is that I have had this tang for years now. But today he started to eat coral. Anyone seen that before ?

 

[wkscott]

While in the last 20+ years that I have kept tangs with coral (blue, purple, yellow, powder blue, powder brown, kole, sailfin) I have never had this happen. I have heard of this occassionally happening though. Most humans do not eat dogs or cats, but some do. It's an individual thing and once they get a taste for it, they generally won't stop.

 

[cloak]

When you say "eating the coral," was this a now it's here now it's not kind of thing or is the tang just gumming it so to say? What kind of coral was it?

 

[cracker]

So You actually saw the fish take a bite ? By the way ,very beautiful fish .

 

[mfinn]

I've seen my hippo tangs eat zoanthids before.

 

[USMC4Life]

Hi all, yes I seen him take a bite (several bites) out of this one in particular

well he just Photo bombed me.

 

[Macdaddynick1]

+1, I have had hippos demolish zoanthids. I also had a kole tang that ate a mantle off of my derasa within first 5 minutes I threw it into the tank. My yellow tang loves to mess with the open brains, but I'm keeping that zombie . Don't get rid of this guy just yet. He might be helping you keep that xenia under control. Also try feeding him more.

 

[USMC4Life]

I only see him go after the Kenya tree. And he eats like a cow. He is a fat boy.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Tangs can, in rare specimens, eat coral. They are going for the zooxanthellae.

 

[USMC4Life]

He or she never done it in 3 years that I had the fish.

 

[eatbreakfast]

He or she never done it in 3 years that I had the fish.

Situations are fluid. It didn't do it before, but it does now. There are many instances where a fish was fine for an extended period of time, then starts to nip. In most cases, it never goes back to not nipping.

 

[4FordFamily]

Situations are fluid. It didn't do it before, but it does now. There are many instances where a fish was fine for an extended period of time, then starts to nip. In most cases, it never goes back to not nipping.

Agree.

You can try feeding more as mentioned.

Also, it's not uncommon for tangs to be mistakingly blamed for eating coral when they nip for algae and other things amongst the coral, something to be mindful of.

I've never had a tang eat any coral, personally and I have had and have currently several tangs -- I did however have a purple tang that developed a taste for clam mantles (which really isn't all that surprising as many fish eat dead clams). It started because I had a clam die and he was eating the decaying clam because I didn't remove it fast enough. This led to the fish associating all live clams with food as well.

 

[tyler1503]

If a fish is hungry, he's going to eat. He doesn't care how much you like that coral and won't think twice about eating it if it looks appetising enough haha.
Just like people, some say their carnivores then eat a salad. If it looks good enough, it will be eaten!

 

[USMC4Life]

I just never seen that before. And this one that actually eats the coral is a fat boy lol.

 

[becks]

My lfs said to me about a regal tang that was brought back because he started eating lps corals and apparently he said it's not unusual for regal tangs to do it.

 

[Christopher Davis]

+1, I have had hippos demolish zoanthids. I also had a kole tang that ate a mantle off of my derasa within first 5 minutes I threw it into the tank. My yellow tang loves to mess with the open brains, but I'm keeping that zombie . Don't get rid of this guy just yet. He might be helping you keep that xenia under control. Also try feeding him more.

I had to get rid of my blue hippo for the exact same reason!!! Xenia and polyps didn't stand a chance!

 

[Matt Strait]

My mimic tang picks at my Kenya

 

[2Wheelsonly]

I had to get rid of my blue hippo for the exact same reason!!! Xenia and polyps didn't stand a chance!

I don't think you could put a price on a tang that eats Xenia... congrats you just won the fish lottery. Treat it like your first born kid!

A blue tang that eats Xenia... priceless!

 

[frankragghianti]

Have a sailfin tang that keeps my once flowing xenia coral I have on separate rock for control into a compact covered rock,no problem with spreading.

 

[tswanso3]

I have a clown tang that likes to eat xenia... crazy guy...