Yellow Tang with hair algae and pebble beard

WhenKeepinItReefGoesWrong

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Hi all,

I've got a pair of juvenile Biota yellow tangs in my tank, and am going through a phase of hair algae. My tangs are eating a lot of both hair algae and a bit of nori.

One of them seems to have pulled a piece out of the sand and got it stuck to its chin, along with a couple of pebbles. He appears to be eating still though less ravenously. Is this something I should be worried about, or just ride it out? I noticed it about 2 hours ago.



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Nigel35

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That tang looks pretty beat up... I would let it work it out but if it persists for more than a few days you might want to take action.
 

Zionas

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Hey, I’m not sure how exactly to solve this issue, but I want to point out that keeping a “pair” of Tangs usually isn’t a good idea. I’ve seen it work in a few cases, but the problem here is they’re found in large shoals in the wild and we don’t know what exactly their social structure is or whether they change sex. Even if they pair or form small harems, it may well be a temporary thing rather than a long-term thing like it is for other fish.

Even in very large tanks like David Saxby’s, he says among his school of Yellow Tangs, the weaker ones are picked off every 2-3 years. Tangs generally aren’t a fish I’d try to pair or form a small harem of (or in some larger tanks, a group), that is, until we clearly know what their social structure is and how they allocate their gender.
 
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WhenKeepinItReefGoesWrong

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Hey, I’m not sure how exactly to solve this issue, but I want to point out that keeping a “pair” of Tangs usually isn’t a good idea. I’ve seen it work in a few cases, but the problem here is they’re found in large shoals in the wild and we don’t know what exactly their social structure is or whether they change sex. Even if they pair or form small harems, it may well be a temporary thing rather than a long-term thing like it is for other fish.

Even in very large tanks like David Saxby’s, he says among his school of Yellow Tangs, the weaker ones are picked off every 2-3 years. Tangs generally aren’t a fish I’d try to pair or form a small harem of (or in some larger tanks, a group), that is, until we clearly know what their social structure is and how they allocate their gender.
Thanks for the reply. I'm happy to say that my little guy has managed to knock the algae and pebbles out so he is good to go now.

As for your concern, I've certainly done my research into it and aggression is definitely a concern. The advice everyone seems to have is if you're going to have multiple of the same shape Tangs, to introduce them young and at the same time, which I did. This is no guarantee that I won't have issues (which I certainly may) but I'm hoping that I can avoid any major problems. If one of them starts to get beat up I will certainly find him a new home though.

Happy reefing
 

i cant think

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He freed himself, or herself, nice fish, captive bred, do well in groups.
Happy for him, or her!
Actually, it’s not known if they do better in groups or in pairs/singularly. I’d still say for the average aquarium, they do better alone until we learn more about their social hierarchy.
They are certainly nice fish though!! The vibrant yellow is a beautiful colour.
 
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