Yikes!! my hippo tang is eating my zoas,...so is my foxface!

[Carole Zerbe]

I just watched my hippo tang eat a zoa colony! My foxface has been picking at my zoas for a while but I can't catch him. I increased their feeding and give between 1 and 2 sheets of nori per day. I gave between 3 to 4 frozen cubes of food daily. My fish are fat/thick and always hungry . Is there any feeding strategy that could help me?

 

[JaimeAdams]

Just feeding multiple times a day. Usually once a fish gets a taste for coral they will continue to eat the coral.

 

[eatbreakfast]

Agreed. Once they develop a taste for corals, it almost never stops. As said above, increasing the frequency of feeding can prevent new fish from starting this behavior.

 

[wkscott]

Although my theory is unproven, I believe fish copy each other at times. If your blue tang saw your foxface eating coral, he probably decided to try it too.

 

[laga77]

Increase not only the amount, but what you feed them. Try all different kinds of foods. Start with fresh shrimps and oysters and clams and then live Blackworms. Also check your water quality, fish will pick on corals when stressed.

 

[Travis Stewart]

Man sorry to hear, that would make me so mad

 

[Bugger]

Wow funny title take the rocks out and catch him

 

[Scott.h]

Are you sure the hippo isn't picking at the algae by the Zoe's? My fox face is the worst fish I have in the coral department. It won't mess with the bigger polyps, but will decimate the bb sized Zoe's colony in a day. Also any lps polyps are a no go. Cool fish but it's a pain.

 

[mcarroll]

Your fish are telling you that they prefer live food.

You can change their behavior – just offer better food, and offer it more often.

Try to get something live into the rotation – ideally enough to make up most of their diet, but it also pays to start small and work your way up to that.

Blackworms and newly hatched brine shrimp are two of the more common items to grow on your own, but there are tons of options. See what your LFS carries first, and go from there with DIY as needed. Refrigerated items like those from Reef Nutrition are almost all perfect too!

And auto-feeder is another option to consider – especially for while you aren't at home. Use a high-quality flake (and/or pellet) and keep quantities low so you have plenty of room to feed live and quality whole-frozen foods, but make it do as many feedings per day as it'll allow.

 

[cpvince]

Ouch... I hope they weren't high end zoas. They will most likely continue to do this so I'd catch them and trade them away at the lfs.

 

[becks]

I was watching a sailfin tang ripping zoas of a rock in a lfs near me he was going to town on them

 

[ReeferMadnessfragandco]

I just watched my hippo tang eat a zoa colony! My foxface has been picking at my zoas for a while but I can't catch him. I increased their feeding and give between 1 and 2 sheets of nori per day. I gave between 3 to 4 frozen cubes of food daily. My fish are fat/thick and always hungry . Is there any feeding strategy that could help me?

Never really seen a hippo... but butterfly, yes... just take the butterfly out if uping the feeding does not work

 

[JaimeAdams]

I have customers who have hippos that eat zoas, so you aren't the only one.