CLOWN TANG: Can he survive by just grazing algae among the rocks?

[shanghaireefer]

Had this 7 inch clown tang 3 weeks ago in my 5 year old 500 liter aquarium. Ever since day 1 , can only see him grazing algae from the live rocks. Has been refusing all types of foods offered during feeding time---nori, clipped lettuce, vegetable flakes, brine shrimp, clams, shrimps,etc.. Although an active swimmer, he never attempts to go close during feeding time.

Will he continue surviving ? What can be done? Other fish tankmates include a 9 inch blue hippo tang( tank king) , lionfish, 4.5 inch blue lipped angel, 6inch half moon angel, two yellow tangs, naso tang, tuskfish. ALL these fishes hve voracious appetites.

[cloak]

In the long run, no. Keep up with the variety though. Hope you get a bite.

[Peter Eichler]

Really hard to say, but many many Clown Tangs starve to death from never accepting prepared foods. The fact that you have all those other grazers probably means a slow starvation unless you have a lot of algae growth. If he does manage to make it through don't plan on the Hepatus being king for much longer.

[shanghaireefer]

Any suggestions on how to induce more algae growth which the clown tang can feed on? See other tangs feeding on them too occasionally, but see lots of grazing by clown tang.

[weluvfish54]

try feeding with garlic? soak some frozen mysis in it..mine loves it

[kilmca]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13025184#post13025184 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by weluvfish54
try feeding with garlic? soak some frozen mysis in it..mine loves it

I agree with weluvfish54. I've also heard to wrap a piece of nori around a small piece of live rock, helps to trick picky eaters that are willing to eat algae off the rocks.

Also try to find a lfs or other reefers that have marco algae from their refugiums to feed to the tangs.

I have a 5" Clown Tang and it's king of my tank. If your's survives it will probably become the king of the tank.

Goodluck

[1ucky]

I had a 7" one a couple months ago that I got from a friend; he wouldn't eat for the first few days (only grazed on live rocks), but then it started eating like crazy. Long story short, I had to take him out after a month in the tank; he started harrasing all my fish:eek2: .....

[snorvich]

Yes, that can be one mean fish. But if you can embed some garlic soaked nori in the rocks, it might induce eating.

[shanghaireefer]

My 9 inch blue tang rules the tank for the past few years. The Maculosus angel would chase the clown tang out of his territory.
So would he still rule the tank eventually? Got two more yellow tangs and a naso tang ,flagfin angel, lionfish , tuskfish(currently shares same territory with clown tang) .

[Peter Eichler]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13029896#post13029896 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shanghaireefer
My 9 inch blue tang rules the tank for the past few years. The Maculosus angel would chase the clown tang out of his territory.
So would he still rule the tank eventually? Got two more yellow tangs and a naso tang ,flagfin angel, lionfish , tuskfish(currently shares same territory with clown tang) .

If he lives there's a very good chance he'll end up dominating the tank and even beating the hell out of some of the fish you think can nhandle themselves. The Clown Tang wasn't a good purchase for that and other reasons that you're currently experiencing. Then he just needs to get ich and you'll have the Clown Tang trifecta.

[rob1991]

how do you soak the food in garlic? i dont understand that part, i have minced fresh garlic, and put it in the tank before with flakes but idk.

[snorvich]

Oh, there is liquid garlic sold by various brand names. Check out Marine Depot or your LFS.

[Recty]

There are products like Garlic Extreme that are marketed, but you can also just take some fresh cloves of garlic and squish them between two spoons, drip the juice onto your foods. That is the cheap way to try out and see if a garlic taste entices him to eat.

[jmaneyapanda]

That is way too many fish for a 500 liter= 125 gallon tank. You will likely continue to have aggreesion/intimidation problems. Just my opinion.

[rob1991]

when i first got my tangs going i attached the sea weed to a rock by just wedging it in there, then after a couple weeks i put it on the clip and they went for it, i dont think its a fish problem. not trying to stir any thing up but i know of 180 gallon tanks like 10 tangs and like 18 other fish and mine has 5 tangs and i plan to have a total of 15 fish in my 135, and my tank and the other tank are both successful reef tanks, so im not concerned with fish, but they are picky eaters, try the thing that i did, hope all works.

[weluvfish54]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13033362#post13033362 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rob1991
but i know of 180 gallon tanks like 10 tangs and like 18 other fish and mine has 5 tangs and i plan to have a total of 15 fish in my 135.

i hope your joking.

[d4a2n0k]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=13033362#post13033362 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by rob1991
when i first got my tangs going i attached the sea weed to a rock by just wedging it in there, then after a couple weeks i put it on the clip and they went for it, i dont think its a fish problem. not trying to stir any thing up but i know of 180 gallon tanks like 10 tangs and like 18 other fish and mine has 5 tangs and i plan to have a total of 15 fish in my 135, and my tank and the other tank are both successful reef tanks, so im not concerned with fish, but they are picky eaters, try the thing that i did, hope all works.

Successful as in 6 months? For fish that can live 20-30 years in captivity, that's hardly what I would call a success. Check back here in 5 years and see where those five Tangs are at.

[shanghaireefer]

Am I overstocking? My tank is 1.8m long , about 600 cm high and wide, plus the sump and not 500liter as mentioned earlier. So far the fishes hve been very stable for the past years. There are no serious signs of aggressions except for some brief chases and the blue tang occasionally splashing water at the surfce. I 've got heavy rockwork too. The fishes seem to appear quite happy and stable, although I have to admit adding some small fishes like the maroon clownfish i nthe past few months led to wastage.

I've never had a clown tang, so the recent addition. Its been chased away by the Maculosus Angel when approaching its territory, but other than that , so far clown tang appears tamed and tend to shy away from the majority of the fishes during feeding time. I understand that may change eventually. We'll see...

[rob1991]

yeah haha 6 mionths, but his i think ahs been like 2 years or something, there are like 1034920394023904 different ways to do reefing, people can give advice the person can either choose to except it or not, and move on, i have my way of running my tank and you have yours, i dont wanna like start something stupid right now, but i am just giving my peice of advice and you can give yours.

shanghaireefer

what ever you choose, just do your research see peoples tanks and see thier success or non success and you can develope (SP?) your own way or reefing.

[weluvfish54]

yeah but you can take advice from someone whos been doing the same for more years. just because one way works for 6 months doesnt mean it will work long term, and if its been proven that it in fact WONt work long term..why not just spare the fish.

[rob1991]

yeah your totally right, experience does show alot of things for that, i might run into problems later on, and then i will mix said prob. but like i said about the person with the 180 i consider 2 years is a long time.

[shanghaireefer]

Rob1991, Weluvfish54 and d4a2nok:

My appreciation for sharing all your experiences. I think this is a forum precisely for everyone to contribute their experiences. I must say, each of you have your own valid points.

Altho I have been i nthis hobby for 6 years with previous tanks in the Philippines and Shanghai ,and currently in Hongkong and Tianjin, I've not had a clown tang despite the fact that my favorite goes to the Tang genus. Due to my travels, I was not successful with coral reefs, so have confined to FOWLR aquariums.
In recent years, most of my fishes live for at least 2 years including the flag fin angel (18 or 20 months only)which is not that easy to maintain for more than 6 months.

When I return to Tianjin later this week, I will try seaweeds soaked with garlic and see if it works. If it wont, then maybe its fate. I think one major factor attributing to my success is heavy rockworks providing at least 20 caves and bridges of different sizes ,shapes, and angles to allow sufficient hiding against aggressions.