Clown Tang

bizzleb01

bizzleb01

Member
Anyone ever had a problem with getting a clown tang to eat? I've had him for about a week or so and he has been nipping at some algae I've had on my rock, but he's not really eating anything else. I've tried frozen, flake, pellet, and nori and he really hasn't touched anything.
Tonight he's not looking so well; just kind of hanging out by the sand and breathing a little heavy. Water parameters are all great and all other fish and corals are looking great also. A list of fish are
4 blue/green chromis
1 midas blenny
1 pac blue tang
2 black and white false percs
1 sixline wrase
1 red scooter blenny
1 phsycadelic blenny
It's a 90 gallon tank that's about seven months old.
 
bizzleb01

bizzleb01

Member
Well, unfortunately when I came home from work today he was dead. This is the first fish I've lost in this tank and he was one of my favorites already.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Yea, unfortunately most Clown Tangs, for whatever reasons don't make it in captivity. They do come from extremely rough and turbulent areas of the sea, so having great flow in your tank, seems to help. The term "highly oxygenated water" gets tossed around a lot too with these guys, but you really can have so much oxygen saturation at a given water temperature, and pH level. I suspect people unfamiliar with tanks with higher flow, it would appear that the tanks have more oxygen?

Another possible reason, and I hate mentioning it, as it's nothing but a can of worms, but I would fault collection. Honestly, IMO, look at the VERY similar Sohal Tang. Same genus and same habitats, but they come from different locations (The Sohal out of the Red Sea, and the Clown out of the generic "Indo-Pacific"). Took a look at price tags. Places were a Sohal runs $150, a Clown Tang is $50. Places where a Sohal costs $100, a Clown only costs $30.
So basically IMO, there is typically a reason for the cost difference (shady, at best, collection with these guys).
 
bizzleb01

bizzleb01

Member
Yeah, I really like the sohals and that's what I really wanted but was a little pricey for me. Plus I read that they get pretty large and need a bigger tank than a 90 to live in for a long period of time.
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Originally Posted by Bizzleb01
http:///forum/post/2814509
Yeah, I really like the sohals and that's what I really wanted but was a little pricey for me. Plus I read that they get pretty large and need a bigger tank than a 90 to live in for a long period of time.
Yea, that's part of it too, the availability of these little Clown's, and how rarely a smaller Sohal comes in, that causes me to raise an eyebrow.
A clown tang gets just as big, is just as capable swimmer, and has the same personaility as a Sohal, so I really suggest the same tank for each of them, something in the 240gal, 8ft range.
 
pastor b.

pastor b.

Member
Dear hobbyist,when I first got my Clown Tang,it was only 2",and it was in my 75 gallon tank.In order to get it to eat ,soak what your feeding it in Kent Marine Garlic. Your water has to be pristine and well oxygenated . Since then,I've upgraded to a 150 and my Clown Tang is now 8". My Clown Tang eats everything I feed it from Sea weed,spiralina,pellets,Marine cuisine, formulas 1 , 2 and krill
. I enjoy watching it swim and change colors when it gets spooked. As the Clown Tang gets older,it becomes more aggressive . So its a good idea to place it with tank mates that are aggressive as well . Enjoy the hobby .
 
snowrider84

snowrider84

Member
i just bought a clown tang from lfs about a month ago, they got 5 in so i had the owner feed all the tanks they were in, only two were eating, the three that were not died within the week, mine now eats everything from nori to flakes, to mysis shrimp. I always make sure the fish is eating before i will buy
 
rotarymagic

rotarymagic

Active Member

Originally Posted by snowrider84
http:///forum/post/2816906
i just bought a clown tang from lfs about a month ago, they got 5 in so i had the owner feed all the tanks they were in, only two were eating, the three that were not died within the week, mine now eats everything from nori to flakes, to mysis shrimp. I always make sure the fish is eating before i will buy
me too and I definitely love when some LFSs tell you "oh it already ate today but its eats" and then they try to powersell you when you say you'll come back the next day to watch it eat.
 
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