Kole tang being a trouble maker

coralman05

Member
My Kole Tang has been picking at my Frogspawn :(( everything is recently new ( month ) i just brought a green bubble coral so i need ideas to get the tang back on the good side
 

btldreef

Moderator
Ugh! I had a Sailfin Tang that did this to me! It ate an entire duncan colony right in front of me. I wanted to harpoon him!
Try moving the pieces and increase feedings and offer more algae sheets.
 

coralman05

Member
yeah! i already moved him! I have algae sheets but she doesn't eat them.. i think she is hungry I don't want to overfeed and have a spike in the water P's
 

btldreef

Moderator
My tangs would not take to algae strips in the beginning, this is what worked for me:
Turn off return pumps. Hold the algae sheet in your hand in front of a powerhead, and rub it between your fingers to break it apart. It will look like flake food floating around being moved by the powerheads. Even if the tang does not jump on the flakes right away, it should start picking them off the rocks. The hope is that over time it will learn that the flakes are in fact food, then that the sheet you're holding is food, and then eventually just the sheet. It's worked really well. I even have my Copperband Butterfly trained to eat out of my hand after using this method. Comes in handy when trying to catch a fish too. It's actually how I caught my evil coral eating Sailfin! Now if only my Hippo wasn't so skiddish and would come up to my hand so I could get him out! My Blonde Naso literally lays in my hand because it's associated it with food, LOL
Side note: My tangs will not eat plain Nori or Green Algae sheets, doesn't matter how I feed it or what brand it is. They LOVE Ocean Nutrition and Julian Sprung's Red, Purple and Brown sheets though.
 

btldreef

Moderator
The reason for turning the return pumps off while doing that method is so that the flakes have time to settle on the rocks, otherwise they just clog the sump/filter socks/return pump, and make a mess. Leave them off for about 10-15 minutes.
 

coralman05

Member
Okay! Soundalike one of those weird things that will work!! Gonna try it later and report back.. P.s I only have green so yaa
 

morgan175

Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by BTLDreef http:///t/389162/kole-tang-being-a-trouble-maker#post_3437253
My tangs would not take to algae strips in the beginning, this is what worked for me:
Turn off return pumps. Hold the algae sheet in your hand in front of a powerhead, and rub it between your fingers to break it apart. It will look like flake food floating around being moved by the powerheads. Even if the tang does not jump on the flakes right away, it should start picking them off the rocks. The hope is that over time it will learn that the flakes are in fact food, then that the sheet you're holding is food, and then eventually just the sheet. It's worked really well. I even have my Copperband Butterfly trained to eat out of my hand after using this method. Comes in handy when trying to catch a fish too. It's actually how I caught my evil coral eating Sailfin! Now if only my Hippo wasn't so skiddish and would come up to my hand so I could get him out! My Blonde Naso literally lays in my hand because it's associated it with food, LOL
Side note: My tangs will not eat plain Nori or Green Algae sheets, doesn't matter how I feed it or what brand it is. They LOVE Ocean Nutrition and Julian Sprung's Red, Purple and Brown sheets though.
Just had to say wow and what a great thing to know and try. Thank you
 

btldreef

Moderator
Glad it is working! I haven't had this method fail yet. Depending on how skiddish the fish is, it can take 2-4 weeks for them to fully accept. My coral beauty was by far the toughest, she took almost 6 months, but tangs are usually quicker learners.
 
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