tang acting strange

[trigger40]

my powder blue tang this morning was acting very strange. he wasn't eating off the clip and wasn't swimming very much. he would just hover in the middle of the tank lazily darting back and fourth. his colors were darker than normal. it may be nothing but this fish is very important to me and i dont want anything bad happening to it. the ntang also fought a little with my emperor angel on Saturday and got beat up pretty bad but he was looking normal monday and was eating better than ever. the perimeters i have not checked yet but i will hen i get home. all the other fish are looking great.

 

[beth]

how big is your fish tank and how many angels and tangs? Are water parameters good?

 

[trigger40]

its a 100g 6' tank. its just one angel and one tang. the tang tried to beat up the angel when he was first added. but he hit himself on the lr pretty bad. the angel is fine.

 

[trigger40]

oh and i dont know if the water is good i didn't have time to check this morning. but i have water ready when i get home.

 

[trigger40]

the levels are good i just checked. the tang did eat some tonight but not like normal. both the tang and angel look a little ruffed up. perhaps there is some aggression i am not seeing?

 

[mandy111]

Trust me, a ton of aggression will happen at night after lights down with tangs. Powder Blues are one of the more difficult tangs to keep, they are not as hardy as most others. If he is not as active (they never just hang or stop) and not eating great that is a really bad sign.
I would add multiple seaweed clips around the tank, overfeed for a while and watch carefully for ICH. They are not just ich magnets like people say they are ICH machines.
I have a total of 8 tangs in the tank and that behavior is not normal at all. Keep a close eye.
Do you have plenty of rock for hiding holes and territory, A powder blue in the wild has a large reef patch he will defend to the death more so than any other tang. Make sure you have a few caves and hiding places he can have for himself.

 

[beth]

Trig, you do know that that size tank is bit small for a tang, let alone multiple tangs? How long have you had them and the angel all together?

 

[trigger40]

i only have one tang. the angel is the aggressor. the tang has been in that tank for a couple months now. he is normally calm but once i added the angel there was some beef but they get along now. the tang is back to normal eating like a pig and grazing the rocks. i was told that 6'' is plenty long for a PBT. Am I wrong? i did put more clips in the tank during feeding time to reduce competition between the fish. its helped a lot.

 

[beth]

Tangs are aggressive hard swimmers, and they require long tank lengths to do what they normally need to do while swimming. Hanging out in the rocks all day is not a normal behavior for these fish. 150 at least. They are also territorial as are angelfish. The mix of the two in a smaller tank could lead to problems, and certainly leads to stress for the fish involved even if they appear to the hobbyist that they are getting on fine.

 

[mr. limpid]

I totally agree with Beth, 100gal is min for a tang, except the power blue is is a big swimmer, I took a chance when I put mine in my 135. He's a 6 inches never stops swimming all day. It's funny you added them in right order aggression wise. The problem is the emperor angel minimum size tank is 180 he will be able to live a long and health life in that size tank. There other angles that will live in a 100gal tank you just need to research for one.

 

[jay0705]

Dwarf angels would be fine. Its definitely aggression tho trig man. I have three tangs. All will out eat any fish I have. Maybe the fox could keep up lol . Certain tangs u can keep in smaller tanks. I see yellows in 60-75 gals alot. Kole, bristle tooths, ect are smaller tangs aswell. But there the king of the tank. You added another fish w a strong personality and the results can be what your seeing. Even in a 200 you could still have the issues. Certain fish not just types but individual fish don't mix well