Yellow tang behaviour.

[stig]

I bought a fairly small yellow tang yesterday. It seemed to be doing pretty well, grazing on the live rock and hanging out in the cave underneath.
Today, it started hanging about the front corners of the tank, doing a strange jerking motion and swimming up and down with its mouth up to the glass as if it's either trying to get out or it's fighting its own reflection. Can anyone tell me if this is normal or will pass or is it not taking to its new environment.
Thanks.

 

[beth]

Keep your eye on the tang for any sign of disease. Is he breathing rapidly? Notice any other fish harrassing him? Is his belly kinda sunken? What I have found with tangs is that they need lots of oxygen in the water. So unless you have super powered filtration going on, you might want to add some more airation by dropping a couple of strongly powered airstones in the tank. Also, Tangs are vegetarians and must have lots of greenstuff. I don't know how much green algae you have in your tank, but tangs needs lots! Get a lettuce clip at your pet shop and give your tang some rommanine lettuce. Don't give too much at a time, and don't leave the lettuce to rot in your tank. In the meantime, keep your eye on the tang for any sign of disease or harrassment. You might want to keep the lights off for a couple of days to see if he settles down. Yellow Tangs are high-strung, easily spooked. Good luck!

 

[krazzydart]

I hate Tangs.....kill him flush him whatever....now... is your tank fully cycled? and TANGS should be the very last fish you add to your tank.

 

[janice]

What the heck is your problem with Tangs? You're the first person I've ever heard of that doesn't like them and I'm curious what you could possibly have against these docile fish? My experience is mostly with blue tangs, so maybe you had some other kind that caused problems??? But I've never seen an agressive tang. I've seen aggressive angels, damsels, and I have a pink anthias that likes to protect his territory.

 

[stig]

Thanks for the suggestions.
He doesn't show any signs of disease and he isn't being harrassed by any other fish - there's only one other small fish in there.
In fact he seems to have chilled out a bit today and gobbled up some flaked food I dropped in there. I already have a long air stone in the tank.
Erm, excuse me if this is a silly question but, what exactly is a lettuce clip? I assume it's not designed for fish since pet store was suggested instead of fish store. What animal is it designed for? (This will help greatly in my quest to demonstrate what I mean to my local Japanese petstore owner.)
I'm not entirely sure if I can get the lettuce you mentioned but I'll try. How would spinach be as an alternative?
He's a very calm and elegant fish and I don't see how anyone could suggest flushing him down the toilet - I'll assume that was a joke.
Why was it suggested that tangs should be the final addition to a tank? My petstore owner didn't seem to think so and he's not the kind of guy to sell something that won't work; he even personally brought him round and waited to see how if it would attack my clown. It didn't but my small clown was so scared that he offered to take it back and gave me the price of the clown off the price of the tang. It seems to me that there are as many different opinions within this hobby as there are species of fish.

 

[porkypuffer]

A LETTUCE CLIP IS ALSO CALLED A VEGGIE CLIP. THEY ARE FOR FISH. IT'S A PLASTIC CLIP WITH A SUCTION CUP SO YOU CAN CLIP YOUR LETTUCE OR DRIED SEAWEED IN IT AND THEN STICK IT ON THE GLASS IN YOUR AQUARIUM. I DON'T KNOW ABOUT SPINACH. AS FAR AS TANGS GO, THEY CAN BE AGRESSIVE. MINE WAS ABOUT 6" IN MY 55 GAL. TANK AND HE WANTED IT ALL FOR HIMSELF. IT WAS ETHER WATCH HIM KILL THE OTHER FISH, OR RETURN HIM TO THE STORE. THE TANK WAS JUST TOO SMALL FOR HIM. BUT I WOULDN'T FLUSH HIM. HE WAS VERY STRIKING IN APPEARANCE. GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR TANG.

 

[kris]

You're right about alot of different opinions about of alot of different stuff. But for the most part, we all agree on the essentials. It sounds to me like you have a great pet store owner, with unheard of customer service. Talk to him first, then ask us, and take the "majority rules" approach. I used to use spinach for my tangs, they loved it, but I quit because the smell of it gagged me. There are alot of different green foods and your fish will enjoy the variety.

 

[beth]

The lettuce clip is described above, and your local pet shop should carry them. If they don't, look around, and if worst come to worst, wedge a clip of lettuce under a rock or tank decoration. Rommaine lettuce or spinich is the preference if you are going to get lettuce, and both should be readily available at your grocery store. Tangs are known to be territorial. But if you make him the last fish, he will settle in with his tankmates. However, these fish get big, and should not be kept in anything less than a 55gal, and then only in a sparcely stocked tank. Pay attention to his nutritional needs, meaning greenstuff, or he will not thrive and will probably die of malnutrition. And, I don't know why that person keeps saying "flush" fish, especially tangs down the toilet. IT IS GETTING OLD already. Take your disrespect for living creatures elsewhere, please. Good luck to the new tang owner

[This message has been edited by beth (edited 03-06-2000).]

 

[stig]

Thanks for all the help. It seems that these clips haven't made it to Japan. I tried a huge general store with a large pet section today. After looking for a while, I asked someone and described what I wanted while pointing to the fish accesories - the guy sent me to the stationery section!? I'll keep looking or just improvise.
One more thing. You are going to call me a nutter. In this country, everything is small -the land of the bonsai. My tank is only, deep breath please, 15 gallons

60cm by 30cm by 36cm(height). I've heard all the stuff about more water changes being necessary etc.
The tang is pretty small right now: about 2 inches. All I want to know is : is it cruel to keep it in such a small tank? There's only a small chromi in there with him and I won't be adding much else.
Your ideas will be appreciated.

 

[beth]

Marine fish will not thrieve in such a small compartment....if I'd know the size of your tank before, I probably would have suggested that the problem with your tang is his broom closet living space. Yes, if you want to keep larger fish, you will need to go bigger. And I strongly suggest that you don't add anything else to this tiny set up. The only fish I'd put in there is a goldfish! For a yellow tang, you will need at least a 30gal LONG, not tall. This fish like to scoot around and need swimming space as much as they need veggies. So, before too much longer, go to a larger tank, and, remember LONG, not tall. And add that lettuce or algae source ASAP.

 

[porkypuffer]

STIG, E-MAIL ME AND I'LL FIX YOU UP WITH A VEGGIE CLIP. BEARDLONNIE@AOL.COM

 

[kris]

Beth is right - no other fish (except maybe sharks) need more room than the tangs, if you can't get a bigger tank, see if you can take him back, it really is unfair.

 

[fishgirl]

My yellow tang is about four inches and he lives very well in a 30 gallon tank with two damselfishes (domino and humbug)(he's lived there for almost a year now) Although he is very high-strung, he tolerates the damsels and seems not at all cramped. I have four bleached corals in that tank, but I left a lot of free swimming space for Tango. It hurts me that anyone would want to flush a tang -- he's one of my favorite fish!

 

[the rock]

the rock says....
if you don't have a veggie clip simply take a small piece of rock and use a rubber band to attach the piece of lettuce or other veggie, tangs can do fine in small areas but limit it to one tang in a 55 or less. you may find that in a 55 that the tang is overly aggressive towards new additions, a yellow tang should always be introduced last or the rockwork should be rearranged before each new addition

 

[stig]

Well, after what Kris and Beth wrote, I felt pretty bad about keeping the tang in my 15g. I spoke to my lfs owner and he didn't seem to think that it was a problem. I hoped he would agree to take it back but it's a really hard thing to explain in a 2nd language. From watching the fish, though, I felt that the tank was too small- strange jerky swimming in the corners and the like. It ate really well. It never touched the spinach I put in though - I tried many times to put a small amount under a small rock at the bottom.
Yes, tangs should definitely be the last addition. I got a bi-colour dottyback and the tang was pretty relentless in picking on it. It would back into it at every opportunity although it never actually tried to harm it.
I finally got the guy to agree to take it back because of the stress it was causing the dotty (the dotty never seemed to care though.) Today he was replaced by a fairly large common clown. I just hope it is taken to a bigger tank with an owner who cared as much about its welfare as I did. You can put the tissues away now. Just thought I'd provide an update.

 

[fishgirl]

You did the smart thing, taking the tang back, but next time you have a free space in a bigger tank, you really should try one again. My tang always prefers romaine over spinnach, apparently your tang did too. A 15gal really is not good for anything but a QT, though, so I suggest upgrading soon.