George Monnat Jr Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I purchased this awesome Frogspawn from RCA a few weeks ago. It's been doing great until last week. Last week I got a Powder Brown Tang (Acanthurus japonicus) to be my big, swimmy fish. (My niece is visiting from Luxembourg over Christmas, and I don't think 2-yr-olds appreciate coral, mushrooms and shrimp.) Starting then and about every other day I'd see a Frogspawn head ripped. First the head at the lower arrow, then one right of the picture, then the third one at the upper arrow. I'm assuming the Powder Brown Tang is doing it. Has anyone seen that before? The Powder Brown Tang didn't like the Zoo Med Aquatrol Spirulina 20 Flakes that I was feeding before, so yesterday I got some Ocean Nutrition Seaweed Select Green Marine Algae with natural garlic extract from RCA (basically nori, or seaweed strips; I purchased some cheap nori from an Asian market last time I had a Powder Brown Tang, and it died, so only name-brand now). The Powder Brown Tang ravaged that, so I'm hoping it'll leave the Frogspawn alone. Another question, how many nori strips should a 5-6" tang be fed every day or week? I have no idea. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Anything else in the tank acting funky? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Anything else in the tank acting funky? Not that I've seen. The other coral and cousins look fine. The Firefish pair were totally freaked out by the Powder Brown Tang, but I think they're getting over it. Same with the Yellow Clown Goby (Powder Brown Tang took over its corner). I've seen the Powder Brown Tang nibbling on various LR but not on anything I've purchased, including the Frogspawn. Edit: I forgot to mention, the Frogspawn heads are actually ripped apart. Not just deflated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kmacc05 Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 I have heard of tangs getting curious and tasting lps before, but not ripping them apart like that. Hopefully he likes the new food and forgets about the frogspawn. Goodluck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Now that it has the nori, I'm hoping that'll stop. If I can get the amount of nori to feed correct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Found a close-up pic I took last Friday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted December 4, 2012 Share Posted December 4, 2012 Sometimes in direct flow lps can get ripped up. I'm just trying to rule everything out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 4, 2012 Author Share Posted December 4, 2012 Sometimes in direct flow lps can get ripped up. I'm just trying to rule everything out. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Ah, I see what you mean. There is a VorTech up and right in that picture that pumps a stream above the Frogspawn left to right, but the ripped parts are mostly on the leeward side. Unless the LR is creating an eddy there. I'll look at it more closely, thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 The three times I have actually observed corals being ripped apart by fish each time the coral polyp was damaged and they left the healthy polyps alone. The most recent was a Thalassoma hebraicum, Goldbar Wrasse and a Zebrasoma rostratum, Longnose Tang, literally rip a damaged acan polyp off it's skeleton and tear it from each others mouths while each was trying to eat it. As soon as it was done they swam off and left the rest of the polyps alone. In your case you may also need to keep an eye out for "brown jelly". The water currents may spread it from one polyp to another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wesreyn Posted December 5, 2012 Share Posted December 5, 2012 Looks like you need some emerald crabs. I have been battling a little bubble algae as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 5, 2012 Author Share Posted December 5, 2012 Looks like you need some emerald crabs. I have been battling a little bubble algae as well. Yes, I've got one little Emerald Crab, but it's not handling it. I've been hesitant to add more, because crabs can be opportunistic scavengers and I have small crustaceans. The Valonia hasn't overgrown anything, yet, and looks neat to someone who doesn't know it's a nuisance algae. I stopped by RCA yesterday, and they didn't have small Emerald Crabs. I'll check tomorrow. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Ok, my new Powder Brown Tang is definitely ripping my Frogspawn. The fifth head was ripped apart yesterday. It’s up high on one of the harder to get to heads. If it was a crustacean or other crawler why pass several that are easier to get to? This one hurts. The previous damaged heads were smaller and on the periphery. The one yesterday was a big one right in the middle. I looked at the literature on Powder Brown Tangs months ago when I first got one, but I hadn't looked this time. Last night I pulled a book, A PocketExpert Guide Marine Fishes page 374, and it says to feed 3 times a day, and, “If underfed, an occasional individual may nip at large-polyped stony corals.” Crap. Some online sites say the same thing. LiveAquaria doesn't, and that's the only one I looked at just before purchasing this one to make sure I had the minimum recommended (they have 125g while others have 70-75g). I started feeding it multiple Ocean Nutrition Seaweed Select Green Marine Algae with natural garlic extract strips yesterday, so hopefully that'll get it to stop. It had already damaged the big Frogspawn head before that. This morning the head was devastated with a nori strip still in the veggie clip, but that may have been scavengers jumping on the injured head. If it continues, I'll have to give it back to Shane. It's a shame, because it's a big, healthy, pretty fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 I can assure you that some tangs, no matter how well fed, will eat your corals. I've got a yellow tang that got banished to my predator tank for just that very reason (he was eating everything in my tank except the sps). And over on MAAST, hobogato had to remove several tangs from his tank because they were destroying his corals. It's much more common than most of us realize. Most folks think tangs are reef safe no matter what, some of them are not reef safe no matter what. It's really the individual fish more than the species as a whole. At this point you don't have much choice but to either live with it, or evict him. Be aware, he's very likely to decide your other stuff looks tasty too. My experience has been that no matter how much you feed a coral eating fish, they will still eat your danged corals. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 7, 2012 Author Share Posted December 7, 2012 Sherita, thank you for the information. That's what I was afraid of and expecting to happen. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted December 7, 2012 Share Posted December 7, 2012 It always sucks when you wind up with a jerkfish in your tank. I'm sorry . Hopefully you can get him out soon, before he destroys other corals. Also, I'd keep an eye on that clown goby, I've heard of several that started nipping sps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 With my wife's help, I was able to net the Powder Brown Tang without damaging anything. Shane at Fishy Business took it back and is going to replace it for no cost. Hopefully I can get one that's just as healthy but doesn't eat my LPS in time for my niece visiting from Europe gets here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
George Monnat Jr Posted December 8, 2012 Author Share Posted December 8, 2012 Here's what I found at lunch today that was the final straw. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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