tangs eating acanthastrea.....

[JenDub]

I was wondering, has anybody ever heard of tangs eating acanthastrea lordhowensis? I won't go into great detail but let's just say fish never tasted sooo good...I will even show a pic of the helpless victim...:( http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/68276PB110406__Custom_.JPG

[vpham24]

Jendub,

Did it eats it or clean off the dead part, slime off of it? One of my Acan was stung by my Echinata and the yellow tang was take some stuff off it. But it didn't eat it.

Here's a picture of it. It's the far right polyp.

<img src="http://www.airbill.com/gallery/img/pict0092.jpg">

I'd say you probably paid 300-400 for that frag, don't let a $13 tang have a meal of it, cause they'll get use to it. I can't have cleaner shrimp anymore cause the purple tang would kill it and have a feast as soon as he sees it.

vu...

[baja_01]

JenDub, is there any flesh left at all? If there is there is still a good chance it will grow back.

[yoshiod9]

this kills me to think that a tang can eat acan...especially since i don't even own any and now am scared for jen dubs acan! hopefully it pulls through! take care!

[Dell'Oro]

Bet that tang didn't last long in there Jen!!!!

[JenDub]

okay so here is the story....I was noticing that my acans looked sucked in, puckered. So I pulled a chair up and watched to see what was irritating them...so I waited awhile....then I saw my purple tang swoop down and ate a chunk out of the flesh....I nearly passed out.

So as I am getting ready to spear these fish, my sailfin tang goes down and helps himself to a nibble...let's just say the fish are out of there and the babies are now protected. I looked everywhere for info on this and nothing. So I hope I can help anybodies collection from this.

I think they will pull through, they are pretty hardy. I will take some pics to show the damage. It's like there was a wolf in my tank...hmm...Chris where were you at on the night of.....:D

[yoshiod9]

oh man...i wouldve crapped my pants if i saw that happen! i would have murdered my tang if that happened to me. goodluck with them!

[Gary Majchrzak]

It's not uncommon for Tangs to nibble at LPS. There are a couple of folks around my area that will not put a Tang in their Acanthastrea tanks for that very reason.

[JenDub]

I know some do nibble but for me to actually see that ba$tard do it....I almost passed out...

[SeanT]

Did you see it actually eat the flesh?
Or is it possible it was going at a piece of algae on the rock?

[Anemone]

Yep, what Gary said - it's not that uncommon. I used to kid Jeremy at CRA about his "brain eating yellow tang." Not all tangs do this, but once one gets "the taste" it's pretty much time to move the coral or the tang.

Sorry. :(

Now, if you want a place to store your acan... :D

Kevin

[JenDub]

Originally posted by SeanT
Did you see it actually eat the flesh?
Or is it possible it was going at a piece of algae on the rock?

he took a giant mouth full out of the flesh, and I saw it with my own two peepers :eek1: and if I didn't see it, I would probably not have anything left today.

[JenDub]

Thanks Anemone for the concern....;)

[RandyO]

I won't add any tang to my tanks with LPS. They even beat up on some SPS. I had a Blue hippo picking up frags and dropping them on other corals. And IMO, the Zebrasoma family of tangs are the worst at polyp nipping. I was considering a Chevron tang, until I remembered one eating Scolymia corals in our show tank.
I think the more you feed you Acans, the more in danger they are from many fish. My buddy had to move his Acans from a tank because a Filamented Flasher wrasse was picking on them. Since he fed his Acans a lot, after about 6 hours from feeding, the Acans regurgitate some food, and the wrasse would not leave the corals alone. And like someone said, once they get a taste for it, they are relentless.

I would be a lot of the serious collectors of A.lordhowensis keep them in tanks with few fish. Chris, John, Kris, Marlo, Brahm? You guys got many fish in your tanks? Jeremy, I know you have some tangs. They were pestering other corals, wen't they? Better watch out.

I could be wrong.

[JenDub]

you are right Randy, during feeding the tangs get in a frenzy. I feed mine shrimp, cyclopleeze, and other stuff like that and I noticed that when the acans are trying to suck down there food, the tangs are circling above like sharks. Like you said "Acans regurgitate some food", they probably taste like the food too. It pains me to see my $10 fish eat my $400 acan.
Does anybody want a sailfin tang or purple tang??? Ba$tards....

[BerlinMethod.com]

Right now, there are zero fish in my Acan tank. But I am setting up a new tank which will house 1 interruptus and about 50 Apogon cardinals.

This new tank will be 4 sided starphire, and no bracing at all on top (just an open box). It will have a Giesemann 260 Moonlight 2x250watt with T5 lighting system.

There are definitely no shrimp or crabs in an Acan tank!

Best,
Kris

[RandyO]

Originally posted by BerlinMethod.com
Right now, there are zero fish in my Acan tank. But I am setting up a new tank which will house 1 interruptus and about 50 Apogon cardinals.

This new tank will be 4 sided starphire, and no bracing at all on top (just an open box). It will have a Giesemann 260 Moonlight 2x250watt with T5 lighting system.

There are definitely no shrimp or crabs in an Acan tank!

Best,
Kris

You should be safe Kris, as long as the interruptus behaves. I agree, no shrimp in an Acan tank, but I need some crabs or algae gets out of control. Running a lot of light over this new tank. My last Acan tank had to have most of the crabs evicted since they would just steel the food I worked so hard to feed the Acanths.

[downset]

Randy I havent seen my tangs pick on any of my acans yet! but i just had to move that giant brain that i have, because they wont leave it alone!! they pick at the flesh whenever they were hungry i would feel bad for them if they start picking on my acans because i have had those tangs for like 5 years but #&$^@# gotta go if that starts happening

[heuerfan]

Great, i just moved my lords to the main tank. Took me 2 hours to rearrange everything to accomodate the lords. I got a redsea sailfin, powder blue and a filamented flasher wrasse! Say it isn't so............. :(

[downset]

Its not likely that it will happen,BUT if they get a taste for them its over, randy summed up best why they attack corals In my opinion

[RandyO]

Originally posted by downset
Its not likely that it will happen,BUT if they get a taste for them its over, randy summed up best why they attack corals In my opinion

Thanks Jeremy. One of the other reasons tangs attack LPS is that those corals often expel thier zooxanthelle out of their mouths. If they do this during the day, the tangs see it, and give it a taste. Since it's algae, they get a taste for it. Then they start to bother the coral, trying to make it expel. They keep nibbling at the mouth region, like it's a candy dispenser. The coral gets stressed from this and closes up. I've seen some corals die from the stress of nippy tangs.

What Jen saw was altogether more scary. They were taking bites of flesh off the coral. Ouch!

[brahm]

if it makes you feel better jen, I'll feed a tang to my acan.

[JenDub]

Thanks Brahm...can I watch???

heuerfan I would watch those acans, I am telling you guys, if you have tangs and acans (lps) together, sooner then later one will have to leave...I know which one stays in my tank!!!

Originally posted by RandyO
What Jen saw was altogether more scary. They were taking bites of flesh off the coral. Ouch!

Randy the word scary is being modest, it was a horrific, and to actually see it happen in front of me.... :mad2: :eek1: :(

[mufflerguy]

Thats great, I just bought 6 lord frags for a small fortune & the tank they will go in has a sailfin & powder blue tang. There is also a foxface.
I have 2 plates, a red meat coral, a huge brain , & a frogspawn & these fish dont go near these. They are always fully expanded during the day? Should I worry? I will go insane if any one of these frags gets touched by any fish!!!!!!!!!

[JenDub]

are you going to feed your acans??? I would be worried, although there are some people out there that have tangs swimming with there acans but to see jaws attack your fortune....have you tried spearfishing??? It is therapeutic....;)

[brahm]

MOPARMAN! haha nice. You may have beat me this time on Ebay.. .BUT NEXT TIME I WILL RULE THE DAY!

[mufflerguy]

Who your daddy now, brahm!!!:lol: :lol: :lol:

Me with my acans::D

my wife::mad:

brahm with $1400 left in his pocket::bum:

[brahm]

hey now! You ain't my daddy.. My dad drove a 69' Z28 not brand x mopar.. haha
You may have won the auction (battle) but I still am winning the war.. Don't make me post a pick my Acanyon.

[mufflerguy]

Post it! Now I too, can become a member of the elite lord acan tribe!!!!
In 6 or 8 months, with a little luck , I too will possess many acan colonies & I'll rule the world!!!!!!!!

[JenDub]

don't worry brahm.....after mufflerman put's his $1000 worth of acans in his shark tank, there won't be anything left...

[mufflerguy]

Thanks for the vote of confidence ,Jen...:(

[JenDub]

I am telling you, you will pass out when you see your tang pull up to those acans and start having dinner....protect them from the tangs, wolves, and brahm...lol :D

[brahm]

...i dunno I had my acan with an Achilies tang no prob.

[mufflerguy]

I talked to mane & he said he hasnt heard of anyone else having problems, so hopefully I'll be OK. Have a good night people, I gotta get some sleep so I can work like a maniac tomorrow & make back some of the money I blew tonight. Seriously, It will be nice to get advice from you guys on this new type of coral, I really appreciate it
Thanks ,Matt

[RandyO]

Hey Matt. Welcome to the club. Another place to throw money away. ;) Like you said, with little luck, you'll be able to make it back in 6 months. I'll bet that 3 polyp red and gray acanth will be at least 30 polyps.

[mufflerguy]

That would be great if they all had 30 polyps in 6 months, then I could trade frags of different stuff with other people who have acans.
Thanks again for the info.
What did people do for info before the internet, rely on there local LFS for advice? Good grief.......

[RandyO]

Originally posted by mufflerguy
That would be great if they all had 30 polyps in 6 months, then I could trade frags of different stuff with other people who have acans.
Thanks again for the info.
What did people do for info before the internet, rely on there local LFS for advice? Good grief.......

I didn't say all of them. Just the fast grower. :) Also, the amount of starting adult polyps makes a difference. The red and Gray you got has 3 adult polyps. These 3 polyps will make a ring of 6-8 baby polyps around it. A single polyp will make a ring of less baby polyps. The 3 polyp frag will grow almost 3 times faster than a single. IMO, a single will never catch up to a 3 polyp starter. It's all about Mass. And a 3 polyp frag has much more mass than a single. When you see the size difference, you'll know.
Some of the guys here started with 5-6 polyped frags. They are champs, as they will grow into colonies even faster.
IMO, it will take maybe 2-3 months for a single polyp to grow into the same mass as 3 adult polyps. In that same time, if your lucky, after the 3 polyp laid down it's first ring of baby polyp, that ring should be mostly grown up, and laying down another, larger ring of polyps.
I got a frag from Marlo in Early September that is on it's third ring of polyps. It was 4 adult polyps, and a couple babies when I got it. It's one of the fastest growers I've seen. It's over 30 polyps, including babies. I also got some single polyp frags in Late September. I'm still waiting for the first baby on some of them.

Sorry about the long post. It's not to bring you down or anything, but to give you a better idea of the growth of these guys. At least the growth I've experienced. Maybe they will be on steroids in your tank, or something. :)

[baja_01]

Well, add me to the list of acan eating fish owners:mad2:

This one was my fault though. I feed a baby polyp a huge chunk of clam meat, it was almost the size of it. I should of cut it up smaller, because it ate it all but then looked like it was going to spit it back up. I feed all my frags in a plastic tub floating on the surface, and then put them back in the tank when they are done. Its the only way I can stop my fish from eating the food, as acans are not the fastest eaters in the world.

I put all the frags back in their spots, come back and make sure they are all ok 5 min later. One frag was tosed halfway down the tank and upside down. I picked it up and saw that the entire mouth of one baby polyp and several spots on a large polyp had been eaten!

I'll get some pics of it later tonight, luckly it was the only one.

Also, the only fish is a 6" yellow tail snapper with an appetite that never seems to go away.

[RandyO]

Baja,
Sorry to hear about that. I was considering breaking my cardinal rule. The store I work at got a beautiful Juv. Chevron tang. I love these fish. I think you shocked me back to reality.

[baja_01]

Mine wasnt a tang though.

I am going to permanenty fix this problem by building an eggcrate cage that will hang on the side of my tank. Then I wont even have to move them to feed them, just kick off the pumps.

[wrasstaman]

Not that I have any lordowensis yet, but with the hope that it may prevent another loss, watch out for your shrimp and crabs as well! Peppermint shrimp have eaten me clean over night! I have lost several corals by first the shrimp and then mythrax crabs before I figured it out. Let me see, I lost two killer B. Wellsi colonies, and a sweet favite colony with blue tissue and bright red polyps. I now keep a dedicated LPS tank and no there are no crustaceans in it!!! My plans for the future will be to keep any crustaceans in my sump.
You boys need to be careful with them Lordowensis polyps, I want to purchase some of them in the future and suggest you be more carefull as losses can be very costly, trust me....
Wrassta

[wrasstaman]

I was wondering about moving your corals as it has been my experience that it just stresses them to be handled/moved.
Wrassta

[JenDub]

baja_01 so sorry to hear...didn't you feel sick to your stomach??? There is no info on this and I wish I was warned in advance. I have a protective shield over mine now...but these guys know how to find there way in.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/68276PB170442__Custom_.JPG

[baja_01]

Here is the damage one, its healing nicely:
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/518/6467microfraga112104.JPG

And my new frag rack, no more problems for me:D
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/578/6467frag_rack1.JPG
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/578/6467frag_rack2.JPG

[JenDub]

very nice baja...is that in your tank? prop tank? where are your fish at in relation to this new holding area?

[baja_01]

Yes, thats my tank. Its a 70 gallon rubbermaid stock feed tank. It really should belong in the gheto tank thread. Its going to be my tank untill my parents get new carpet put in. Then I will tear it down and set up a 60 cube that I built. I would set it up now, but I dont want to have to tear it down a few months down the road for carpet installation. The fish get the entire tank to itself, all my frags are in the eggcrate basket.

[JenDub]

right on....sounds cool :D

[mwood]

How did you guys get the coral nippers out the tank without tearing apart the whole tank?

Marcus

[JenDub]

Mine are sitting in a clear box inside the tank, it's nice cause I can get good pics of them and direct feed like crazy. I still am selling my fish off, when the go in the trap that's when I sell them. All of the nips are heeled and looking good.

[CodeToad]

Not to beat a dead horse, but my family reef had a purple tank that decided to make a meal out of an 18+ inch diamater open brain LPS...