Purple tang nipping at brain coral...suggestions

[Clint24]

Hello all. I have this nice folded brain coral that I usually have to keep covered with a plastic cup because my purple tang likes the way he tastes, I guess. Was wondering if anyone had ideas on how to get him to stop. I use algae strips & marine grazing discs everyday & he eats like a pig at feeding time but still pics on this coral, just this one.

make shift protector. Any comment are greatly appreciated cuz I would really like to be able to keep both in tank without it being covered up. Thanks.


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[DianaKay]

Uughh!! Purple Tangs are NOT supposed to do that !
Have you tried different locations for the brain coral as a way to distract the tang? Being a supposedly reef-safe herbivore, he should not be eating on coral.
Hope someone comes along with a solution for you.

 

[NicksReefTank]

My tomini tang will eat my moselaya if it's not fed a lot of food, maybe try feeding it a bit more?

 

[frisbee]

How long has this been going on? Is the tang doing any damage, or is this more of a nuisance than anything else? This is probably not what you want to hear, but I would just let things play out. Aside from covering the coral, I have no idea how to stop this from happening, but if worst comes to worst & the coral begins to show signs of wear & tear you can always remove one or the other. It's amazing what a coral can recover from sometimes. Let's just hope it doesn't come down to that though. GL.

On a side note; you may want to get a small mirror and place this on the opposite side of the tank. Perhaps this will keep the tang preoccupied for awhile.

 

[DaveK]

You can try the other suggestions, but I'd say that most likely one of them will have to go.

I'd consider trading the brain coral in on something else. It will be a lot easier to get out of the tank, compared to the tang.

 

[Pat24601]

My Tomini Tang nips at my folded brain coral (like yours). They aren't supposed to do that, of course, but it does.

I don't think there is really anything you can do. My LFS talked about getting the Tomini out as a solution, which I don't care to do and is hard.

So far, it hasn't harmed the coral, but they said that if it pecks through to the zooxanthellae it can do a lot of damage.

I'm basically just letting it play out and see what happens...well and keeping my Tang fed, of course.

 

[Clint24]

Thanks for all the replies. I have tried moving the coral to different spots, tang always finds it. I might try feeding a little more but sometimes that leads to bigger problems!! Give the mirror a try, worth a shot!!

same coral not even an hour after being uncovered. . I didn't think a purple tang would do this.


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[NicksReefTank]

I've also had a wrasse pick polyps off my sps before. I think it's just something fish like to do when they get bored, and pay back for us putting them in our tiny oceans

 

[Clint24]

And a few hours later, the cup is going back. Already see the skeleton ridges on the bottom.

I did contact a good lfs that I use, about an hour away, he said he would trade me corals. Not really what I wanted to do, but probably best for the coral. Thanks for all the tips & advice!!!


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