Tangs picking at my zoa

[menac]

Hey everyone
Recently I've noticed my purple tang, yellow tang and hippo tang occasionally picking at my zoas.
Is this common for tangs to pick at Zoas?
I was thinking maybe it's due to the the feeding schedule I have mon-Fri since I am working.

I feed in the am before I leave for work and again at 7pm when I return. I do leave my algae clip on 3 x week to keep them busy. I was thinking of getting an automatic feeder in hopes that would keep them preoccupied.
Just curious if anyone has experienced this with thier tangs.

I've literally seen them pick at my zoa so much they unglued the frag from the rock.
I found some frags all over the place today.
Thx

 

[theMeat]

Have seen it plenty. Do the auto feeder. Have also found that wrapping nori around a skinny little long rock with a rubber band keeps them picking a lot longer that tearing it off the clip and being done in minutes

 

[menac]

Have seen it plenty. Do the auto feeder. Have also found that wrapping nori around a skinny little long rock with a rubber band keeps them picking a lot longer that tearing it off the clip and being done in minutes

I am going to get this feeder tomorrow but I like idea of wrapping the algae sheet to rock.

Worst case it nothing works I was thinking of placing my Zoa in my refugium. I think I have enough space but I wonder if there are any cons to this idea.

 

[theMeat]

If there's enough light i don't see a prob

Yeah, i keep a few rocks and wrap them good with many wraps of the rubber band to make it hard to pick apart, then drop em in

 

[ourcoralreef]

What glue are you using try ice gell works great for me

I have seen my tangs look like there picking at corals but they are really looking for algae are you sure they are actually picking at it

As far as your tangs being hungry what do there stomaches look like are they pinched or round

I feed my tangs different types of seaweed i take a frag plug wrap a strip around it and put a rubberband around it i use 2 braces rubberbands

 

[menac]

What glue are you using try ice gell works great for me

I have seen my tangs look like there picking at corals but they are really looking for algae are you sure they are actually picking at it

As far as your tangs being hungry what do there stomaches look like are they pinched or round

I feed my tangs different types of seaweed i take a frag plug wrap a strip around it and put a rubberband around it i use 2 braces rubberbands

I use the ic gel also successfully. I need to get more just ran out. But the tangs all 3 are pretty lean and fat nice rounded bellies. I seen the purple tang and hippo nibble on my zoas this is recent though, I guess they have decided to rebel for some reason. I am now considering getting a separate tank just for the zoa . At least that's another reason for another tank or asking a Zoa garden in my refugium if that's even a possibility. I am def trying the algae tied idea. Keep them busy.

 

[ourcoralreef]

Very odd how big are the tangs

I always thought of growing corals in refug i guess depending on how its set up and you would need to black out that location so you dont have algae growing in other parts of the refug

 

[menac]

Very odd how big are the tangs

I always thought of growing corals in refug i guess depending on how its set up and you would need to black out that location so you dont have algae growing in other parts of the refug

I just added a small colony now to see how they acclimate to the the light I have over my ref

 

[theMeat]

 

[Ryno]

Some tangs will definitely eat zoas. I don't have any zoas left in my tank now. My Powder Blue and Fox Face both eat them, I've watched them both do it.

 

[Ryno]

Also for what it's worth feeding may not have anything to do with it. I have an auto feeder that feeds once a day when the lights come on, I feed one full sheet of Nori every day plus a 1" chunk of LRS every night. They just have a taste for certain soft corals and eat them any way.

 

[menac]

Some tangs will definitely eat zoas. I don't have any zoas left in my tank now. My Powder Blue and Fox Face both eat them, I've watched them both do it.

Yea I think I am heading in that direction also. These guys have been picking at them little by little. At first I thought it was pest but I have seen the Tangs in action.
They don't pick on all only what I leave on the sand bed or lower rock levels. The zoa that are higher up have not been impacted.
I will probably start placing the Zoas in my sump with good lighting. If not I will get a mr Aqua 12 gal long and set the zoa in there.

 

[menac]

Cool def trying this glue. I've always use the ic gel. Thanks