Kole tang mystery?

[Robka]

I had a tank raised Kole tang for 2 months. He picked on gravel and live rock, ate sp. brine shrimp, mysis, but would never eat any type of algae sheets placed in the aquarium. All other fish were fat and healthy, but the Tang always stayed skinny. Yesterday I went to feed and he was gone (not a trace anywhere) I have a 2" gorilla crab that I have been trying to catch for two years and he was laying upside down dead. I know a small crab like that should not be able to catch a healthy Tang. I checked all the parameters of the tank and they are great. I have read that humans have been poisoned by eating Tangs in the wild. So could the crab have eaten the Tang and then died himself?

I would love to hear any ideas on this mystery.

Thanks,

Robka

 

[Swimfest]

Sometimes they just dont eat enough and die. Its not always your fault

 

[piusma]

I do have the same mystery but my kole tang is still alive. I've tried 3-4 different type of seaweed, julian sprung red, green, purple, regular nori and my kole tang shows little interest in them. He does like picking algae from the glass and rocks and also love mysis. I wonder if some kole owner can share some experience with their kole tang. Is mine acting normal or I should try something that I haven't tried? Thank you.

Steven

 

[njudson]

How long have you had the fish? took mine almost a month to realize he likes nori on the clip. Now he loves it

 

[Robka]

I do have the same mystery but my kole tang is still alive. I've tried 3-4 different type of seaweed, julian sprung red, green, purple, regular nori and my kole tang shows little interest in them. He does like picking algae from the glass and rocks and also love mysis. I wonder if some kole owner can share some experience with their kole tang. Is mine acting normal or I should try something that I haven't tried? Thank you.

Steven

My Tang sounds just like u describe. He was always picking at glass, gravel, rocks, and ate mysis, spriralina Brine, but never would eat nori of any flavor and just wasted away.

Has anyone else heard that Tangs have poison in their body? (I know humans can't eat them) I can't think of any other reason the hated gorilla crab would have died expect my poisoning theory as I am sure he helped consume the Tang since I never saw any evidence of his demise?

Thanks,

Robka

 

[pktech]

my kole eats only mysis & flake - no nori or sheets of seaweed either. Pick @ the glass constantly - I've been mixing mysis, flake & tiny pieces of seaweed that I cut w/ a scissor & 5 drops of zoecon - let it soak for 5 minutes & dump it in the tank.

It winds up eating most of it - what he doesn't eat, the crabs get it.

what else do you have in your tank? I think you would have known if your kole was dead, no? How big was it?

 

[jmski333]

my kole tang didn't eat nori either. unfortunately he got ick and died in quarantine but i dont think your gorilla crab could consume the whole tang before he kicked the bucket. you sure he didn't jump out?

 

[siren]

My kole eats everything but Nori. Sometimes it takes another fish picking at the sheets to show the tang that it's food. I've also seen people rub garlic gel on the nori before they put it in the tank and that works wonders on getting tangs to accept it. All in all though, I agree with swimfest, some fish just don't eat enough and die. With the amount of clean up crew we have in our tanks, it's not completely unheard of for a fish to go missing and be completely consumed in a mater of hours. I would imagine that the dead crab is merely a coincidence. I have seen dead tangs eatin by a large number of different animals that are common to our tanks so I doubt that consuming the tang would have been it's downfall. Also, I know it's a stupid question, and I'm sure you investigated, but this is a common mistake so I have to ask; are you sure what you found wasn't just a molt of the crab?

 

[Robka]

my kole eats only mysis & flake - no nori or sheets of seaweed either. Pick @ the glass constantly - I've been mixing mysis, flake & tiny pieces of seaweed that I cut w/ a scissor & 5 drops of zoecon - let it soak for 5 minutes & dump it in the tank.

It winds up eating most of it - what he doesn't eat, the crabs get it.

what else do you have in your tank? I think you would have known if your kole was dead, no? How big was it?

I Have two cleaner shrimp, (one rogue Mantis shrimp (snail killer), but have not seen him for over a year) 4 two bar chromis, female Wantabe Angelfish, Orange back fairy wrasse, royal gramma and peaceful coral crab,Turbo snails (6), Nass snails (6), cerinth snails, (6) and the stangest looking slug that comes out at night, along with lightly stocked LPS corals and few bristle worms. When I lost one of my two bar chromis (6 months ago)to the pecking order harassment, I found my cleaner shrimp finishing off his head. I think the gorilla crab pulled the dead Tang (only 2 1/2" Kole) under the rocks (out of site) ate him and then died the next day. I guess I should thank the Tang for taking one for the good of the tank?

I guess I will never know 4 sure, but any other ideas are welcomed?

Thanks again,

Robka

 

[Robka]

My kole eats everything but Nori. Sometimes it takes another fish picking at the sheets to show the tang that it's food. I've also seen people rub garlic gel on the nori before they put it in the tank and that works wonders on getting tangs to accept it. All in all though, I agree with swimfest, some fish just don't eat enough and die. With the amount of clean up crew we have in our tanks, it's not completely unheard of for a fish to go missing and be completely consumed in a mater of hours. I would imagine that the dead crab is merely a coincidence. I have seen dead tangs eatin by a large number of different animals that are common to our tanks so I doubt that consuming the tang would have been it's downfall. Also, I know it's a stupid question, and I'm sure you investigated, but this is a common mistake so I have to ask; are you sure what you found wasn't just a molt of the crab?

I was able to pull out half the crab and it had meat in it, so I think that rules out the molt?

Thanks again,

Robka