Pink Zoas raped by Purple Tang

[shandy_say]

Hi! I was recently given a pink zoa frag with about 5 polyps by a good friend of mine. However when I put it in the tank, my Purple tang keeps on nipping at it for some reason. All thats left of the frag now is 1 polyp. Anyone have the same experience and know why my PT keeps on raping it. Have other zoas in the tank but my PT never touches any of them. Im getting frustrated since i have been looking for that pink zoa for quite a while already and when I got it, my PT ate it.

Here is a pic of the original frag.

 

[BLKTANG]

just hope that he dosent take a liking to them,& goes after the rest when they are gone ive heard of tangs nipping coral before .Too bad those r nice.

 

[cet98]

ditch the PT!!!....save the zoas!!!!

 

[shandy_say]

Heheh! I do love my PT its just annoying that he ate it! Will try to save what's left of the zoa. Hope it can grow more polyps. Was not able to transfer the frag in time since I was away at work when he ate most of it. The frag actually smelled different when I got it. Maybe thats why he ate it. Not really sure. But aren'r zoas supposed to be poisonous? How come my PT is still alive ang kickin?

 

[killingseed]

seems he has already gone after zoa's, he has the teaste for them now and will eat more. all i can say now is get the tang or the zoa's out.

 

[shandy_say]

Uh oh....Thats not good! Hmm.....have a tank that is dominated by zoas. Thanks for the advise.

 

[furman589]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=14368285#post14368285 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by shandy_say
Uh oh....Thats not good! Hmm.....have a tank that is dominated by zoas. Thanks for the advise.

Oh no! lol. Hope it all works out

 

[650-IS350]

They are known to go after them just like some rabbits/foxfaces and blue tangs..

 

[vietcu]

I have a PB and a Yellow tang that would go after zoos that have algae on them or are on their way out. I have seen them nip at and even eaten whole polyps that hasn't open for a few days that seems to be on the verge of dying. Have never seen them go after healthy zoas/palys though.

 

[juancho24]

That's another fish off my list

 

[geoxman]

I have seen it happen many of times, mostly with hippos..but once with a costly black tang. good luck

 

[heyfredyourhat]

My white cheek has developed a taste to them as well. Between him and a foxface, they wiped out my large xenia patch, a huge colony of green zoas, nipping at my blues, and ive seen him checking out my reds too.

He is just too awesome to get rid of tho. Plus its time to start SPS!!

 

[betamed]

mine has eaten a few frags that were close to death. I don't think he's touched any in a long time though

 

[shandy_say]

Lost several colonies already to my PT. I think he prefers the rare ones. He finished all my rastas and my pink zoas. Now he's pretty much behaved as I haven't gotten any rare zoas recently. As much as I would like to sell him, i just can't bring myself to do it. He's been with me more than a year already. Oh well....

 

[shandy_say]

Lost several colonies already to my PT. I think he prefers the rare ones. He finished all my rastas and my pink zoas. Now he's pretty much behaved as I haven't gotten any rare zoas recently. As much as I would like to sell him, i just can't bring myself to do it. He's been with me more than a year already. Oh well....

 

[Reef Bass]

Catch and remove your purple tang or you will have a fish only tank eventually. My purple tang that was a model citizen for a year, suddenly started pounding my acans and I was forced to remove and to sell my favorite fish.

Generally, once they discover a new food source, it's a food source for life for them.

 

[shandy_say]

Thanks for the info. But hes been with me over a year already and after finishing the rastas and pinks now he hasnt touched anything. Looks like he lost the taste. If i see him nipping at something again...hes gone for sure.

 

[DeepReefExotics]

In my experience if you feed them heavily they will get over their addition to the corals they are munching on. I had a purple and blue that took a liking to clams and acans but i just upped my feeding and put in an auto feeder and that took care of it. Hopefully u can handle in increased bioload though.

A hungry fish even if its "reef safe" will always be dangerous.

 

[shandy_say]

Thanks! Already upped the feeding which is maybe why he stopped munching on my corals. heheh!

 

[mystery_reef]

i hope my purple tang doesnt go crazy one day!!! i've had him for over 3 years now, so far so good