tangs are not reefsafe

[lawboy888]

just the heads up for fellow reefers. both my self and a local reefer with more than 14 years experience in the hobby decided to put a few tangs in our established reef systems. we put in each tank a Dussumieri Tang thinking it is reef safe. It is not! both tangs ate all lps and some softies. it is a beautiful tang so we thought it was a fluke because tangs are reef safe. we took the two tangs out and a few months later replace it with another Dussumieri...same thing happened...brains, trach, scoly. all on menu. the tang is very pretty and healthy as a tank but not reef safe. just caution for fellow reefers

 

[Chrisjbarry]

Did you have enough food for them to eat? I keep algae stripes in tank at all times. Have lps, sps, zoas and few softies.


Sent from inside the shark tank!

 

[Reeftanks6]

I have had a multiple tangs through the years and have not experienced any type of picking at corals before. But i have never kept a Dussumieri, maybe they are not reef safe. But all tangs i have kept have been reef safe.

 

[ohioreef71]

It's a gamble with fish it seems. I know a guy whose blue tang went after his zoas. I guess you never know what they are gonna do till you try them out.

 

[MrTuskfish]

OK, change it I'm in! TANGS ARE NOT ALL REEF SAFE! 999 out of 1000 ARE reef safe, but watch out for that thousandth one!

 

[gone fishin]

It is all about probabilities. Some fish are generally classed as reef safe but as MrTuskfish stated watch out for the 1000th one. This line of thinking also goes for agression. Some fish are generally fairly docile but it is that 1000th that will get you every time.

Ultimately it is a crap shoot when adding things in the tank and how they will interact. Most of us do not keep things solely from one geographic area. So we will not truly be sure how these organisms will interact to something from the Carribean versus the Pacific until they are added to the tank. just my 2 cents.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

1) the term "reef safe" should be discarded- use "reef compatibility" instead (big difference!)
2) generalizations should be avoided

thanks to the op for posting your experience with duss and corals.
What size aquarium was this in?

 

[carriej]

Local vendor here cautions against these tangs specifically for eating softies and LPS corals, it's funny as I was just talking about this to him yesterday.

 

[HumbleFish]

OK, change it I'm in! TANGS ARE NOT ALL REEF SAFE! 999 out of 1000 ARE reef safe, but watch out for that thousandth one!

+1 There's always gonna be the exception. On the flip side, I know a guy with a "reef safe" Raccoon Butterfly in his tank. But FWIW, this is not the first time I've heard about bad things happening with a Dussumieri in a reef.

 

[coral_lagoon]

OK, change it I'm in! TANGS ARE NOT ALL REEF SAFE! 999 out of 1000 ARE reef safe, but watch out for that thousandth one!

:lmao::lmao:

 

[Sk8r]

Write to Foster & Smith, who maintain a very good, frequently consulted compatibility list, and tell them this info.

 

[Gill_bucket]

I hadn't been feeding my tank as heavily as I usually do and my yellow tang started picking at my clams mantle. I started feeding more frequently and he/she stopped. Just my experience.

 

[SDguy]

It's pretty well known that most tangs can and will sample one coral or another. Most european aquarists don't even consider tangs "reef safe". Get over it

 

[fishlover3711]

that kind of tang isnt reef safe didnt the dealer tell you that if he didnt thats really bad but all tang except for 4 or 5 are reef safe

 

[bobkill]

That's a bummer- howpfule not all your Scollies

 

[fishlover3711]

those things are expensive

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

re: tangs are not reef safe

re: tangs are not reef safe

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/1r-_t4hos2A" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

this is becoming a silly thread

Acanthurus dussumieri requires a large aquarium. Larger than a 240.

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

I have a lavender and a tomini that kill clams and eat zoas from time to time. Of course i bet that wouldn't be the issue if I were feeding more.

 

[lawboy888]

thanks for the response guys. my fish are very well fed since my tank is mostly LPS oriented so water condition does not have to be pristine. this was not a particular tang incident but happened 3 times with the same type of tang. it is a beautiful fish but i would never put it in another reef system. I literally had to tear down my tank twice to get it out. i am now stocking my LPS lol. btw, they dont go for hammers and stuff. just fleshy lps. brain, scoly, symphylia, and i saw it tapping on chalice. my opinion maybe you guys can have better luck with this beast lol....sorry forgot to add..it was in a 250 gal tank, it was very fed and was fat as a cow...now i know why lol

 

[bullitr]

Not all tangs are reef safe I had a large yellow belly and regular regal tang that constantly eats my softies and LPS maybe because I don't feed them enough they are 7-9"And super fat but I had them since they when smaller

Now I keep angels and butterfly in reef
I just make sure I feed them enough
So far the only the declivis butterfly nips at my gorgonians.The ornate butterfly supposed be the big nipper hasn't touch any of my corals.