Fish Antics - "It's MY Algae Clip!"

[leebca]

I've got to love tangs -- all kinds. They are some of the most assertive and 'aware' of the marine fishes. Often starting off as shy and suspicious of their keeper (and humans -- rightly so BTW), they then can become quite a trusting pet. In my long tanks, they will follow me around the room. If I stare into the tank to look at something in particular, they will often come right up to the tank wall and block my view. Even tangs I've photographed around the world in public and private aquariums will sometimes follow me around. One was so bad that, I couldn't get a photo of any other fish in the tank because the Powder Blue Tang kept blocking the camera!

I just finished reading an article about how wrong it is to put multiple tangs into the same aquarium. Right now I have, in one 180 gallon aquarium the following tangs:
Powder Brown (2.5")
Powder Blue (2.")
Clown (2")
Royal (Hippo - 2"), and
Convict (2.5")

Do they get along? In their own 'special way!'

The last addition I made was the Clown tang. In my quarantine tank, it ate sparingly and stuck to algae on a clip and some pods. After settling in (more or less) to the display tank, no other fish bothered it, and it bothered no other fish (including the other tangs).

Then things began to change.

The tank was totally peaceful (between the tangs at least) except at one particular time each day. Right after I put in some macro algae on an algae clip, the Clown Tang would mercilessly chase the Convict Tang across the entire tank, then charge back to the clip. A bit of a surprise to me, since 1) the Convict was larger of the two; and 2) the Convict was well established to the routine; and 3) The Clown absolutely didn't chase any other tang around at this or any other time.

Even from two feet away from the algae clip, if the Clown sees the Convict, it would charge off to keep it further away form the clip!

Although Convict Tangs in general are peaceful, this Convict would not be bullied. After a second or two, it would attempt to return to the algae clip to grab some algae. The Clown Tang would chase it off if it saw the Convict. (The Convict was pretty smart, I think? It learned that while the Clown ate the algae on the 'open side' of the algae clip (the side of the clip facing the center of the tank), the Convict could fit between the tank and clip and eat algae from the other side, hidden from the Clown's view by the algae.)

This cycle of chasing and returning would continue until the Clown tang got its fill of the macro algae. Then, unbothered, the Convict would be allowed to eat its fill. So the Convict did get as much algae as it wanted at each feeding.

Things changed again, however. Just recently, the Clown Tang has gained quite a bit of weight and is plump and quite healthy upon eating a wider variety of foods I feed my display fishes. It still chases the Convict Tang and only when the algae clip first shows up with macro algae. BUT, the chase isn't as intense and may only last for half the length of the tank! The Clown will (now and then) let the Convict eat on the other side of the clip even though it (the Clown) knows the Convict is there.

Sometimes I think tangs are all "clowns."

Got a tang story to share? Post it in this or a new thread.

[Ixthys]

Lee,

I'm just glad to see someone else with 5 tangs in their (big) tank! Definitely one of my favorite fish!

I took it one step further by having 3 of the same kind (purple tangs), snubbing my nose at all who believe they wouldn't get along. The other 2 are a Desjardini named 'Chicken pox' by my daughter (how's that for adding another Zebrasomas!) and a bristletooth tomini....

Now, for the whole story, I do have them in a 215g tank, introduced them all together, and feed them well.

Aaannnddd admittedly, the purple tangs didn't get along at first (even though I quarantined the purples together and they did OK there). Actually, only 1 of the 3 was the bully, and he still is to some extent, but it is only minimal. He must have extra testosterone (do fish have testosterone?) b/c he is relentless when I try to feed my inverts. I can sit there for 20 minutes constantly chasing him away from an invert with a partially ingested piece of crab, and he will risk injury to try and get that piece of crab....frickin' carnivore




(yes, I know he's not a carnivore)

[leebca]

Thanks for posting Ixthys.

Behavior in the wild is much different than behavior in the aquarium. But even behavior in the aquarium has a large range of possibilities. I have found that once the stressor of nutrients has 'gone away' that fish in the community tank can and will get along. I help a lot of people with their fishes and a few months after they follow my feeding/nutrient recommendations, there is a 'wave of calm' that goes through the aquarium. I believe each fish realizes it will be fed; it will not be hindered by any other fish; and it needs not hinder any other fish.

They seem to know when it is feeding time. They will congregate at the feeding site within 30 minutes of their feeding time. Since I feed religiously at the same time each day (about 5 or 6 days a week), they seem to know when it's coming.

I have a navarchus Angelfish and Magnificent Rabbitfish in that same tank with the tangs, that eat a lot of the macro algae, too. The Magnificent likes to 'nibble' at an algae piece after it rips it away from the clump. The other tangs have learned that they have a chance to steal it away form it while it's nibbling at it! The Magnificent gives a shudder of anger, then goes and gets another piece to nibble at. I swear the other tangs are just having fun with the Magnificent, since they can each well enough go get their own piece of algae. Maybe its a kind of competitiveness going on. Something another fish has is just a little bit better than what is there for the taking.

My male Redheaded (Solar) Fairy Wrasse in the above mentioned aquarium is so frustrated when the macro algae is served that it sometimes will eat the algae out of spite, I think. The wrasse will sometimes race to a piece of algae broken away from the clump that a tang has caught site of and heading for. If the wrasse gets there first, it will swallow the algae. Otherwise the carnivore wrasse doesn't pay attention to the algae clip food at all.

In the wild it was thought that Convict Tangs school together for self defense. But it was learned not too long ago that they also school together for getting food. As mentioned before, they are a peaceful fish. But they seem to have an art at obtaining food from other, aggressive tangs.

In the wild, a school of Convicts will circle a good algae feeding patch that is defended by, say a Sohal or Clown Tang (a small group or individual). While they circle, getting closer and closer to the algae, a single or two Convicts slip out of the pack and go toward the food ahead of the school circling Convicts. The other aggressive tang(s) to protect its food territory, chase the single or two Convicts away. When that happens, the entire school of Convicts descend upon the food algae and gorge quickly before the Sohal fish returns to once again guard the grazing ground.

The Sohal (or other tang(s)) return and chase the whole school of Convicts away. The school goes up, begins to circle again and this time a single (or two) Convicts (different than the ones before) swim out of the school and get the Sohal to chase them. The Convicts play this same decoy trick that seems to never fail in order to bait the defending tang away from the algae patch so the school can feed! So they swim in schools to fool other tangs, too!