Regal Tang - Stung By Lionfish Or Anenome?

[Georgina]

Hi,

I have a tank housing a percula clown, regal tang, french angel fish, scooter blenny, dwarf fuzzy lion fish, black/brown trigger, small porcupine puffer, cleaner wrasse and a goby. I also have a live mushroom and an anenome which my clownfish loves.

For the past three days or so, the regal tang and goby have been displaying some very strange behaviour. They have both been hiding under one of the rocks (not unusual behaviour for the goby but unusual for the regal tang) and only coming out for short bursts of very rapid, erratic swimming around the tank before hiding again. The tang was out yesterday swimming round and round in frantic circles, almost doing cartwheels. I have checked the water numerous times and everything is fine, the other fish are fine so I don't know what is wrong and what to do for the best.

Is it possible that they could have been stung by the anenome or the lion fish?

Any help/suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Pheonix]

what size tank do you have?
are there any new/recent additions to the tank?
has anything changed with your setup recently?
personally i wouldnt have the lion in with those guys, or the trigger actually, both can be agressive to say the least lol even dwarf lions would find some of those fishies a tasty snack. if your tank is large then fair enuff the issues might not be so bad but even so i think there might be some aggression there.

if the tang is being chased by the trigger or lion and it has gone into the nem thats a possibility but you would see something on the flesh of the tang to indicate a sting

 

[Georgina]

what size tank do you have?
are there any new/recent additions to the tank?
has anything changed with your setup recently?
personally i wouldnt have the lion in with those guys, or the trigger actually, both can be agressive to say the least lol even dwarf lions would find some of those fishies a tasty snack. if your tank is large then fair enuff the issues might not be so bad but even so i think there might be some aggression there.

if the tang is being chased by the trigger or lion and it has gone into the nem thats a possibility but you would see something on the flesh of the tang to indicate a sting

Hi,

The tank is 125 litres.

The newest addition is the porcupine puffer, he is small and not aggressive at all. The clown fish was a little aggressive with him to start with but now they get along fine.

I understand what you are saying about the Lion and the Trigger, in fact both are very docile. The Trigger has a little barrel that is his home, he does not stray far from it, only to eat. The Lion is quite small and also very friendly - I have never seen either of them display any aggresive behaviour. In fact, the only aggressive behaviour I have ever seen in the tank is from the clown who can be really quite nasty! He has never been aggressive towards the Tang (they were buddies and would swim around together etc) or the Gobie who would hide under the rock and only really come out to eat and shift stomes about.

There is nothing visible on either of the fish that would indicate injury - I just don't understand it!

Thanks for your help so far.

 

[Pheonix]

The tank is 125 litres.

thats alot of players for a pretty small tank really! dont forget you fish are only going to get bigger and develope their adult personalities, ever watched them at night to see what they are getting up 2? it could be a different story to what your seeing during the day.

clowns can be very very agressive if they think the nem is under threat, this is a possibility, they will often take on fish much bigger than themselves in defence of their homes!

i know your not seeing it but i would definatley put it down to agression, do you have any other tanks set up? ie you could move an ocupant into too test the theory?

 

[SkiFletch]

The tank is 125 litres.

Therein lies your problem. Most of the fish you listed require a tank of at LEAST 125 gallons, not litres. I'm not sure if you're coming from a freshwater experience, but if you are, you'll need to realize that you CANNOT keep anywhere near the amount of marine fish in a tank as you can freshwater. The behavior you're seeing is stress from being cooped up in a small tank and likely late-night aggression as Phoenix suggested. The only fish you own that are long-term suitable for a 125L tank are the clownfish and the goby. I STRONGLY reccomend you do some serious research about the captive care requirements of your fish. Failure to do so is most certainly cruel to the animals.

 

[Georgina]

The tank is 125 litres.

Therein lies your problem. Most of the fish you listed require a tank of at LEAST 125 gallons, not litres. I'm not sure if you're coming from a freshwater experience, but if you are, you'll need to realize that you CANNOT keep anywhere near the amount of marine fish in a tank as you can freshwater. The behavior you're seeing is stress from being cooped up in a small tank and likely late-night aggression as Phoenix suggested. The only fish you own that are long-term suitable for a 125L tank are the clownfish and the goby. I STRONGLY reccomend you do some serious research about the captive care requirements of your fish. Failure to do so is most certainly cruel to the animals.

I must admit I am a little confused by the information you have given here. I bought the tank (Juwel 125) and all of the livestock from a reputable fish retailer mentioned on this site. The guys there are fully aware of the set up I have and have never told me that there would be any problems. I will point out that all of the fish are small, the largest fish is the French Angel which is a maximum of 4cm's long and only the clown dispalys aggressive tendancies (even at night). I am fully aware that I will need to get a larger tank as the fish grow, I check the water daily and everything is as it should be. The fish do not appear stressed, they are all eating and look healthy and all the water levels are fine so I find it a bit harsh that you are accusing me of being cruel to the animals.

I will be speaking with the guys at the shop in light of what you have mentioned here and see if they can shed any light/have any answers.

Thank you

 

[dixaisy930]

The fish do not appear stressed, they are all eating and look healthy

Well, that's not really true. That's why you started the thread.

I believe your tank is only about 33 gallons? Are you sure your tank's not 125 gallons?Along with growing into large fish, these guys eat alot of meaty foods, which is going to put a strain on your system too.

If it is only 33 gallons, even if the fish are still small, they grow quickly. I know you're not meaning any harm to your fish. And I'm know you only want to do what's right for them.

All of us have followed bad info at one time or another. Just as long as you try to do your best to right it, that's what's important.

 

[SkiFletch]

All of us have followed bad info at one time or another. Just as long as you try to do your best to right it, that's what's important.

Truer words have never been spoken. I'll focus on 3 fish here for a moment.

First, Tangs. If you've ever been diving on a reef you'll understand why they are not meant to be kept in small tanks even when the individual fish itself is small. Tangs are big open water swimming fish that cruise above the reef often in schools and descend to the reef to pick on algae then go back to cruising. When the tank is too small, they never get to do their cruising behavior this can cause stressful behavior of swimming in circles, hiding behind rocks, or eventually disease outbreak and starvation.

Second, Scooter Blennies. A Scooter Blenny is very similar to a Dragonet or Mandarin in that ~85% of individuals will ONLY eat tiny invertebrate organisms such as copepods, amphipods, isopods, flatworms, etc. Because that is the sole food source of many of these fish, they can over-predate a small tank in a matter of days or weeks, killing off all their food source and then slowly starving to death. If the fish does not readily accept frozen, chances are its going to struggle to live.

Third, Cleaner Wrasses. Similar situation to scooter blennies. ~85% of cleaner wrasses' diet consists solely of parasites and the flesh of fish that need cleaning. In a small tank with few inhabitants and even less parasites (as should be the goal of every aquarist), a cleaner wrasse will over-clean its tankmates, run out of parasites to eat and fish to clean, starve and perish. Again, if it does nto readily accept frozen, chances are its going to struggle to live.

Thats the kind of advice your LFS SHOULD be giving you. No matter how well-intentioned they are, if they dont know these facts, you shouldn't trust their information. Remember, people on boards such as this and others are able to converge years of experience from multiple different sources, a luxury many LFS employees do not enjoy.

 

[Lynden]

Percula Clown: grows to an adult size of about 2.5'' and is fairly gentle. Suitable for a tank of at least 20 gallons.

Regal Tang: grows to an adult size of at least 8-10'' and is a fast swimmer. Suitable for a tank of at least 90 gallons.

French Angel: grows to an adult size of over 16'' and is highly territorial. Roams territories, in the wild, that are measured in acres, not just feet. Suitable for a tank of at least 240 gallons.

Scooter Blenny: grows to an adult size of around 4''. Most of them are obligate microfauna eaters and will quickly deplete a small tank (under 55 gallons) and starve to death.

Dwarf Fuzzy Lion: grows to an adult size of around 6''. Is a docile animal, but will consume tiny fish. Suitable for a tank of at least 30 gallons.

Trigger: depending on the species can grow from 10'' to 36'' in adulthood. Many Triggers can be highly aggressive and territorial. They are also powerful swimmers (could "blow a Tang out of the water") and require a tank of at least 55 gallons for the smallest species.

Porcupine Puffer: either 18'' or 36'', depending on the species. May be aggressive. Requires a tank of at least 125 gallons for Diodon holacanthus, and at least a sea or a public aquarium for the larger one.

Cleaner Wrasse: while Labroides dimidiatus will accept food around 50% of the time, the other species will hardly ever accept it. Removing them from the wild also has consequences on the ecosystem; so much so that the Hawaiian species is banned from export.

Goby: various.

As you can see, your tank will become a hell hole unless you act fast.

Also, just to clear things up, whoever advised you to buy these fish, was wrong.

-Lynden

 

[maidenfan]

can't beleive i've read this thread how can any reputable LFS advise on this type of stocking in a 33 gal tank surely must be some type of mix up here

 

[Lynden]

We should hope it was only a mix up and not LFS trickerey.

 

[dixaisy930]

I wouldn't put it past the lfs.

I have gotten some down right disturbing advice from a lfs before.

Don't forget some people are out to make money, and that is it.

 

[Lynden]

Still waiting for a response from the topic starter....

 

[Georgina]

Still waiting for a response from the topic starter....

Sorry for the late response, have been busy trying to sort this mess out.

All of my fish are now with another lfs as it appears there was a parasite outbreak in my tank and this seemed the best way to deal with it. They are looking after them for the time being, dipping them etc as appropriate.

Thank you to everyone who has commented here - I am trying to sort this out with minimal damage and stress to my fish (although both lfs claim my stock level is acceptable - I wonder if we have some kind of UK/US measurement mix up)

Thank you once again for all of your advice - as mentioned above, all I want to do is make sure that the fish are as happy and healthy as possible.

 

[Lynden]

Still waiting for a response from the topic starter....

Thank you to everyone who has commented here - I am trying to sort this out with minimal damage and stress to my fish (although both lfs claim my stock level is acceptable - I wonder if we have some kind of UK/US measurement mix up)

Your stock level will be OK for a couple weeks or months, then all hell breaks loose. Try to sell them back to the pet store, on the grounds that you were terribly misadvised by them.

-Lynden

P.S.
You're welcome