Yellow Hawaiian Tang Biting At Feather Duster

[Imaruki]

Is this normal? My tank has one clownfish, a three-striped damsel, a talbot's damsel, a yellow-tail damsel, a blue damsel, a domino damsel, 2 blue leg hermit crabs, 2 turbo snails, a chocolate chip starfish, a yellow Hawaiian tang, and a feather duster in it. I introduced the feather duster, the clownfish, and the tang today and the tang keeps biting at my feather duster. Also, the blue damsel knocks the feather duster all over the tank. I'm not sure why the hell they're doing that but any advice would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Danno]

How big is your tank?

 

[Imaruki]

55 gallon

 

[Lynden]

Is the tang biting at the tube, or the tentacles? If he is biting the tube, he is probably just scraping some diatoms or algae from it; that behaviour is annoying, but otherwise harmless to the feather duster worm.

If the tang is biting the tentacles, he is likely what I like to call a "Psycho Tang"; a tang that has forsaken greens in favour of meat. The best option when one finds oneself owning a Psycho Tang is to remove the animal from it's new found prey. You will probably have to remove either the duster or the tang.

Another option is to stuff the tang; that is, provide an easy food supply frequently so the tang forgets about biting living animals. This may not always work, and the food must be very delicious and non-polluting as you will be feeding a little extra. Also, it is best to feed foods that are enriched with spirulina so the tang still gets his greens.

Lastly, be aware that your starfish will also become a carnivour in time and will consume anything that it manages to run over.

-Lynden

 

[Imaruki]

It just bites the tube....it doesn't seem to notice the feather duster anymore though. Now, as far as the starfish go, which one are you talking about? The chocolate chip one or the sand sifter?

 

[Lynden]

Choco chip. See my response on your other topic.

 

[Imaruki]

Gotcha