Reef Pilot's Undersea Oasis

[Reef Pilot]

Yesterday, I moved my Kole Tang from my downstairs tank to my upstairs tank, along with a small Purple Tang and a Melanurus Wrasse that just completed their QT. I have a very bully, large Yellow Tang upstairs (has caused great havoc with other new fish in the past) and was hoping adding multiple new fish would divide his attention.

It took me a week or so to finally catch the Kole. I have a fish trap that I set up near where I feed, and kept putting some food inside. Eventually, he would go in, and I let the trap door go down and caught him. Almost didn't get him, though, as he escaped once when the door came down too slowly. But he was dumb enough to go in again, and the next time I got him.

But to my surprise and relief, the move went pretty well. The Kole was not bothered at all. The small Purple Tang, though, had a bit of a rough introduction. But not from the Yellow Tang. Instead my Dwarf Flame Angel went after him. The Purple seemed to hang around one spot, and didn't try to hide. Instead he fought back with his tail slapping. If he would have just gone somewhere else, the Angel probably would have left him alone. The Yellow did come by a few times with a few tail threats. But again the Purple would fight right back (even though he is about 1/4 the size), and the Yellow would go away. The Melanurus, of course, had no problems, and made himself at home almost right away.

By the evening all was at peace in the tank. Both the Kole and Purple were picking away at algae, like they've been there all along. And the Melanurus was in pod heaven...

Maybe the Yellow Tang is getting mellow in his old age. Or being together with the Pearlscale for a few years wore out his aggression. That little Purple one is a real toughie, though. Wonder what he will be like when he gets bigger...

Now I have to buy another Bristletooth for my downstairs tank. My big Foxface there might get lonely now with his buddy gone. I am thinking of a Chevron. Not sure if J&L or King Ed's ever get those ones in.

[H2o2]

You need to buy some more stuff off Nick so I can deliver and have another look at those beautiful tank and I can get some frags this time :-)

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by H2o2

You need to buy some more stuff off Nick so I can deliver and have another look at those beautiful tank and I can get some frags this time :-)

Hey, Harry, drop by any time... I'm keeping an eye on Nick's site, and sooner or later will get something again.

[Reef Pilot]

Can't believe what an algae eating machine my Kole Tang is!... He has only been in the upstairs tank now for 2 days, and almost totally cleaned the whole back glass (acrylic, actually) of all algae, leaving only the coralline. Here is a pic of part of it from before.

You can see how green it was (upper right). I had to regularly clean it with a scraper...


And this is today. You can see a bit of a pattern to his cleaning...


No wonder my downstairs tank (same sump and water as upstairs tank) was always so clean of algae... For sure now, am going to have to get another bristletooth tang for it, or it will likely soon get algae again.

[wreck]

hot damn that thing is a cleaning machine!!!.

do u have any pics of him and your melanarus wrasse?

i have a juvi melanarus and colors are bleek. cant wait for it to grow

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by wreck

hot damn that thing is a cleaning machine!!!.

do u have any pics of him and your melanarus wrasse?

i have a juvi melanarus and colors are bleek. cant wait for it to grow

Not yet. Although color wise, no different than most pics on the internet. Haven't had the time and patience yet to try and get pics of my fish, except a few chance ones. They don't sit still,... like corals... But I will have to try,... one of these days...

I do most of my pics underwater, so the fish tend to hide when they see the camera. From outside the tank, I have a lot of trouble getting a good focus, because this camera only has auto focus, no manual capability, and often will focus on the glass, not the tank inhabitants. That's the only thing I don't like about this camera (Olympus TG-2).

[mrhasan]

Kole tangs are just awesome

[Madreefer]

Originally Posted by mrhasan

Kole tangs are just awesome

Mine hates any kind of blenny and chases harasses them. Killed a tail spot and hates my lawn mower blenny. They kind of have similar mouths so I think he's protecting his precious algae.

[mrhasan]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Mine hates any kind of blenny and chases harasses them. Killed a tail spot and hates my lawn mower blenny. They kind of have similar mouths so I think he's protecting his precious algae.

Must be defending its "turf"

[Reef Pilot]

Originally Posted by Madreefer

Mine hates any kind of blenny and chases harasses them. Killed a tail spot and hates my lawn mower blenny. They kind of have similar mouths so I think he's protecting his precious algae.

Strange,... my Kole is totally peaceful, with everyone. I have a lawnmower blenny in there, too, but they totally ignore each other. Same with my yellow and purple tangs, which was my big concern. I had a lawnmower blenny in the downstairs tank, too, so maybe he was already used to them.