Yellow Tang Is EATING T. Deresa Clam!!!!!

[DennisW]

Well......not exactly eating....I dont think anyways. I think he is actually after algae on the shell but with the way he's been doing it lately, I'm not too sure.

I have had the clam for about 6 months and the tang for about 3 years. For a while, the tang never bothered the clam. There actually are two clams, both T. Deresa, but the tang only bothers one of them. When this first started the tang was just nipping at the algae on the top edge of the clam, causing the clam to withdrawl its mantle. Recently however, the clam has had it's mantle pulled way down into it's shell and the tang is actually sticking its mouth in and nipping at the mantle !! I dont see any algae on the INSIDE of the clams shell that the tang could be trying to get. Now the clam stays partially closed with it's mantle FULLY withdrawn into it's shell. This is not good. The clam is DEFINITLY stressed !!!!

Does anyone have any last minute ideas? I am going to need to act soon. I have racked my brain to try to find SOME sort of solution to no avail. What Im going to have to do is get rid of the clam and hope the tang dosent start in on the other one. There is NO WAY to catch the tang and relocate it otherwise I definitly would! By the way, the clam is about 5" big.]

Thanks a lot!!!!

Dennis

[FLHT]

Your going to have to put a muzzle on your Tang.
If you think it's hard to catch him wait until you
try and muzzle him!
Joking aside I had a tang that bothered my clam,
he eventually stopped. I don't know why. You
might try moving the clam to a different location in
the tank if you haven't tried that already.
Good Luck.

[Alice]

Bummer Dennis!

Unfortunately, tangs do sometimes develop the habit of nipping at clams and/or SPS. Everything is food on the reef.

Alice

[MontanaRocknReefer]

Hi Dennis! Maybe you can find a plastic container and put alot of small holes in it and put that over the clam and anchor it to the substrate and maybe in time the tang will forget about it and then you can remove the container!! Just a thought!! Johnny

[DennisW]

Ok....I just got done cutting the leather for the tang muzzle. No No No....Not the leather CORAL !!!!! The leather hide...to make the muzzle.....ha ha?????

Ok....anyways....Im going to go with the "feed extra nori" advise. I am using larger than normal pieces, rubberbanded to a rock. I will add this like three times a day and see if he is more occupied with the nori than the tang. Let hope!!! Man.....this is gonna be one fat tang~!!!!!!!!!!

Thanks everyone!!!!!!

Dennis

[JonShirk]

when my yellow tang died, i was so happy, he not only pecked at my old small clam, but my xenias (pink and brown) and nipped at other fish and other corals...i hated him...tangs are just way too **** aggressive anyways...i have a naso, blue hippo, and a powder brown, i regret all of them

[wanareef]

Dennis


Sorry to hear about the tang - get over to woodies and get one of those "lettuce" klips - ditch the suction cup and hang it in the tank. Eaiser than the rubber band/rock thingie

[Mrs Smith]

My sailfin ate a Maxima. Just irritated it enough that it started to stress... a couple of days later, it was completely gone.

Get the tang out... I thought it would be impossible to get my sailfin out without demolishing the tank. Jeremy came over and netted it within about 15 minutes. Of course, he's amazing. Since you don't have Jeremy (AKA secret weapon), you could always try fishing. Use a small trout hook with the barb filed off. Bait with a small chunk of raw shrimp and flip him out of the tank when he takes it. Remember that setting the hook won't do anything - just flip him out. Worked like a charm on a 6" twinspot wrasse for us... (I believe the original thread refers to my husband as the wrassemaster.)

Oh, and I tried extra feedings, too... Nori, mysis... I even caused a cyano bloom from overfeeding. Didn't do anything but delay the inevitable, and I ended up losing a lot of livestock to that tang.

Either way, I would do something drastic, or the tang will kill the clam.
Danielle

[Kent E.]

Any possibility you got the clam disease and the tang is attracted to the dying clam?

[Twitterbait]

FISH FRY!!! bummer of an issue man. try clipping more nori. hope he stops

[Loverotties]

Poor Clam!

[mrwhipels]

I am batlling sorta the same problem. I have a yellow tang he has been in the tank for 6 months. I recently added a blue goby and the tang has already nipped at his side fins. I am really pissed because I like them both. hopefully he is doing this because the goby is new and in time will stop but for now I am doing extra seaweed to to keep him ocupied.

[aussiereefer82]

Helllllooooo people. This thread is 4 years old!!! Someone has been digging deep into the archives!!

[aussiereefer82]

Sorry my mistake. It's only 6 months old!!