Fish selection-- Kole Tang considerations?

[zonkers]

Hi all-- I was wondering if anyone had any insight here? I had this posted in the New Reefkeepers forum, but I guess there aren't as many readers there, so I'm copying my original posting here-- hope someone has some ideas

I've had my tank running for nearly a year now, so I'm sure many will probably still consider me a neophyte, but I've kept freshwater tanks for nearly 20 years prior (with varying degrees of success over the years ), so I'm not oblivious to aquaria keeping in general.

I'll skip over the saga of the last year (many lessons learned), but let me head off to a basic tank concept/configration: 'reef' style with an ultra passive population of fish. I have not gone crazy with corals yet, taking things one step at a time.

Tank is 72g bowfront with a 10g fuge. Kent Maximma HiS RO/DI. AquaC Remora Pro protein skimmer, Eheim Professionel II cannister w/(marine) heating element, & CoralLife PC hood (2 10K white 65W, 2 actinic 65W, lunar leds), approx 75lbs live rock in main, 15lbs in fuge. Bugaboos abound. Aragonite substrate. Using 2 290gph Powersweep oscillating powerheads, when combined with Eheim & fuge output, I figure circulation about 10x/hour. SG 1.026, pH 8.3, KH ~9.0, Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 5-10ppm, phosphate .5-1.0ppm (I know this is still very high, but I'm running Rowaphos in the Eheim, & this is actually down from 3.0(!!)). Ca 420ppm, Mg ~1250ppm.

Fish: Mandarin Dragonet (fat & happy), Hippo Tang (again, fat & happy), Green Chromis (last surviving of 4, healthy), Yellow Watchman Goby (well fed, but hides a lot), 2 Green Clown Gobies (newest additions, seem to be adjusting well). Tank has had ich in the past, but all fish have been successfully treated in QT & life cycle broken in main tank (Had to go copper-- Kick-Ich is junk!).

Motile inverts: Skunk cleaner shrimp (molts regularly), Sandsifter starfish (gravel scrubbing machine), scarlet hermit, some blue & redleg hermits, Astraea & turbo snails, & a multitude of other snails that hitchhiked in. 1 Lettuce Leaf nudibranch-- last surviving of 3, seems to be doing 'ok', but that's another posting.

Sessile inverts (in order of acqusition): Some Discosoma & Rhodactis mushrooms (spread large & splitting offshoots), 1 small Favia Brain (has 'grown' since purchased), 1 smallish (6 head) Torch Euphyllia coral (1 week in & expanding nicely). Feeding frozen Cyclopeeze & DT's live phyto.

*Whew!* That said, I guess someone may suspect I have a little algae growing

I actually defeated an extended diatom bloom when I learned I had high amounts of silicates in my well water & started using an RO/DI. Silicates are now undetectable & diatoms are unnoticeable. But because I still have moderate levels of phosphate & nitrates, I still have a fair bit of hair algae going on. It's on the retreat, not covering up any of the substrate, rock, or corals, but is up & down the back of the tank pretty much. I try to siphon out as much as I can when I do a water change (usually about 20% every other week), but it grows back. I expect it will diminish more as phosphates continue to go down. The Crispata I bought met with varying fates (1 left, a fraction of his former self, but making a comeback), but the short version with these fellows is that the hair algae in my tank wasn't to their liking. I have not had the best luck with macroalgae in my fuge, I suspect my lighting is inadequate. I will not use caulerpa (too many horror stories), & in fact, have destroyed the Taxifolia I inadvertantly picked up from my LFS. I have some Gracilaria in the fuge, but this is only just barely hanging on-- defintely not functioning as a proper nutrient export.

So I would like to supplement my algae control with other ecological means, which brings me to the header of my posting-- I am thinking about a Kole Tang. So far in my research, these guys are supposed to be pretty mild mannered (mostly), & just what the doctor ordered when addressing nuisance algae. I am hoping to keep one as a supplement measure in addition lighting, circulation, & to nutrient control.

I understand though, that they can bicker with other tangs. Does anyone have any idea how one might react with a hippo tang? Mine is about 3 inches long & pretty skittish.

How about feather dusters? I have a few that have been growing from my live rock & would like to preserve them. Are Kole's known to peck at them at all?

Anything else I might not be thinking of here? Thanks to anyone & everyone who has any experience to share... thanks all

Pete

 

[Anonymous]

Short and sweet, your tank is too small for another Tang.

Regards,
David Mohr

 

[Anonymous]

Alright I have a Kole tang, so I'll let in on the info.

First personality, they have a lot of personality, very neat fish to have IMHO

Now as to how it'll react to the Hippo, it might be a cointoss as to which will be the aggressor. I have had one, and added a Naso tang later, he did try to "block" the Naso by pushing it into the glass/against the corner, but a day later it was like nothing happened. It did chase my coral beauty I added to the tank for a few days though, not anymore. Finally it does try to "gum" my foxface occasionally, but never has it been overly agressive towards it.

As to the algae, it tends to scrape at rocks and glass, so it'll definately take care of some algae, unsure about the hair algae as I've never had that to worry about.

The only thing I would worry about is the size of your tank, I'd probably recommend atleast a 6 foot long tank for a couple tangs (hell just for the Hippo alone), but its up to you.

 

[Anonymous]

Your Hippo tang will eventually outtgrow this size tank. If you could remove it and replace it with the Kole that would be an excellent fish to have. Otherwise I predict a tang war as well.

If you're looking to correct an algae issue the last thing you want to do is add another fish Keep doing what you're doing (water changes/harvesting macro/increasing light in your fuge/skimming/running carbon/phosphate remover/etc.) and I suspect it will go away on its own.

 

[zonkers]

Well I'm smart enough to notice a trend in the answers! Tank's too small-- got it

I've had this concern about my hippo as well. I selected a hippo tang mainly because of its mild temperament, & knew that it would eventually get too large for this tank. I was thinking that it might be acceptable to have both if I got the Kole as another juvenile until I upgrade to a larger tank, but I guess this will just be pressing my luck.

As for my hair algae, the war wages on. Nutrient control is still, by far, the philopsophy ruling here.

By the way, is this common that for a Hippo tang to have a completely black face? I actually hadn't realized it until my wife noticed some hippos in a tank at our local hospital had the normal blue face. Searching on the web, I haven't found a single other photo of a black faced Hippo tang. Thoughts?

 

[Anonymous]

Wow, that is unusual. I have never seen a hippo tang with a face like that (and I've seen hundreds). A sort of rare color morph in some is to have a yellow belly, but I've never even heard of this. How big is it? Maybe it's just a juvenile thing.

 

[zonkers]

Not to overload this thread with pics, but here are a couple other shots of her. I got her from my LFS last September, & looking back at original shots I took of her, I've noticed that her face wasn't always so black, but has been darkening over time. She was about 2 inches then, & is about 3 now.

When she hides in the rocks & pops back out, her nose will have paled out to nearly white, but darkens up again quickly.

I thought about the juvenility thing myself, but again, I haven't found any images on the net showing the black face. Is there a prize for finding rare morphs maybe?? :lol:

I've seen a yellow belly at the hospital's tank, but it was a relatively pale coloration. She(?) seems to me also to be more richly colored than what I've seen locally & on the net, or maybe this is just aquarists' pride?

 

[Anonymous]

Ya know what I would do? Visit www.coralrealm.com. Contact the staff, and ask specifically for Scott Michael. Email him a picture of this fish and see what he says.

 

[reefer madness1]

I have a Kole and a Hippo together and they get along fine, but they are in a 120. As far as the Kole being a help with nuisance algae- maybe mines just lazy. Ill see him nibble on the rocks as if hes eating, but he hasnt put a dent in any of the hair algae. Never seen him pick at feather dusters and Ive got alot of them.

 

[Tarasco]

Just be aware that when the hippo gets bigger, it might not be so passive. I had a hippo in my 90 (4 feet long) who was great when he was a little guy. Once he got to about the 5 inch mark, he started bullying other fish, and especially liked picking on a butterfly. Around feeding time it would zoom around like crazy trying to get every morsel of food that it could. I had to take special care to make sure that food got to the more shy fish. I was going to put it into a bigger tank, but lost it in a move.