Blue Tang wont come out of the rocks

Hey Guys, I have a 90 with a blue tang, flame angel, 3 perc clowns, one yellow tail damsel, and 2 small yellow gobies. I have had them for about two years with no problems.

The last two months the tang wont come out of the rocks..at all. He will stick his head out at feeding time and grab a piece of shrimp and that is why he is still alive. He has good color, still eats, just wont come out.

I have asked a couple of fish stores and they just shrug thier sholders. I had my water tested at the store and was told it was fine. I did a 30% water change anyway to no avail.

Has anyone seen this type of behavior before ? I know tangs are shy, but this is overboard as he used to swim all around and eat anything I put in there.

 

How do the other fish behave in relation to this tang? Jim
I have had a couple of fish agression issues in my tank that where outside of the norm
in terms of fish compatability - I had an algae blenny that hated, literally hated a Regal tang and chased it relentlesly around the tank , even seeking it out just to head butt it on occasions

I had a Fireball that also took a dislike to a Percula clown, I have 2 and the Fireball only hated one of them, and would swim around one in order to antagonise the other

is it possible that one of your fish has developed this tendency to your tang and he is now keeping himself out of the way


Steve

 

I dont think so steve. All the tank mates are very passive. The flame angel will some times chase the clowns and the damsel, but never the tang. The tang is the biggest fish in the tank and they all pretty much get out of his way.

Only thing I can think of is may be he is getting too big for the 90 gallon.l

 

Here's a idea... If you can without tearing up your corals if you have any ... Is to rearange your rock work a little bit to make its seem like its in a new tank.. And maybe take his favorite hiding place and make it dissapear so it will hafta come out and explore...

Keep in mind just a Idea..


Best of Luck....

 

Well, I finally figured it out. I had to get another blue tang (and a blond naso tang) That got him out of the rocks, now they are all swimming around ...

 

When you say blue tang, do you mean hippo or atlantic blue?

 

It is a blue hippo tang. I asked some "fish experts" ( and here ) and it was my wifes suggestion to get him a buddy. That worked !

 

Thats cool! I have four tangs in my 180 and probably gonna add 3 more lol but they all swim together!

 

awe he was lonely

 

Awwww that's so sweet!!