help! problems with coral banded shrimp and blue hippo tang

[intheb0x]

Well ive had this coral banded shrimp since hes been tiny. i love him to death but i recently got a blue hippo i plan on having for about a year or so and then trading in or putting him into a bigger tank.

 

my coral banded shrimp is infactuated with the tang, as in trying to get him and eat him.

i recently blocked off a corner side of the tank so the tang can hide but that hasnt stopped the shrimp, it did for awhile but tonight i went over to look at the tank and theres the shrimp on that side and the dumb little tang quivering in the corner and the shrimp in his "boxer" stance. i dont know what to do. the tang is not coming out because hes scared ######less and the shrimp is just being his usual self.

id hate to part ways with the shrimp but i can see more problems down the line.

i can get cleaner shrimp for about 15 bucks and fire shrimp for about 22

tomarrow im going to where i get my coral and fish and i was thinking of getting a cleaner shrimp and trade in my coral banded but id hate to let him go.

 

infact im thinking about getting a 10gal tomarrow and setting it up with a small filter and using my estasblished water and some used filter pads currently in my system and putting him in there and putting the cleaner shirmp in my tank.

 

i heard the fire shrimp can be aggressive to and i dont want that what so ever.

 

what does everyone think i should do?

1. get the 10 gal and set it up put him in there get the cleaner and put him in my main display

2. trade the coral banded in, suck it up and be happy with the new cleaner less aggressive shrimp

3 whatever, im at a loss for words.

 

thanks again everyone.

[Seanfg89]

Coral Banded Shrimp are in fact cleaner shrimp as well and while they do not clean other fish often in captivity, it does happen. Perhaps he is just trying to give the Hippo Tang a clean?

[geekreef_05]

Dont know about a CBS in particular, but I can tel you that pistol shrimp, if hungry enough or bored will attempt to eat fish. And Ive had one eat a couple of my fish in the past.

 

Id be weiry of the CBS and play it safe by getting that 10 gallon. Blue tangs require alot of room and grow very quickly too, so make sure your tank is large enough (seriously).

[krankykris]

ditch the tang. if your CBS can find him easily, the tank is obviously too small already.

[intheb0x]

Lol he's trying to eat him.I only planned on keeping the tang for a year or so. I guess I'll get the ten gallon today

[rebodi]

Ditch the tang And stick to smaller nano fish. You have 34000 posts and you put a tang in a biocube. shame on you... you should know better.

[intheb0x]

dude did you read what i said?

i plan on having the tang for a year and when he starts to get larger im getting rid of him.

did i studder?

hes small now maybe a inch or 2.

[Smurf]

I have a CBS in my 10g. He's great. Sometimes threatens my Percs but hes great.

 

 

 

PS. Get rid of the tang. It will be super sad.

[krankykris]

dude did you read what i said?

i plan on having the tang for a year and when he starts to get larger im getting rid of him.

did i studder?

hes small now maybe a inch or 2.

 

super fail.

[intheb0x]

I have a CBS in my 10g. He's great. Sometimes threatens my Percs but hes great.

 

 

 

PS. Get rid of the tang. It will be super sad.

 

 

i was putting some birdsnest green coral i got today in my tank on the top of the rock where the shrimp hangs and he came right for my hand lol, he puts out his pinchers and shakes them really fast at me.

funny the little guy has some balls.

the tang seems really happy, he plays with the clowns its really funny.

i have infact thought about selling it to my friend, but today he just got 2 really small maroon clowns and he has a 55g.

i think of if i give him the tang he will be just as threatened with the maroon clowns chasing him around

what do you guys think?

[rebodi]

dude did you read what i said?

i plan on having the tang for a year and when he starts to get larger im getting rid of him.

did i studder?

hes small now maybe a inch or 2.

 

I read what you typed and based on your aggressive attitude I take it you understand your mistake. Whats the point of having a creature that you replace in a year? When you buy a puppy do you trade it in when it grows to big for your parents house? I know it looks cool but wont you become attached to the fish? Do you understand what I am trying to get across. Aquire fish that can grow into the tank not out of it and this wonderful hobby will have much more meaning to you in the long run. Best of luck to you and your tank.

 

Ryan Edward

 

ps... there are alot of great small fish out there... yellow assesors, flasher wrasses, glass cardinals, and the list goes on.

[lakshwadeep]

I read what you typed and based on your aggressive attitude I take it you understand your mistake. Whats the point of having a creature that you replace in a year? When you buy a puppy do you trade it in when it grows to big for your parents house? I know it looks cool but wont you become attached to the fish? Do you understand what I am trying to get across. Aquire fish that can grow into the tank not out of it and this wonderful hobby will have much more meaning to you in the long run. Best of luck to you and your tank.

 

Ryan Edward

 

ps... there are alot of great small fish out there... yellow assesors, flasher wrasses, glass cardinals, and the list goes on.

 

I totally agree. Buying fish and other livestock ill-suited for nano-reefs is not in the their best interests. The best reef tanks are the ones that have a plan for all the fish and inhabitants to be staying indefinitely. There will always be blue tangs available if and when you get a larger tank, so there is absolutely no biologically-beneficial reason to purchase a tang for a nano-reef (might as well add a baby shark ). Where's the tang police?

[intheb0x]

thanks for the kind replys.

i understand this but the tank the tang was in at the place i got him at was tiny, hes a little better off now.

infact someone else who has a 24g was told they could get it and have it in the tank for a year until it got larger. hes got alot of experiance in fish for about 15 yrs. the problem with the shrimp is taken care of for now and i have become attached to the tang. i was planning on getting a larger tank for him and moving him out of it. i was just figuring at the time according to his words that hey in a year you can trade him in for something else.

i understand the deal, i didnt post this thread to get bashed about having the tang. i think hes better off here instead of some tiny display tank as he waits to get bought, that might take a very long time.

[r20crazy]

what size tank do you have and what livestock (fish/cuc/etc)? there are several factors that can contribute to such agression.

[intheb0x]

29g biocube

6 fish

about 10 hermits

a bunch of snails

2 emerald crabs

[herranton]

Coral banded shrimp are documented predators, they will eat just about anything they can get their claws on. Obviously, research is the key to success in this hobby and you are coming up a little short in that area. First with the CBS, then the tang.

 

Even a 30 gallon tank is too small for a tang regardless of the fishes size. Tangs prefer a tank with plenty of room to swim and just because the tank may be proportionate, does not mean that it is big enough. If you really feel that you need to have a tang in your tank, I really don't care, but by posting this you are telling other noobies that this is ok to do, when it is not. (yes, you are a noob, I don't care how much experience you have)

 

Please don't take this as a flame, it is not meant to be. I want you to look at your outlook towards husbandry. Maybe you don't really care about your animals, maybe you are not educated in their proper care. All I'm asking is that you realize that what you are doing is considered by many to be abusive, And take a look inside yourself to figure out if you are ok with possibly being an abuser.

[Spliffstar]

omg, somebody please put a picture up of a tang swimming inside a dixie cup so all the tang police's heads will simaltaniously explode... the guy just said he's not keeping the fish more than a year, so get off it.. and if you want to get technical, its cruel to take any living thing out of its natural habitat beause it looks pretty in your lliving room. no matter how big the tank, the fish is still going to bump his head into the glass... so you are all hypocrites. In any case, coral banded shrimp are aggressive and will lunge at small fish. they dont often have the ability to actually catch them, but it can happen. I have a cbs in my nano and he lunges at my clown once in a while, but he is not able to catch him. He doesn't seem to really even lunge more than once, so im not sure, but it may be more of a type of posturing than an attempt to eat him.. I will say this for sure, any sick, or sleeping fish can be vulnerable to attack from any scavenger type feeder.. If you keeping small fish, i would also be worried about those emerald crabs when they get bigger... In the end its up to you to weigh the risk.. I've had my cbs in with a clown for 2 years now with out incident. knock on wood...

[StevieT]

 

 

 

ditch the tang, get a baby shark, name it bittie, feed it candy, be happy

[The Nomad]

Coral Banded Shrimp are in fact cleaner shrimp as well and while they do not clean other fish often in captivity, it does happen. Perhaps he is just trying to give the Hippo Tang a clean?

+1. Mine only cleans my spotted goby.

 

ditch the tang. if your CBS can find him easily, the tank is obviously too small already.

Good Point.

[intheb0x]

lol!

[Urchinhead]

Ok. Everyone has piled on about Tangs in a small tank. Bully for all of you. Keep up the good work.

 

He's going to make his own choices and does have a exit plan for when the tang gets too big for the tank which include either moving it to a new tank he starts or giving it away. Odds are the fish is better off with him instead of in a LFS in a 5"x5"x5" cube in crappy water. Not by much but still a smidge better. At least he has a plan in mind for it and is aware of the mistake he is making in terms of treatment of the fish.

 

Now on to answering the guy's questions. A CBS is a mean shrimp. They are omnivores and are very territorial. Your tank is over crowded at 6 fish for its size and the CBS most likely is reacting the way it is because it feels threatened by the fish encroaching on its territory. It also may sense that the tang is either diseased or weak and is thus trying to make a meal out of it.

 

You can keep a blue tang in a 29 gallon for a while. Just make sure it has allot of room to swim in and plan to move it out relatively quickly as it is going to get very big very quick *IF* it survives. Also be aware of its nutritional requirements and be sure to supplement its diet with vegetables like Nori (seaweed), lettuce, and the like.

 

Also be aware that juvenile blue tangs are (if memory serves) wild caught using less than fish friendly capture methods, are very susceptible to and are carriers of ich and other parasites, get stressed very easily and quickly, and odds are just about 90% that the one you have is either a host or is about to manifest an infestation due to stress and other factors and will most likely die on you in a few weeks to a month or so.

 

Good luck.

 

UH