Strange Blue tang behavior

[jezzeaepi]

I have noticed my blue tang has developed a fondness for "tossing" things around my tank. I have seen him pick up rocks, hermit crabs, and his algae clip, and swim around with it for a while, then toss it somewhere else. He likes to pick on the hermit crabs in particular, and I dont think they appreciate it too much, lol.
Is this normal? Is he bored? Whats his problem? lol

 

[ciao]

Maybe you should get him a running wheel like they have for hamsters! LOL

 

[Skimmy]

well, the fish swims 20 miles a day in the ocean, I would imagine he's bored out of his skull in a 4' 120g...

 

[Myteemouse]

I agree , how much flow do you have and how big is that fish??

 

[jezzeaepi]

Hes about 5 inches long, and an inch thick lol. I keep the tank at medium flow(25-30x) because I have a lot of LPS. Keep in mind it is a 4ft by 2.7feet deep tank with no SPS in it at the moment, so there is a lot of open space. All of my fish are very healthy. The only fish I have ever lost in the past 4.5 years have been jumpers.

 

[Myteemouse]

he's got ADHD. LOL
And he wants to redecorate the tank.. LOL

 

[leebca]

The fish needs more space (aquarium length) to swim. This sized fish needs to 'break into a dash' speed now and then. Like someone else posted, they swim up to 25 miles per day in the wild. This fish should be in an aquarium of no less than 6' length, but that will only be good for a year or two, when it should then be moved into an aquarium of no less than 8 feet in length.

 

[jezzeaepi]

I have been tossing the idea around of finding him a new home, but I have a hard time trusting others to provide him with the proper nutrition and feeding regiment. I feed him frozen food twice a day, and give him an algae sheet to munch on in the afternoon. I feel like if I gave the fish to someoone else who started feeding him half as much, I would be doing an extreme disservice to the fish. I would not want my food rations cut in half, so I have a hard time doing it to my fish. Its hard to find someone who has a large tank, that doesn't already have a blue tang, that is willing to put in the work to provide them with food several times a day.

I also feel like 6 feet is kind of an arbitrary measurement to choose. If the purpose of adding tank length is to give room for the fish to "Break in to a dash," then 6 feet is as useless as 4 feet. If the fish can cover the whole 4 feet in about a second, whats 6 feet going to do? Give him a second in a half of swimming instead of a second? Neither one of those are even close to being able to break in to a dash imho. 8 foot tank would at least provide enough room for a two second sprint, but again, how meaningful of a difference is that?

What about a 4foot by 4 foot tank compared to an 8 foot by 2 foot tank? The 8 foot would allow for a long burst in a straight line, but the 4 foot by 4 foot would allow for circular travel, which would be infinite, rather then a finite 8 foot length. I think at some point depth plays a much larger roll then length. Not trying to argue with you Lee, just exploring this idea. What do you think?

Peace,
Jesse

 

[saltwaterfishes]

he's got ADHD. LOL
And he wants to redecorate the tank.. LOL

:lol::lol:

 

[leebca]

The length is important from my experience and observations. That two feet has made a difference in Tang behavior over the years. The 'dash' lasts only for a couple of feet, but there is both a speed up and slow down space. Much depends upon landscaping, too. 8 is the goal number until the fish reaches over 8".

 

[jezzeaepi]

So what specific tang behaviors have you observed that let you know when a tang is needing to move to a longer tang?

The reason why I ask about the wide tank vs the long tank is because of my observations of Jobiwans 550Gallon(hes a member here, but hasn't posted in a while). Although it is a huge tank, it is only 6 feet long(72 x 54 x 36). All of his fish(and there was a lot!) appeared to be extremely healthy though, and there was no aggression. Several fish were in the 7-10 inch range. So in this case, does the open space make up for the lack of length, or are there specific tang behaviors that I should have been looking for and just didn't notice?

 

[leebca]

They include but aren't limited to new behaviors such as:
pacing;
aggressive behavior;
attacks on decorations;
fast, jerky movements (a bit like an insane activity);
long times in hiding; and
cornering.

Others includes signs of stressors, such as increase in bacterial infections, onset of opportunistic conditions, etc.

The other dimensions can work, when the diagonal is over 6 feet. For instance a 4 x 4 has a diagonal of about 5.3 feet. A bit shorter than optimal, and of course depending upon landscaping.

Your friend's 500 has a diagonal 'length' of 90 inches (7.5 feet). That's good but not optimal. for those fishes that need to 'travel' and are yet under 8". Again, it assumes the diagonal is not obstructed.

 

[jezzeaepi]

Thanks Lee. I had the opportunity to see your presentation on fish nutrition for the Puget Sound Aquarium Society about 3 years back, and it really opened my eyes to the intricacies of keeping fish long term. Ever since, I come to your forum for all my fish information! I really appreciate the time you take to put in to the this community.

 

[leebca]

Thank you for that. Few have taken time to provide any positive feedback. You're welcome and, it is basically for people like yourself, I do this for.