400 gallon project

untamed · #1 01-17-2008, 02:39 AM

A Few days ago, I added a couple of new fish. A cleaner wrasse, and a White Face Tang (sold to me as a Powder Brown, but it is a White Face or Japanese Tang)

If you are a fan of the aquarium camera, you know that the new Tang has had a pretty rough time. The Achillies Tang really dislikes the new guy and is more than twice his size. He's spent the past few days hiding in the Xenia.

Here is the White Face Tang.

The cleaner wrasse is...well...I'm not sure I like having him in the tank. He is a very active cleaner. It is interesting to watch the cleaning behaviour, but he is so relentless that it is driving the fish to distraction! Moe (Blonde Naso) seems to get the most attention mostly because he doesn't move around very fast. There's clearly a point where the fish says.."ENOUGH!!!", but can't easily get away from the cleaner.

The wrasse is leaving small "bite marks" that are visible on the Naso Tang. These heal within a day, but new bites are added all the time. Here I was all worried that the wrasse would starve...now I find out that it eats pellets, shrimp and harrasses my fish leaving bite marks all over them! He may become the first fish that I evict...we'll see. He does clean my arm whenever I reach into the tank, which is kind of funny.

If you look at the photo below, you can see the dark bite marks on Moe's grey areas on his nose, behind his gills and on his back.

untamed · #2 01-17-2008, 02:50 AM

You can see that the tank is taking on my characteristic "untamed" look...I think I need about a dozen more large sea cucumbers to mulch through that sand bed...

Jason McK · #3 01-17-2008, 02:58 AM

White Cheek (Acanthurus japonicus) is my all time favorate fish.

Looks Great.

J

argan · #4 01-17-2008, 05:04 AM

Untamed, you may have a trickster in your tank. What that wrasse is doing sounded familiar to me, so Check out this link.

http://notexactlyrocketscience.wordp...ple-disguises/

Delphinus · #5 01-17-2008, 05:30 AM

I was just going to say ... I'm pretty sure that's a false cleaner wrasse (not a real cleaner). The cincher is that you said he's eating prepared foods ...

A real cleaner wrasse won't leave bite marks.

Some more reading.. http://www.wetwebmedia.com/labroiidfaqs.htm
http://www.uog.edu/marinelab/fish/sp...taeniatus.html

Not sure what to suggest. The last page there says most fish will learn to stay away from them but I imagine that's in the context of the wild, not a captive aquarium. I think you may want to get him out of there, for the sake of your other fish.

Sorry and good luck!!! (Or should I say "Happy hunting"?)

untamed · #6 01-17-2008, 03:56 PM

It's not a Fang Blennie. It's taken me quite a while to find a decent photo of a Fang Blennie in order to see the underslung mouth. (assuming that is the ONLY distinguishing feature...and that's debatable)

My "Wrasse" does not have the distinct underslung mouth of a Fang Blennie. I'll see if I can get a better photo. Meanwhile, I'll continue to watch him closely.

Delphinus · #7 01-17-2008, 03:58 PM

I guess I mistook his nostril for a bite mark.

I didn't know if cleaner wrasses would leave marks at all on other fish.

Well, hopefully you have one of the good guys after all. I'm still sort of shocked to hear of one that eats prepared foods, but maybe you have the 1 in 100, sort of thing.