Resolved Powder Blue Tang getting bullied

So glad to hear they are doing better! Wahoo!!!

 

I've been watching them and the angel has decided to bother him some more, but this time the tang is standing his ground! He must feel more at home now... after the angel bugs him, he goes back to eating gracilaria..

 

Looking good!! I'm very glad all the residents are getting to know each other more.
I've had some gracilaria in my sump hoping it will grow, but it's not showing much progress. My chaeto grew 3 times the original size, but the gracilaria didn't even stretch a bit in the same lenght of time.
Now that I read you, I want to treat mine to some of it too!!

 

Yeah, before I had a fish that would eat gracilaria, I tried growing it in the sump right next to the cheato. It shrank in size while the cheato grew... I think mostly due to pods eating it; or maybe the cheato out-competed it for nutrients... it's hard to know for sure.

The algae that I have is actually Agardhiella, which must be a close cousin of Gracilaria, because they look almost identical. I still don't know how to tell it apart, but a girl at the LFS where I picked it up has a master's in biology and has studied it enough to know the difference and made a point to tell me so... heh. Unfortunately, they didn't have Gracilaria that day to compare the two.

I call it Gracilaria b/c most folks haven't heard of Agardhiella, but I think they serve the same purpose in our reef tanks - great food for tangs and rabbits.

 

It sure is some tricky tricky stuff to get to grow! I have finally found one strain that will grow in my tank (and of course it's the ugliest brown I've ever seen lol) but I like to stick to calcareous algae cuz it's generally easier.

Tangs will eat chaeto but they can't digest it as easily as other algae.

 

They will definitely eat the chaeto. Sometimes it makes it to my DT through the return. One filament floats around, the tang eats it and then poops out a transparent string just as long and as curly as it was when he ate it. Definitely not that nutritious. It looks like a plant with plenty of filaments and not digested easily.

gabbagabbawill, that agardhiella sounds interesting. Have you been able to make it grow in your refugium?
I wonder how would you pronounce that name?.. the h and the "ll" are messing with my spanish thinking head.

 

I believe it's pronounced agar-dee-ela... the "h" being silent.

Agar agar is used in petri dishes and has some other interesting uses... I believe it is derived from Agardhiella. Agar - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

Gabba,

I made a trap for my angel out of a 3 liter bottle. put some of his favorite food in there and when he went in to eat, the wife pulled i out with a piece of attached fishing string. took about 3 days because we were busy, but once the fish is comfortable, it will readily go in there to eat. just dont feed for a day or so.

 

OK, well... last night the angel was bothering the Tang a bit more, but the Tang really stood his ground. After a few skirmishes, the Angel completely backed off... I haven't seen the angel go back to bother him since.

Now, the Tang still looks stressed... He's still eating, I'm just hoping that he comes out ok.

 

Thought I'd share a couple photos.

The Tang is doing well and the Angel is now keeping his distance.

He snacks on nori and agardhiella constantly, as you can see in the photos.

Thanks again for your advice! So glad that I am able to report good news...

Also, I'm really enjoying the new aquascape and I think the fish are too. ;D