Follow up re: Polyp eating Powder Blue Tang

[SamIAm]

So my previous post asked for help regarding my Powder Blue Tang. I confirmed that it was he nibbling at my yellow polyps, leathers, star polyps, and other corals. I spent a couple of frustrating days trying to trap him -- all the while he was eating more and more of my yellow polyps. Finally, I had to just break down and remove the live rock. I caught him and now he's in the quarantine tank. Unfortunately, this operation left my reef tank in shambles (try putting together a puzzle that doesn't fit) and all of my corals retracted. I was really depressed by how cloudy my tank was and my concern that I had damaged other corals.

Well, I came into the office this morning and everything had cleared up. The corals that hadn't been eaten had re-opened. But more importantly, my star polyps -- no longer being molested by the blue tang-- started opening up. They're not quite as full as before, but they're apparently bouncing back. Alas, most of my yellow polyps are just gone. And the leathers are still curled up. But it looks like I bet right -- and I should have done it much sooner.

I learned something - powder blue tangs are not always reef safe and can mow down polyps pretty quickly. This one took out two entire colonies of yellow polyps, trimmed two colonys of star polyps, ate a flowerpot, and damaged two leathers.

Now, the question remains: what do I do with the powder blue tang? And should I try again with a new one?

 

[clowninround]

Everyone tells me to try again with a new yellow tang, but I love my corals too much. My husband tells me all the time that the tank doesn't look "full". But when I get up in the morning and see new baby corals budding, and fully expanded polyps, the fish I do have are happy and not fighting...I know I have found the right balance. I think thats the most important thing. If you are scared it will happen again, and don't really want to waste endless hours catching a fish (not to mention what your other tank inhabitants think of it), I wouldn't do it. But from another standpoint, it IS rare for tangs to attack corals from my understanding. What I did with my tangs was put them in another tank, I couldn't bare to part with them. And they are doing great! You could also trade them for another fish at the LFS.