[maj]

Is it normal for these guys to eat mysis shrimp and brine but just nibbles on nori and veggie flakes?
But he pecks the glass and rocks all day.

i thought they are herbivores?

[Baradhel]

Spotted grey surgeon? Pic or scientific name?

Many surgeons will eat other things. My powder blue prefers pellets to anything else.

[maj]

its a acanthurus nigrofuscus
also,are they compatible with a regal tang in the same DT

[Corry]

Surgeons are omnivorous. I have a Purple Tang that eats like a pig. I mean anything in the tank is toast and he wants more. Frozen shrimp, bloodworm, crayfish, bits o'fish, nori, flakes etc.
Slow sinking morsels is an entertainment form on its own. He/She is worse than pacman on roids and chows more than all the other fish combined. I swear if I put up a webcam people will pay to see the aptly named Edgar (J. Edgar Hoover -> Hoover -> Vaccum cleaner) munch the food.
I have a YT and a Semi that try to keep up with Edgar. Hah, amateurs!

[maj]

shot Corry,i really thought the purely herbivores.
Im hoping the regal is compatible with this surgeon...

[hotdog83]

Tangs eat everything. My convict and regal loves the meaty type Ocean Nutrition pellets.

[Corry]

In nature I think they tend to be more herbivorous, as the variety of different greens will cater for different requirements, but am sure they won't say no to a tasty morsel. I've seen convicts come a rushing if you use sardine or red bait in the water. In a tank their diet is more limited so I try to give as varied and wide a diet as possible

Regals are generally compatible with most others. Is the Regal established in the tank or not? If so, you shouldn't have any problems and can add the Grey.

Mostly it comes down to tank size. 4' being a minimum and then ample swimming space is a must. Acanthurus tend to be very territorial, esp Powder Blues and ANY fish added will have grief.

If the Grey is in the tank already generally the best is to catch the Grey, house it in the sump for a week. Add the new Regal Tang and re-arrange the rockwork in the DT so that when you re-introduce the Grey it thinks its in a new tank and won't be so aggro.

However, this is easier said than done. If you have a big tank with lots of rock cathcing the grey could prove impossible.

What i found works is to introduce the new fish in an acrylic tube (obviously with holes for water flow etc, where one side is obscured by rock etc so the the fishie in the tube can retreat to if feeling threatened. The aggro fish in the tank will bump the acrylic in trying to hassle the new addition and get a sore nose. Pretty quickly 2-4 days they "learn" that trying to bump this fish is futile and they'll leave it. The new fishie also quickly learns that the charges from the others amount to nothing and settles in quickly.

I based this on a study I read where Barracuda were tested on stimulus and response. Any bait fish added were instant sushi. tHey then put the bait fish in acrylic boxes so the barra's got sore noses for their efforts. after a few days the bait fish were added without the box and were left alone. Even to the point where the barra's starved. Any other species of bait fish added were quickly totast but the species in the acrylic were left alone.

I tried it and presto it actually worked.

[hotdog83]

Awesome advice Corry, that Acrylic tube trick sounds really interesting! I suppose it will also work with a 5l mineral water bottle.

[Baradhel]

Great advice there, Corry.

[Pistolshrimp]

I just got one of these tangs for free, lavender tang, my regal cant be bothered, it came from a tank already so hes already eating pellets and just about everything else.

[maj]

thnks corry,brilliant advise as im going to add the regal in the next 2weeks.
Can i use the normal 5litre bottle as hotdog sed?thos containers the juice comes in?

should a rock be placed nex to the 5litre containers or inside of it?

[Pistolshrimp]

i would only Only try the bottle method if the tangs are fighting, cos it could cause stress for the fish in the container, a good idea though

[maj]

Well if i put the regal in,its goin to be hard to catch him agen if they do start fighting,but u right it will cause stress to the fish.

[colbar]

Sorry if I am dof, but how large is the arcrylic tube. Can the fish swim comfortably in it. I know it depends on the size fish but can they turn around. Isnt that stressful for the new fish. I think it really sounds like a wonderful idea, just need to clarify size.

[Corry]

Firstly, thank you all for the "thanks's". I have learnt an incredible amount from you guys and just now saw how to do the "thanks"! I will abuse that function considerably in the future. I never knew what it was and was too scared to press it.

The size of the fish does matter. It needs to be able to swim around comfortably otherwise it will get stressed. The acrylic tube works nicely for small fish. Bigger fish are a bit more complicated as you will need a bigger container like a 5l bottle.
It must however have enough holes etc for water to flow through for obvious reasons.
With the tube I packed rocks around the one end of the tube so that the fish will have somewhere to hide as initially it thinks it is fair game for the other fish and a dark space offers security.

Actually the 5l bottle may be easier in that you can build a little cave in the bottle so will be easier than the acrylic tube. See, already abusing that thanks button.

You know what your fish are like and if they're quite aggressive. In the tank I did this I had a male and female Bird Wrasse and although awesome characters (they used to splash me with water whenever I walked past the tank and didn't give an offering of morsels to their royal highnesses) they did not take nicely to new additions. Ditto with a Powder Blue in another later tank. In my current tank the Purple Tang and Semi are the most aggro but I added 6 Goldies I caught with no hassles. adding another Tang or Angel could prove problematic though and I'll go with the Bottle (great idea).

[maj]

SO i got my regal(Paracanthurus hepatus) from francois yesterday,he is quite small still and housed in my sump.
Im thinking of doing the bottle trick in the DT,but do you think i should wait abit as the Regal is 3cm and the brown surgeon(acanthurus nigrofuscus) is about 7cm.

should i rather wait till the regal is abit bigger and eating well?
dont really want to keep the regal in the sump for 6 months

[Baradhel]

I'd sump the nigrofuscus for a couple weeks with the regal in the DT.

[Keyaam]

Originally Posted by Baradhel

I'd sump the nigrofuscus for a couple weeks with the regal in the DT.

I agree. We purchased the same tang and he is quite aggresive.

[maj]

Originally Posted by Baradhel

I'd sump the nigrofuscus for a couple weeks with the regal in the DT.

So after a 2 weeks,will the nigrofuscus not still attack the regal as he will still be smaller?

ther is so little algae for him to eat in the sump,he going to be a very frustrated surgeon

Originally Posted by Keyaam

I agree. We purchased the same tang and he is quite aggresive.

Going to be harder to catch the nigrofuscus.
is it guaranteed that they will fight?

[Baradhel]

I see in your other thread that you have a Z. scopas and a foxface too? I'd be concerned about all three beating up a small regal in that case. Rather use the bottle method with the regal then and see how they react. A big surgeon can make short work of a small one if it doesn't like it.