Kole Tang Fish - Care | Tank | Size | Reef Safe | Diet

Ctenochaetus strigosus, known by the frequent names Kole Tang or noticed surgeonfish or Goldring surgeonfish or yellow-eyed tang, is a marine reef tang within the fish family Acanthuridae which is endemic to Oceana. It grows to 5.7 inches (14.6 cm) within the wild. In this article, I am going to talk about Kole tang care, tank size, reef safe, diet, vs yellow tang, lifespan.

Kole Tang profile

It has a brown coloration with light blue to yellow horizontal stripes over its body which becomes spots in the direction of the face. It additionally has a vividly yellow space surrounding the attention. In the aquarium commerce, it may be seen below a wide range of frequent names, together with yellow-eyed Kole tang, striped bristle tooth, and bristle tooth tang.

This species is an herbivore, grazing algae on the shallow reef. It has additionally been generally noticed to wash algal growths from the shells of sea turtles.

In the Ahihi-Kinau nature protect space on Maui, Hawaii, aggregations of this fish have established “cleaning stations” the place inexperienced sea turtles come to be groomed. This is a symbiotic relationship.

The fish profit by accessing a simple meal, whereas the turtles get groomed by the algae growths on their shells, which may enhance drag within the water when progress turns too dense.

The Kole Tang is most frequently collected from Hawaii for aquarium commerce and is extremely wanted due to the Kole tang’s fixed algae grazing, reef tank friendliness, and good demeanor.

The Kole tang has a yellow spotlight round it is eyed with a purplish or brown body composed of horizontal stripes. The head area has many superb dots or “freckles” as I wish to name them.

The Yellow-eyed Kole Tang juvenile begins out all yellow. Adults are reddish-brown with very skinny, pale blue, horizontal traces that run the size of the fish. The face has small pale blue spots and the attention is surrounded in a vibrant yellow circle!

Their mouth is purplish-blue and their pelvic and pectoral fins are brown. Their dorsal and anal fins are edged in vibrant blue and the fins even have the identical very skinny, pale blue traces on the base, however then the traces shoot backward in the direction of the tail fin.

The Yellow-eyed Kole Tang male grows as much as 7.1″ (17 cm), however, they grow up to a little over 5.5″ within the first four years, after which a lot slower after that. Females are smaller and this genus solely lives for 35 years. They are finest stored by intermediate aquarists.

The Ctenochaetus genus is known as each the Bristletooth or Combtooth Tangs. What separates this genus is their number of rows of small, versatile comb-like enamel (as much as 30 enamel) that they use to whisk (or comb) the sand and rocks, then use suction to attract numerous varieties of algae and detrital materials.

They primarily eat detritus which accommodates minute algae, fairly than the filamentous algae eaten by different tangs, making them an incredible addition. In the aquarium, you’ll usually see little lip marks on the glass the place algae was once.

The Indian Gold Ring Bristletooth appears very related in form, nonetheless, our bodies are lighter they usually have recognizing throughout as an alternative of stripes.

The frequent name is pronounced a few alternative ways together with ‘coal-eh’ or ‘coal-ee’. Use the scientific name Ctenochaetus strigosus. Ctenochaetus is pronounced ‘ten-o-kee-tus’. That will sound more spectacular around your folks.

An attention-grabbing factor to notice about them is that they exhibit cleansing conduct within the ocean and they’re usually noticed cleansing sea turtles.

They will race across the tank all day long, so a big tank that may present loads of swimming room shall be wanted. Live rock will present hiding locations, a spot to sleep in at night time, and grazing alternatives for algae in between meals.

Feed them dried marine seaweed (like ocean diet brown algae or sprung’s sea veggies) utilizing a clip a minimum of each different day, if not more usually. They will eat flakes, pellets, and defrosted marine origin meals (like rod’s meals – superb stuff). The bulk of their weight loss program must be comprised of greens although.

Kole Tang Distribution / Background

The Yellow-eyed Tang or Kole Tang, Ctenochaetus strigosus, was described by Bennett, in 1828. They have been initiated within the Acanthurus genus as Acanthurus strigosus, but later renamed Ctenochaetus strigosus. The genus Ctenochaetus is Greek for “comb hair” and that is one factor that separated them from the Acanthurus genus.

Those “comb hair” enamel achieve them the name “bristletooth” as a result of they have a number of rows of comblike, small, versatile enamel that they use to scrape algae rocks and flat surfaces.

Their frequent names are Bristletoothed Surgeonfish, Goldring Bristletooth, Goldring Surgeonfish, Slender-toothed Surgeonfish, Spotted Bristletooth, Spotted Bristletooth Surgeonfish, Spotted Surgeonfish, Yellow-eyed Surgeonfish, Yelloweye Surgeonfish, Kole, and Goldeneye Tang. The names are descriptive of their distinctive options.

They are discovered within the eastern Central Pacific and are endemic to the Hawaiian Islands and Johnston Island. They inhabit shallow to deep lagoons and outer reefs; areas saturated with extremely oxygenated water from robust tides.

In their natural habitat, they’re generally discovered at depths as much as 40 ft (12 meters), however might be found as deep as 69 ft (113 meters).

They primarily feed on detritus, nonetheless, they may eat different benthic algae and weeds as properly. Kole Tangs are seen singly as adults and don’t kind bonded pairs. Juveniles could also be in unfastened teams.

For reef tank keepers, they’re thought of reef tank pleasant however some hobbyists have reported that they’ve caught them selecting at their LPS corals. Watch them carefully at first to be on the protected facet.

They are fairly good community tank dwellers however as all the time, use warning when stocking them with different tangs, particularly conspecifics. Don’t plan on protecting a number of Kole Tangs in the identical tank until it is a very giant tank. If you do plan on protecting a number of tang species, introduce all of them at the identical time to restrict aggression.

Standard saltwater parameters are wanted together with excessive flows to maintain the water oxygen saturation. Drip acclimate them slowly for an hour or longer relying on the distinction in water chemistry from the tank they got here from. A cleaner shrimp is all the time really useful when you have got a tank with tangs in it as a result of they’re regarded as ich magnets.

Getting one in your reef tank could pose an issue sooner or later. The state of Hawaii has impending laws (2012) that may prohibit the exportation of many saltwater fish species.

This species is supposedly on the checklist of species that are to have “new bag limits”. Many really feel that this law will go and that signifies that the worth on this tang and others will go up. This debate is getting fairly heated and it is attention-grabbing to observe the way it develops.

The species is usually supplied on the market within the marine aquarium commerce, the place it’s valued for its algae-grazing behavior. It might be aggressive towards different surgeonfish and desires excessive quantities of water motion when stored in captivity, the place a minimum of a 70-gallon aquarium is required.

Kole Tang Description

The Yellow-eyed Tang or Kole Tang is similar to its Indian Ocean counterpart, the Indian Gold Ring Bristletooth or Spotted Yellow Eye Tang, C. truncatus. The variation of this species is kind of enticing with a light-colored body and plenty of blue horizontal stripes (20 or so).

There are blue spots on a lot of the top they usually can have elongated tail fin. There is a broad yellowish ring encircling a lot of the attention, and the eye itself is edged with a blue ring.

Its grownup sample can be fairly much like that of the Striped Bristletooth C. striatus. The Yellow-eyed Tang might be distinguished by its more truncated tail and the yellowish ring across the eye, each lacking on the Striped Bristletooth. Juveniles are yellow and the top of the dorsal fin and the underside of the anal fins are lined in blue, additionally, they have a blue ring edging the attention.

On all sides of the caudal peduncle is a single backbone or “scalpel” used for protection or dominance. When not in use the backbone is folded down right into a groove.

This single backbone is what locations the Ctenochaetus genus within the subfamily Ancanturinae, together with the opposite single backbone genera Acanthurus, Zebrasoma, and Paracanthurus. Though not like these others, the backbone of the Ctenochaetus is kind of small.

Even so, the warning must be exercised when dealing with surgeonfish as a minimize from its scalpel could cause discoloration and swelling of the pores and skin with an excessive danger of infection. The ache lasts for hours then nonetheless finally ends up having a boring ache.

Unlike many of the different tangs of the Acanthuridae household who possess 9 dorsal spines, the Ctenochaetus have solely 8 dorsal spines (the first one being very small). The Ctenochaetus species are sometimes called the Bristletooth or Combtooth Tangs, on account of their nature of feeding.

They have a number of rows of small versatile comb-like enamel (as much as 30 enamel) together with a protrusive pouting mouth. These enamel are tailored for scraping various varieties of algae and detrital materials off of rocks, sand, and different surfaces after which they use their mouth to suck the meals up.

In the aquarium, you’ll usually see little lip marks on the glass the place algae was once from this feeding conduct. The males develop as much as 7.1″ (18 cm) and females are smaller. They can reside as much as 35 years, which is 10 years lower than another genus of surgeonfish.

Sexual variations

The male Yellow-eyed Kole Tang shall be bigger and should display some coloration change throughout courtship. Females initially develop quicker, nonetheless, males catch up and go them in size, as they turn into adults.

Kole Tang Fish Keeping Difficulty

Bristletooth Tangs are typically thought of as more troublesome to maintain, however with some information of what to search for when acquiring a specimen and by offering for its wants, you may have profitable expertise.

Some pointers for choosing a wholesome fish embody avoiding these with broken fins and more importantly these with a broken mouth. Also, make certain the fish is consuming. If it grazes on the rock work and the sand of the aquarium it may be a superb specimen, and likewise if it accepts ready meals.

The Kole Tang wants plenty of water motion that may create an oxygen wealthy atmosphere, fairly than a placid aquarium. It will do finest in an atmosphere that gives consistency in water situations, water high quality, decor, and fellow inhabitants.

They are steady feeders they usually must be supplied a correct weight loss program with loads of reside rock to supply detritus construct up and algae progress. This accumulation is barely potential in a tank that’s mature or a minimum of 9 months old.

Tangs are vulnerable to dietary issues which can trigger coloration loss and LLD (lateral line illness) and to bacterial infections ensuing from deteriorated water situations.

Consequently, they may want vigorous filtration, protein skimming, and common small water modifications. Tangs don’t produce as a lot of pores and skin mucus on their bodies as different fish and might be vulnerable to illnesses resembling Marine Ich and Marine Velvet. Surgeonfish are positively a candidate for quarantine once you first obtain them.

Kole Tang Social Behaviors

The Yellow-eyed Kole Tang is one other one of many few very peaceable tangs in relation to their interactions with different fish! They must be housed alone, without one other Kole Tang, since they don’t kind bonded pairs within the wild.

All others on this genus do kind bonded pairs, so in order for you a pair, strive a special species. Do not home your Kole Tang with others from their identical genus. This is because of their territorial nature nonetheless it might be performed in a 10-foot long tank.

Your mellow tang shouldn’t be housed with aggressive species of fish, however fairly with more peaceable fish. Still, they need to be added finally in a peaceable fish solely community tank or peaceable reef atmosphere.

If housing in a bigger tank that’s a whole bunch of gallons, different tangs might be added, nonetheless in this case, add your Kole Tang first. Just a few pointers are to keep away from tangs of the same body form and people who eat the identical natural weight loss program and solely from totally different more peaceable genus’ of surgeonfish.

The peaceable sailfin tangs of the Zebrasoma genus is usually a good selection as they eat a special sort of algae, so these two have a tendency to go with one another.

Always look ahead to compatibility because the Yellow-eyed Kole Tang shall be a goal for aggressive tank mates and can turn into confused and sick. Introducing a brand new surgeonfish into an aquarium that already homes one or more is usually a problem.

It is finest to initially introduce a number of juvenile species collectively directly, fairly than including a brand new one afterward. If it needs to be performed, rearrange all of the rock work and the rest that’s moveable to interrupt up boundaries before including the brand newcomer.

Though a big aquarium may also help alleviate many issues, concentrate on the social behaviors of any species you’re contemplating to stop compatibility issues.

The beauty of the Yellow-eyed Kole Tang is that they’re superb in a reef setting with corals, and they’re going to graze on the detritus and algae accumulating between your corals. They are nice janitors!

Inverts are additionally protected from predation, though a copepod or two could also be ingested if they’re scurrying alongside a space of algae that your tang simply occurs to be consuming!

Kole Tang Foods and Feeding

The Yellow-eyed Kole Tang is taken into account as an herbivore. In the wild, they feed on detritus, a skinny movie on the substrate containing many vitamins together with dinoflagellates (minute marine protozoans), diatoms (unicellular algae), benthic weeds, and algae, in addition to giant quantities of different natural materials.

In the aquarium, a big portion of their weight loss program shall be obtained from grazing on the naturally rising minute algae and the detritus. However this meal supply is not going to be adequate to take care of them, so they need to even be supplied supplemental meals.

The majority of their consumption shall be vegetable matter however they do want some meaty meals as properly. Provide a lot of marine algae, a ready frozen formulation containing algae or spirulina, frozen brine, and mysid shrimp, and flake meals.

Japanese Nori or different seaweed might have adhered to the aquarium glass with a vegetable clip. Feed three occasions a day in smaller quantities as an alternative to a big amount as soon as a day. As steady grazers, they may profit from this and it’ll additionally preserve the water’s high quality increased over an extended time frame.

Providing a vitamin complement (together with vitamin C) may also help present for his or her dietary wants, and vitamin C may also help stop or scale back Lateral Line Erosion (LLE).

This might be performed by soaking dried pellets with liquid nutritional vitamins, including nutritional vitamins in the meals, or including a liquid vitamin in the water.

It can be stated that pellets soaked in garlic could assist fend off Marine Ich. Some hobbyists additionally report success with supplemental meals resembling beforehand boiled or frozen zucchini, broccoli, spinach, and leaf lettuce.

Aquarium Care

Your Kole Tang will spend a great deal of its time selecting on the rock and sand in addition to the aquarium glass, scraping and sucking in algae and detritus. Frequent water modifications usually are not crucial, fairly regular water modifications at 10% biweekly or 20% month-to-month are superb.

Reef tanks:
-Large Tanks 100 gallons and over, as soon as the water is aged and steady might be modified 10% bi-weekly to 20% month-to-month, relying on bioload.

Fish solely tanks:*
-Large Tanks 100 gallons and over, as soon as the water is aged and steady might be modified 15% bi-weekly to 30% month-to-month, relying on bioload.

A reef tank would require specialized filtration and lighting gear. Regular water modifications performed bi-weekly will assist change the hint parts that the fish and corals burn up.

Aquarium Setup

The minimum tank measurement is 75 gallons. Provide a lot of reside rock organized so there’s loads of floor house for algae to develop and for detritus to gather. Do not home in a nano tank, as they may outgrow it too quickly and it’ll trigger aggression. Provide a mature tank with a sandy substrate and steady water parameters.

The light must be excessive sufficient to supply algae progress. They do higher in decrease temperatures from 72 to 78˚F (23 to 26˚F), as a result of decrease temperatures in water offers increased oxygen saturation.

The Yellow-eyed Kole Tang will do properly on the regular ocean salinity of 1.023 and pH between 8.1 and 8.4, nonetheless, each of those qualities, particularly the pH must be steady.

They respect a minimum of open space above to swim overtly after they really feel the urge they usually love areas with robust water motion.

Yellow-eyed Kole Tangs will swim in any respect ranges of the tank but desire the underside more often than not. They, like all tangs or surgeonfish, will wedge themselves in between rocks or in a crevice at night time.

Breeding / Reproduction

The Yellow-eyed Kole Tang male reaches sexual maturity at 15 months and the females at 9 months. Males are bigger than females and like different tangs, they’re open water spawners and solely kind pairs to spawn. They are the one species that don’t kind bonds with one another.

The male will exhibit coloration modifications throughout spawning to draw a feminine and thrust back any difficult males. A pair will break free and rise upward towards the floor and launch their gametes.

These little floating fertilized eggs are spherical and have a single oil globule to assist with their buoyancy and dispersal. Once the egg hatches, the larvae seem like little kites with a long snout with a small mouth, they usually keep in this state for as much as 68 days, being the genus with the longest larval stage. During this time, they fall prey to fish and different marine animals.

Once they attain around 1 inch, give or take (23 to 33 mm), the larvae are then turned into the juvenile stage. When they’re prepared to affix the reef, the larvae settle out of the water column and turn into these 1” juveniles, searching for the safety and meal sources of the reef and seagrass habitats. Learn about European bass.

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