HELP (yellow tang)

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rica5tully

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I bought a yellow tang today and put it in my ten-gallon quarantine tank. I plan to quarantine it for a couple of weeks.

I bought it right when it came in the shipment at the LFS. (They go fast.) Its belly is pinched so I want it to eat!

The problem is: it won't so far. I've tried flakes (which my last yellow tang loved), frozen, and some dried seaweed on a clip on the side.

How do I get it to feed? I know tangs need to eat or they go downhill quick. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
 

Guy W

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Apr 8, 2002
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Naples, FL
Originally posted by rica5tully
I bought a yellow tang today and put it in my ten-gallon quarantine tank. I plan to quarantine it for a couple of weeks.

I bought it right when it came in the shipment at the LFS. (They go fast.) Its belly is pinched so I want it to eat!

The problem is: it won't so far. I've tried flakes (which my last yellow tang loved), frozen, and some dried seaweed on a clip on the side.

How do I get it to feed? I know tangs need to eat or they go downhill quick. Any suggestions?

Thanks!
It could be a day or two before it is ready to eat. My suggestion is to get sheets of Spirulina Algea from your LFS and put them on an algea clip and leave it in the tank. He will start to pick on it when he is ready.

Just don't leave the sheet in the tank to the point of it falling apart. Replace it with a new piece if he doesn't eat it atleast 2 times a day.

Or you could try Romain Lettuce. Not as nutritious but they seem to like it anyway.

A skinny yellow tang is not uncommon when they come in... but it's not a great sign either. But give it 2 or 3 days before you get to worried.

I would put the algea clip in the tank with Spirulina or Romain.

Guy
 

rica5tully

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Thanks. Is a ten gallon too small to quarantine a yellow tang?

I put my last yellow tang in there and he seemed fine but he was on the smaller side. This one is medium and is pretty good-sized.

This guy is swimming back and forth and taking the same route over and over. I'm wondering if he's stressed because of the small size? Or is this normal too?
 

Guy W

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Apr 8, 2002
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Naples, FL
Originally posted by rica5tully
Thanks. Is a ten gallon too small to quarantine a yellow tang?

I put my last yellow tang in there and he seemed fine but he was on the smaller side. This one is medium and is pretty good-sized.

This guy is swimming back and forth and taking the same route over and over. I'm wondering if he's stressed because of the small size? Or is this normal too?
Ya, if it is over 2 inches i would say it's a bit on the small side. The stress of that small of a box could be detrimental. However most fish stores keep these fish in approximatly the same size tank for a week or two while they wait for them to sell. So if your just going to QT for a short amount of time (say no more than 5 days) it should be ok.

However if the fish is real stressed from being in the tank it will sorta defeat the purpose of having it quarintined, because the stress could induce illness.

Tough call, I'd keep an eye on him, and if he appears to be doing real poor move him. But overall I would keep him in there no more than 5 days, which is a decent amount of time for quarintine anyway.

Also, offering live brine shirmp might help induce feeding...

Guy
 

rica5tully

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No, he still hasn't eaten. This is the second day I've had him.
He isn't picking at the rocks and is totally uninterested in flakes.
Do tangs get to a point where they finally just give up on eating because they haven't had food for so long?


Today I'm going to try moving the clip with the seaweed to a more desirable spot. I'm also going to pick up some brine shrimp and see what that does. He does seem to be calming down a little and isn't acting as stressed.

Any other suggestions? How long will he survive like this? In other words: how long do I have to find a solution to this?

Thanks a lot for your help.
 

Guy W

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oh I'm sure he could easily go a week or so without eating. Heck humans have been reported going with out food for several weeks.

Give him some time, make sure the water quality is good, and keep trying to feed him.

As a side note, before buying a fish it's always a good idea to have the store feed him so you know that he is feeding.

Guy
 

rica5tully

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He's eating!

All of a sudden this morning he started eating flakes and he all the algae I had on the clip. He's acting normal and is just checking out the tank.

Thanks for your advice and help!
 
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