Yellow tang not eating

[modf1000]

Hey guys I need some help

As you can see in the title my yellow tang is not eating.

I had him for a week and half and nothing.

Wont eat mysis shrimp and the garlic sea weed.

Any suggestions?

thanks

 

[wschang812]

is he picking on the live rock?

 

[xxxAngeloxxx]

Have you tryed too mix the brime shrimp with garlic juice and veta-chim?

 

[KathyC]

Where did you get him from?
Did you ask them what he was eating, or ask to see him eat before you purchased him?

A little more info might also be helpful...
What size tank is he in and what other fish are in the tank?

 

[homegrowncichlid]

the toughest part of getting a new fish, is trying to get it to eat. With my tangs, I put live macro algae from my sump. ((I have gracilaira and calerpa) plus rocks covered in hair algae) Hopefully the algae is someting he would eat in the wild and recognize. Then I try little pieces of different dry algae sheets, until I find something he recognizes as food.

 

[piranhapat]

Funny as it sounds did you try flake food..

 

[rambler67]

i would try different types of seaweed my loves the purple seaweed.

 

[skene]

If all else fails try out romaine lettuce. Thats what I normally see at lfs in tang tanks.

 

[guarda]

+1 on the brine and lettuce. All my fish go crazy over brine soaked in selcon.

 

[modf1000]

Where did you get him from?
Did you ask them what he was eating, or ask to see him eat before you purchased him?

A little more info might also be helpful...
What size tank is he in and what other fish are in the tank?

i got the yellow tang from fish town. I saw he was eating romaine lettuce, so im going to try that tonight when i feed my tank. He wouldnt eat the mysis shrimp.

The tank is the deep blue 57 rimless. The yellow tang is with 4 chromis and a small fairy wrasse.. As you can tell I dont like fish. (i love corals)

as i said im going to try the romaine lettuce and let you know

thanks

 

[modf1000]

Funny as it sounds did you try flake food..

no not yet if the yellow tang does not pick off the lettuce tonight I will try flake food.

thanks

 

[modf1000]

is he picking on the live rock?

yes the yellow tang is picking off the live rock and the rock of the coral..


let me know if you guys have any more ideas.

thanks

 

[fritz]

Have you tried telling him that he's nice, he's smart and he's important?

 

[tunicata]

I really like Fritz's idea!
In addition to that:
When I get "herbivorous" fish that I do not see eat within 24-48 hrs of going into the tank I do something horrible: I try to increase the amount of nuisance algae in the tank!
I'm not saying that I recommend you to do that, my situation calls for desperate measures (the tank is at work, so I do not have the leisure to watch a fish for hours/consistently).

I leave the tank on for longer than I would like and within 2 days I get a thin film of green on the glass (not on rocks!). When I get decent growth (when I can see it on the glass, that's enough) I reduce the light cycle for the same amount of days, then bring it back to normal (and no more algae build up).

I did this when we got a yellow tang.
She started nipping at the glass, and overtime started to go for the food in the water column. Now she nips at the Garlic Nori strips, goes after the herbivore blend with the other fish, etc.

 

[Tonyscoots84]

The tank is the deep blue 57 rimless. The yellow tang

:banghead: :irked::smash::anger2:

maybe bring him back to the store and get a fish that is more appropriate for your size tank :idea:

 

[modf1000]

:banghead: :irked::smash::anger2:

maybe bring him back to the store and get a fish that is more appropriate for your size tank :idea:

theres nothing wrong with a small yellow tang in a 57..

 

[wschang812]

^+1

 

[KathyC]

theres nothing wrong with a small yellow tang in a 57..

He won't be a small yellow tank for long, nor will be ever grow to full potential (for a fish not in the ocean) in a tank that size. They should have a tank with a minimum of a 4 foot - straight run - of swimming space.
It's like raising a child ..in a bathroom sized room

He possibly is not eating because he is already stressed due to the size of the tank

 

[Jzhou]

Look at the face to see if looks like its sunken in. If it is, the fish might not be eating because of internal parasites., another thing u can try is sandwiching some dried seaweed bwtween a piece of eggcrate and a tile. It should just pick at it like it was algae growing on rocks.