New Yellow Tang

[Mappelbaum37]

Hey all. I just got a yellow tang tonight after much research. I brought him home for the LFS and when he camre into the tank he was fine. (75 gal. 6 fish currently in the tank):

Flame hawk, 2 occelaris clowns, bangaii cardinal, midas blenny, coral beauty

Usually the blenny and coral beauty are bullies but i guess the yellow tang is just to big for them to argue with. Anyways, I have this huge rock in the center of the tank and in the back is a little hole/cave where the coral beauty usually sleeps. The yellow tang has now taken over that spot and once in a while they sort of fight. This fighting business takes place in about 3-5 seconds and then only occurs again when they yellow tang is in the cave again. Any advice???

Thanks

[BangkokMatt]

They should settle down i a few days. Just keep your eye on the situation to make sure the fighting does'nt get too nasty.

If nothing improves, move your rocks around then everybody has to find a new place to sleep.

[thor32766]

yes when tangs are introduced they will fight to establish their place in the tank. LIke bangkok says after a few days if they still are fighting like no tommorow try switching things around.

[Mappelbaum37]

its now day 2 for the new tang and the fighting has stopped. Now another problem is taking its place. In the LFS I got the tang from there were 3 in the tank. they bullied eachother and i asked for the bully of the tank. he was prob. the biggest in there and i asked to watch them eat. The store put in omega one marine flakes just like what I use and all the fish went into the corner of the tank. a minute later when they made sure it was safe to eat they ate but it took a while. My tang looks real happy in my tank and is swimming all over the place but whenever I feed the fish he backs into the corner and wont go for the food. I use garlic also. What should I do??

[ACBlinky]

If he's not eating, it could be a sign of stress - he's just been through a lot in a few short days/weeks.

Keep a close eye on the tang though - lack of appetite is one of the signs of ich, and tangs are notorious for bringing ich into tanks with them. If you see the tang or other fish scratching/flashing, breathing rapidly, ignoring food or otherwise looking poor, look for spots (sometimes easiest when just the actinics are on, or using a flashlight after lights-out). It's too late now, but in the future make sure you quarantine; it can save a lot of headaches. IMO all fish should be held in QT for a few weeks minimum before going into a display, and parasite-prone tangs absolutely top the list.

[Mappelbaum37]

Im pretty sure he doesnt have ich (nothing visible atleast)... is the feeding problem just going to have to wait because hes a little stressed out right now... I put in the marine and seaweed algae on a clip for the tang

[BangkokMatt]

Fish usually take some time to settle ie fighting, eating etc. Don't worry yet. See how it goes for the next few days.

[Deacon]

Let us now if/when you get the tang to eat. I've had one for 4 weeks now that still hasn't eaten anything (that I've seen). A few days ago the fish looked so bad that I had plans to euthanize it. Since then it has rallied and looks a lot better for some reason....but it still doesn't appear to be eating anything.

Good luck. They are beautiful fish.

[petoonia]

I would suggest trying different foods until you get one that the tang likes. I would also keep the area around the tank quiet, and try not to do too much in the tank itself. You could also try feeding with just the actinics on. He migt feel a little more comfortable in the dimmer lighting.

[Mappelbaum37]

Its now thursday and no luck. I fed flakes again and he didnt even look at it. He just swam by the food. The clip of seaweed/ algae was all gone though, but it might have been the blenny or the coral beauty who picked at it. (they sometimes do that). Not sure tho. The lights are out and about 2 minutes ago I saw the tang and the coral beauty violently putting their tales in eachothers faces. Ill put another clip of seaweed in the tank tomorrow and see what their reactions are and who eats it. Just keepin u all posted...

[petoonia]

Have you tried mysis, brine shrimp, spirulina enriched brine shrimp, or emerald entree? My kole tang loves them.

[Mappelbaum37]

yea, thats part of my frozen food package. Im going to feed the fish at 6 tonight so ill inform u guys later.

[Mappelbaum37]

he still hasnt eaten and Im getting worried. He doesnt really swim around the tank anymore, he just sits in 1 or 2 spots

[Deacon]

Mappelbaum,

Don't give up on the fish yet.

The yellow tang we have *finally* started eating on Friday night...4 weeks and 1 day after adding it to our tank. It is still very timid and fussy about eating but it definitely feeds now with the other fish. A week ago it looked so bad I was going to euthanize it as I mentioned before. It now looks much much better and I'm hopeful it can survive for the long term.

The first thing it ate was frozen mysis with Selcon added. Since then it has also eaten dried nori pieces that are floating in the water column. It won't take the nori from a clip or tied to a rock. (I also saw it eating triggerfish poop , but that's not really something you can add to the tank yourself).

Good luck.

[gimmito]

How about some live brine soaked in selcon, vitamins, & garlic extract ? I also feed new life pellet thera +A (anti parasitic formula). They also make a finicky eater formula. Hope this helps !