why is my tang so thin?

Steve_B · #1 02/07/2007, 12:43 PM

When I got him a few months ago he had the typical pinched in belly and skinny look. He didn't eat for a week, and my big queen about the same size (8-9") that had been in the tank for a few months already let him make it known who the boss was. I started to worry I had a fish that was going to wither away. He gradually began eating, and now can't get enough food. This is a 225, 6' long, 30" tall tank. His name is the garbage can, because any morsels that hit the bottom are gone in a matter of seconds. I tried putting him on a diet, but he just won’t cooperate. Can you see how unhappy he looks? The rest of them are pretty chubby too.
BTW, I just can't get this thing resized down lower that 800x640

Hattie B · #2 02/07/2007, 02:23 PM

JEEPERS!!!

I think you need to get a hospital tank set up right away!!

She needs some serious help, almost on her death bed! I can't believe how some people treat their fish....

johno4 · #3 02/07/2007, 02:37 PM

Agree with Hattie B, fish looks fine.

Long Time Beginner · #4 02/07/2007, 03:39 PM

Nice fish! I love the first picture, with the tang hamming it up for the camera and the trigger lurking in the shadows, looking to start trouble! Oh, and the tusk in the back who is mesmorized by his own reflection

rayman45 · #5 02/07/2007, 03:45 PM

you shouldent be alouad to keep fish... thats just wrong..

Biggie · #6 02/07/2007, 03:48 PM

Holy Mollie. Thats a tub of lard for a Naso lol..

Steve_B · #7 02/07/2007, 04:35 PM

I had a Sohal for 6 years that was just as fat its entire life. One of the members here said it was obese and would croak. I have never scuba dived, but another guy sent me a PM telling me that he has seen them on reefs just as fat, but didn't want to insult the other guy saying that in the thread. Tangs need a lot of food to maintain their constant movement, so I really don't think it's a problem. All of my fish are pretty bulky, the queen looks about average. My queen will go crazy for a certain food for a long while, and then it shows no interest all of a sudden. I'm always experimenting to find it something to eat ravenously, and it will, but gets tired of that favorite food and I have to find something else. Then it will go back to eating its previously favorite thing again. They are as finicky as our cats, love it one day, hate it the next.
Here it is, The Queen being my all time favorite fish.

Steve_B · #8 02/07/2007, 04:44 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Biggie
Holy Mollie. Thats a tub of lard for a Naso lol..

Hey, is that you in the avatar? Bada Bing!
You should come on by and visit these fish, very finicky

Long Time Beginner · #9 02/08/2007, 10:25 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Steve_B
Hey, is that you in the avatar? Bada Bing!
You should come on by and visit these fish, very finicky

You need to get a top on that tank to keep those fish from jumping out of the water!

Steve_B · #10 02/11/2007, 10:45 PM

actually they are cat fish, but they breath air. They are in the tank for only about 4 hours a day, wearing their scuba suits.

mattliu · #11 02/11/2007, 11:07 PM

man i guess yo've never heard of overfeeding. just put less fodd in, or cut down on the protein content. is it lethargic and lazy. one more thing, just don't drop the food input in half over niite. i would gradually cut back. if you don't the fish metabolism may run to fast and the fish will return to its former emaciated state.

good luck.

I like Triggers · #12 02/12/2007, 02:06 AM

When I went to the Long Beach Aquarium (aquarium of the pacific) all of their Naso's and Niger triggers were easily that thick and I am pretty sure they know what they are doing there.

55gSW · #13 02/12/2007, 07:26 AM

You know if you tied a string to that fishes tail, it would make a nice balloon!!

(J/K!!!) Nice fish you got there!

jmicky41 · #14 02/12/2007, 09:34 PM

Garbage can? you should rename it Dumpster.

Steve_B · #15 02/13/2007, 03:11 PM

This whole thing was a joke. That tang is always on the move and that is what a healthy one in the wild looks like. How do you monitor their feeding on a reef? They eat all want, and I realize they have much more space to move. Yea, my tank is only 6' long, but this guy hauls a** in laps at times. It is never lethargic; it acts just like any healthy big tang does. My Sohal was just as fat for years. The only reason it went on to the next life was my misdiagnosis of disease and it suffocated in my hospital tank. Trust me; the chances of it returning to its emaciated state because of its bulk are almost nil.

Steve_B · #16 02/13/2007, 03:21 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by I like Triggers
When I went to the Long Beach Aquarium (aquarium of the pacific) all of their Naso's and Niger triggers were easily that thick and I am pretty sure they know what they are doing there.

You gots that one right, my man

Steve_B · #17 02/13/2007, 03:33 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by mattliu
man i guess yo've never heard of overfeeding.
good luck.

Yep, it means feeding them more than they eat, not OVEREATING.
I have been keeping saltwater fish since the late 70s, and have never seen ONE die from overeating.

viggen · #18 02/13/2007, 04:14 PM

I had one look like that a few years back, a total pig

He died not due to overfeeding but because of a atl blue tang beating the crap out of him

My present naso is the opposite of what you have. He doesn't put any weight on & I am worried. My Hep & Vlmangi are both nice & round but the naso canot put any weight on

great pics

Do you just have the 2 triggers in there?

Steve_B · #19 02/13/2007, 05:12 PM

Yea, 2 triggers, a blue throat and Niger. They are generally considered among the least agressive of the triggers.

Fish and any other living thing, can have general physical and behaviolar similarities. The possibilities are endless, depending on so many factors it can be impossible to determine exactly why anything is what it is. I have learned that the more I know, the less I truly realize what I don’t know. I guess that is a definitive answer.