Yellow tang not eating

[fredflinstone]

Hi,

I have a yellow tang 2 weeks old. He got ich probably the yellow ich. I gave like 10 drops of that garlic extreme and the ich is gone now after 4-5 days. The cleaner shrimp helped a bit too. Now the fish is not eating. Well for the past 1.5 weeks he is eating only green algae or not eating at all. I fed spinach, nori, formula 2 frozen and dried. But he is not eating.

please suggest.

 

[KAS]

Soak the nori in Garlic extreme before putting it in the tank. Actually any food you are feeding try soaking in garlic.

 

[fredflinstone]

I tried that too. I put drops of garlic extreme on the nori or the spinach. Still no use. please suggest.
thanks for your help.

 

[marco67]

garlic is not going to cure ich, is this fish in a reef tank?, did you quarantine him?, did you buy him from a known (clean) source?
Assuming he is in a reef consider taking him out and treating.
In the mean time this won't remove the parasite from your system, to do that you will need to leave it fishless for 5 weeks, if that's not practical look for your source of stress! Ich attacks stressed fish.

 

[KAS]

<snip> the ich is gone now after 4-5 days.

Why do you say the ick is gone? Because you can't see any of the white parasites? Not eating sounds like the tang is getting worse instead of better.

As Marc asked is this a reef tank? If so, do you have a quarantine tank where you could start hyposalinity?

 

[fredflinstone]

It is a small reef big tank. Ok I can remove the fish and place him in a quarantine tank. Can I try fresh water dips?

 

[marco67]

You can dip, do some reading first, the next move you make should be well thought out. Is he the only fish in the tank? do you have a Q tank to move him to? If you dip him and just put him back in you will do him more harm than good.
Please do some reading.

 

[fredflinstone]

I dont have a quarantine tank yet. He is not he only fish in tank. can you point me to the best link if you can? thanks a lot.

 

[marco67]

There really are too many to point to one.
Just pull a search either here or on RC and you will find enough to keep you busy for days.

 

[starrfish]

You should definitely do as much reading as possible before you take the next step. IMO, I would not fresh water dip an already stressed fish. It would further stress him out and likely kill him. I would remove him from the tank - only if it's EASY to get him out (again don't want to further stress him out) - then treat him with hyposalinity in a QT. If you can't EASILY remove him, I would just let him be and continue with the garlic soaked food. Here are a few articles to get going:

http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/nov2003/mini1.htm
http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/dec2003/mini2.htm
http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/jan2004/mini3.htm
http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/feb2004/mini4.htm
http://advancedaquarist.com/issues/mar2004/mini5.htm
http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-02/atj/feature/index.php
http://www.petsforum.com/personal/trevor-jones/hyposalinity.html

HTH -
Daire

 

[KAS]

Is he going over to the cleaning station? Do you have 2 cleaner shrimp? I have always heard that you need to be effective.

 

[Aquadiva]

Lots of great advice given already....

Back to the original question of the tang not eating.....

I have a small yellow tang in quarantine now, and when I got her, she wouldn't eat the nori, either. Got a bunch of different seaweed at LFS, still nothing. Someone said to try lettuce, so I did, nothing there either. Then I tried a piece of red cabbage that comes in those salad bags (for the life of me, I can't remember what its called). She ate that !!! Go figure. I don't know whether she finally got hungry enough, or the stuff just tasted good. Well, once she got the idea that the food was on the red clippy thing in the corner...no problem now. (although she still doesn't like the red seaweed) Picky eater.

Hope this helps.

DO NOT disregard the quarantine advice given by Marc, Karen and Daire. Lots of good stuff there, especially for Tangs.

 

[KAS]

Oh another food to try is live mysis.

 

[fredflinstone]

Hi all,

I quarantined the tang today. I did a fresh water dip. All the hidden white spots came out and then I put the tang in quarantine. I kep some green seaweeds. The tang would not eat it. I gave some live brine shrimp and Tang is eating them. I am surprised the yellow tang is eating the brine shrimp. The eyes are red but the white spots are gone. I am treating with rid+ich currently.

What cna I do to make the tang turn to veggie food? I tried cabbage, spinach, sea weeds nothing seem to work with it.

 

[fredflinstone]

Also how long should I quarantine the fish?
I am also planning to get a blue tang. Is this the right time to put them both in the quarantine tank and then let them in the tank at the same time? I heard yellow tangs rae quite aggressive

 

[JohnK]

If you want to eradicate the ICK you'll need to remove any other fish in the display and treat them also (even if you don't see symptoms) The display will need to be fishless 5-9 wks (depending on what advice you take) and all the fish treated with hypo or copper. I would not do any more freshwater dips, too much stress.

If you want to do it right you should really wait on any new fish until this is taken care of. then QT any new fish to be very sure they are clean before adding them. I guess you could add a new fish to the hospital and treat it with the existing fish but I wouldn't call that a good idea. Also consider how much space you have in the QT? Is it big enough for all your existing fish plus a second tang?

If catching the rest of the fish is a problem I have a couple of traps that I am willing to loan out if needed.

Don't be lulled into a false sense of seccurity when the spots disappear, they'll be back with a vengance.

Also, is this meant to be in Marc's fourm?

 

[fredflinstone]

Thanks everyone for advices. I really appreciate it.

My clown fish had ich a while ago. But I fed formula food, live food and garlic and in a day the clown fish was ok with no more ich. Think the fishes in my tank are healthy enough to fight the ich. But am not sure if I can make the tank fishfree for 5 weeks. Is there a way to remove the parasites without emptying the tank? Can I use UV sterilizer to remove the parasites?

thanks

 

[marco67]

Also, is this meant to be in Marc's fourm?

My guess is that the name of the Forum "Fishy Business" looked like a good place to post a question about fish.

Mr. Flinstone,
Congrats on getting him out and into QT. As stated a few times already don't let the lack of white spots fool you into thinking you are ich free.

Is there a way to remove the parasites without emptying the tank? Can I use UV sterilizer to remove the parasites?

No and NO
The parasite will also live free swimming and dormant in the sand/rocks. Please do some reading and come to understand this life cycle and it will help you with treating your tank this time and into the future. The short of it is that right now you have an opportunity to treat your system and treat it right, unfortunately it may be tedious but worth it long term.
What does your QT system look like? what is your routine?
It should be bare bottom with some type of structure for the fish to hide in (2" and 3" PVC pipe fittings work great), Remember any medication you use will either hinder or kill off any biological filtration you have used, so you will need daily water changes. When doing your daily water changes siphon from the tanks bottom taking care not to stir up any waste that has settled out. By doing this you will not only get fish waste and excess food but any hitch hikers that are no longer on the fish.

I am also planning to get a blue tang. Is this the right time to put them both in the quarantine tank and then let them in the tank at the same time?

IMO very bad idea! VERY BAD! that will most likely lead to you wasting your money and to the torture of two tangs.
Concentrate your effort on successfully treating for now ....
BTW
Can you give us some details on your set up?
size?, filtration?, How long established?
Good Luck with it
Be patient, remember the only thing that happens fast in this hobby is disaster.
Marc

 

[fredflinstone]

Main tank:
55 gallon. 10 gallon sump, PS, 55 lbs rock, 2.5 inch sand
Inhabitants:
7 snails, 4 crabs, blenny, 2 clowns , 2 neon damsels, 1 cleaner shrimp, 1 peppermint shrimp
Mushroom coral, polyps, zonthids.
The tank has been there for 4 months now.

Quarantine tank does not have any hiding place. Its just a fresh tank. I will do 10% water change everyday. Should I drop the salinity or keep it normal?

 

[scavdog]

I am also planning to get a blue tang. Is this the right time to put them both in the quarantine tank and then let them in the tank at the same time?

I hear the tang police now... It's a bad...bad idea to keep two tangs in such a small system. Depending on the size (and they grow of course), it is sketchy keeping one in a 55 gallon. Powder blues, if that is what your referring to, are considered ich magnets and are highly aggressive. Not suited for a smallish tank (75 gal or less). Tangs are open-water fish and need the swimming room. I'd advise reconsidering adding any more tangs, let alone any fish because of your issues with ich alone.

As far as feeding, what kind of seaweed are you feeding? Nori (the stuff they wrap sushi in), is generally very appealing to these fish. Leave a little on a clip and see if he goes for it. It's a good sign that he is eating the mysid shrimp. As Marc said, be patient and do you research. The club has a ton of books in the library for members to use. Take advantage of the resources at hand.

...Did you mean to post in this forum? If not, I can move it to reef-talk. This is a sponsor stores forum. Unless you purchased the fish from here, it should probably be moved.

Best of luck,

Joe