Help! With my Yellow Tang

Marine1 · 08-08-2006, 05:03 PM

Help!
My Yellow Tang seems to be wasting away. Around his eyes it looks like he's bleaching and he's got an white line that goes from his eyes to his white spot next to his tail. It also seems to have slight indentations on his body like shallow looking craters. Can anyone help me? Thx.

P.S. 75gal. w/45lbs of LR and 25lbs of Base Rock, Water parameters r on the money, 10% water change every Sunday use of RO/DI w/Reef Crystals Salt mix. Two SEIO M1500 powerheads, Remora C Skimmer w/ Mag7 Pump, Fluval 404 canister filter w/Carbon and phosphate magnet, 1 Clown, 2 Urchins and a few snails and crabs

Monacle · 08-08-2006, 05:36 PM

How long have you had your tang? Where did you get him from? What do you feed him? Does he eat?

Answers dependant upon these answers.

Question #1. If you have had your tang a long time, over a year, then it is probably unrelated to his collection methods. If you have had him 6 months or fewer it could be very much related to the methods in which he was collected from the wild. A common method for collecting wild fish is cyannide. It will kill fish right off sometimes and sometimes the death from this can take more than six months as the cyannide has damaged the fishes intestines which will lead to a long slow death.

Question 2: just for curiosity really. Can't tell much on this because it's really rare that he was captive bred.

Question 3: nori sushi wrapper, I have always had good luck with tangs and this and you can supplement this by setting it out and putting some garlic extract on it and rubbing it in and letting it dry. (dampen the nori first) Garlic is an appetite stimulant.

Question 4: if he won't eat at all, not a lot you can do but quarantine him and maybe a copper treatment. I have never had to do copper treatments so if this is what needs to be done someone else on here might be able to help you in that department.
gl I hope it works out for you
GLTA

Marine1 · 08-08-2006, 07:34 PM

He's very active and he eats every time i give him some Red Marine Algae from Ocean Nutrition. I got him from online either Saltwaterfish.com or Foster and Smith. Could it b that i don't feed him enough times. I usually feed him three times a week. Also could it b a lack of vitamin C.

coral reefer · 08-08-2006, 08:16 PM

Tangs graze often. If it looks like its stomach is concave, it doesn't mean it is starving or something is wrong, though their are exceptions to the rule. I would try offering it different types of macroalgae or seaweed flakes etc. Supplementing that with clam, mysis shrimp and plankton should help. Possibly try adding garlic to the food(soak it). Vitamin C is beneficial though not needed for success of your tang.
As for the white color, when does this color appear? Tangs(Yellow) will develpo that white streak when scarred or at night time when the lights have been off for a period of time-not to be concerned.

alkath · 08-14-2006, 08:45 AM

hi alkath here we feed our yellow tang 3 times aday just small amounts especially frozen spinach ordried seaweed