Yellow Tang Not Eating

Hi everyone. I just added a yellow tang to my aquarium on Thursday. When he first went in, his color had faded to a paler yellow than he would normally be at, but it has since returned. It swims around the tank and looks lively, although I think it is getting thinner, at least in his belly area. Now, he may be eating while I am not around, but it just worries me that he is not. I have tried at different times the Formula 2 pellets, Emerald Entree, flakes, other pellets, brine shrimp, romaine lettuce, and marine algae sheets. Not to mention plenty of algae.

If suggestions could be made as to possible can't miss foods, that would greatly be appreciated. Also, could he just be settling into the tank and getting used to everything? (3 damsels which leave it alone, Royal Gramma)

 

what are your water parameters? how long was the fish at the LFS from where you got it? how did you acclimate it?

try some of the following: mysis shrimp, live brine. There are several additives you can add to your food to make it more enticing to the fish. Garlic extract works for this purpose as well as a product called Entice by Seachem.

 

Do you know if the Tang had been eating at the pet shop you bought it from? Do you know how long the Tang had been at the pet shop?
Do you have live rock in your tank? Tangs love to forage for food by grazing at morsels often associated with and evident on and in live rock.
When do you try to feed the Tang?
Yes, garlic should help!
Try starting with live brine shrimp, also, are you adding a vitamin/mineral supplement to your food and/or water? That may be something to look into as well to ensure proper nutrition and diet for all your livestock, in my opinion!

 

I just bought a powder blue tang and I've tried flake, brine shrimp soaked in garlic, some small soft pellet and he looks at, tries and spits it out. What did work is some veggie/meat (green colored) cubes I get at a local store. No idea what they're called, if I was home right now I'd check. That stuff works ok, but what it really loves is grazing on the live rock although no visible algae and he loves the veggie strips soaked in garlic on a strip. He was skinny with a small onset of ich 2 days ago and his belly has filled and no visual signs of the 5 or 6 ich spots now either.

 

I think hes just gettin used to the tank! my yellow tank wouldnt eat anything for a week and i had plenty of hair algae, no longer thanks to tory (my yellow tang, named for being the cousin of dory, lol, little brothers.....) and algae sheets. Give him another 3 days, if he isnt eating then, i would begin to worry

 

My kole tang just went in last week and he loves the dried macroalgea strips.. he didnt eat anything until i put those in and he ate a 2" x 2" strip quickly...

 

One thing you may consider trying is changing the feeding time. I used to feed in the evening but have since changed to the morning. The fish consume the same amount of food twice as fast in the morning (they say breakfast is the most important meal )

 

Thanks everyone for the response. He has started eating as of today...romaine lettuce and hair algae. I think he was REALLY hungry. His stomach has started to get wider, so hopefully this holds up.

 

Yeah I had luck with those. I also had luck with frozen food that is made for algae eaters. Check out the freezer section of the LFS too.

Glad to hear he started to eat!