Tang on downward spiral

clinto · 07-21-2008, 11:04 PM

i have a kole tang that has been in my 75 reef for 3 months now and has recently been looking really skinny. I give him sheet seaweed to eat as he desires every day or two and there is lots of caulerpa and one small spot of a green mat of algae and he will not eat anything but the seaweed sheet. i have tried frozen veggie foods but they all bread up so much he never gets anything out of them. i drip garlic in the tank and on the food but the tang has now contracted ich. he is the only fish that is suffering and feel it is due to his eating and nutrition. He nips at the live rock constantly, and is turning a little grey at times. ANY ADVICE WOULD BE APPRECIATED. I am going out of town for a week on Sunday and fear i will not see my fish when i return. Thanks for any advice or previous experiences that could help beef up my tang and get him healthy again.

Tommy Gun · 07-22-2008, 09:06 PM

Hey clinto - sorry to hear about your tang.

IME with these fish (which has been two-fold...one I traded away and one I lost to ich), they may also enjoy eating meaty foods as well so perhaps that is something you can try to help yours put on some weight and/or become more healthy to combat the ich issue. In fact, I think that meaty foods are probably one of the best ways to add garlic to a fishes diet so long as there is a chance the fish(es) will eat it...and like I said, IME kole tangs would fit into that 'will eat' category. Otherwise, soaking the veggie sheets in garlic is nearly futile as it will leach out in a relatively short time...or at least this is my understanding.

You also might want to quarantine this specific fish if possible...as I am sure you expected to hear. IMO and IME, not only does this open up options for more immediate treatment of the ich, but will also help you make sure that all of the food you offer is available to this specific fish (i.e. others aren't eating it) or will at least help you determine how much food is getting eaten versus uneaten...a useful observation if you think the fish getting skinny could be due to internal parasites. Of course, that might be hard for you since you are going out of town but perhaps the person (if any) you have watching things while you are gone can also maintain a treatment regimen and/or observe and report back to you on.

Otherwise I can't really add all that much more right now. Unfortunately I haven't had all that much success with tangs in general, especially when Ich comes into play, but I believe that you are dealing with one of the most hardy fish in the family.

clinto · 07-23-2008, 11:07 AM

he does eat mysis shrimp occasionally and picks at the rocks and glass non stop. his behavior has not changed just his color and girth. i got some omega 3 vitamin drops i am now adding with the garlic in the food and hope to handle this naturally. thanks for the help.

unclejed · 07-23-2008, 04:39 PM

I read (I think in Robert Fenners' Book) Tangs are a good indicator of water quality. Check all of your parameters Alkalinity and PH being two keys, and see if anything is going on there.