Tang is really thin...not feeding enough?

[ps2cho]

I feel horrible...I looked at my Kole tang today and she looks really thin. I don't think I am feeding enough...Its similar to when you look at a human face that is emaciated -- the skull bone structure stands out and that's what the Kole tang looks like.

 

I cut back on the feeding to every 2-3 days about a month ago to see if that would help with water clarity and algae control, but I am wondering if I did too much. The two clowns and royal gramma look healthy...

 

I am feeding some nori on a rock once per week (since there is brown algae/diatoms in the tank anyway) and then a rotation of mysis, NLS pellets and flakes.

 

What do you guys think?

[Arkayology]

That is way too little for this fish. You need to be feeding twice a day with a varied diet. Start feeding it!!!

[Tamberav]

+1 feed it! Tang's are high bioload because they eat a lot!

[ps2cho]

I guess have just been reading everywhere the exact opposite advice -- Stop feeding so much.

 

I will feed daily going forward, just smaller portions. Hopefully I don't start feeding the algae again.

[Chew_Magna]

Not feeding much will help with water quality, less nutrients in means less nutrients in the water. The problem with this is when you have fish. Fish need to eat. Most of them multiple times a day. Less food means sick/dying fish. Tangs are grazers, basically cows. They need to eat almost constantly to stay healthy.

[Arkayology]

Not feeding much will help with water quality, less nutrients in means less nutrients in the water. The problem with this is when you have fish. Fish need to eat. Most of them multiple times a day. Less food means sick/dying fish. Tangs are grazers, basically cows. They need to eat almost constantly to stay healthy.

This.

[MikeTR]

I'd almost lean towards an internal parasite. I have 3 tangs in a 180, yellow belly regal, sailfin, and a yellow, and I only feed when I get home from work, but they get all they can handle because I also have some bottom dwellers that don't get any food until the tangs are stuffed. 2 of them couldn't get any fatter, but the yellow is thin. I bought some seachem focus and will use it to bind some metro to the food and see if it improves.

[markalot]

My take is feed feed feed and let the tang control the algae. The whole idea of only feeding every other day or less has got to be from people who have no idea what the heck they are doing. Not only will the fish appreciate it but so will the corals and all the micro fauna in the tank. You might get an algae explosion but the tank will balance itself out.

 

I was growing all kinds of colorful crap on my tank walls when I upped feeding, took about a month to sort it all out.

[ps2cho]

Makes sense -- the tang really cleaned off all the algae.

What about bacterial blooms? Will they level off over time as the bacteria ramp up to handle any excess load, or if I have a bacterial bloom should I back off a bit?

 

What's the consensus?

 

The hardest thing I cannot figure out is quantity. I cannot find advice anywhere that specifies HOW MUCH to feed in a sitting...They always say whatever they can eat in 5mins. Well my food is gone in 30seconds. So I never really know what is too little and too much. The clowns will eat til they explode...

[Chew_Magna]

I feed pinches at a time. Pinch, wait til it's gone, pinch, repeat until there is food still floating around the tank. With the few fish I have now I only need one large pinch each feeding. You have other creatures in the tank that will benefit from the food other than the fish (my pompom only comes out when I feed).

 

Put it this way. How healthy would you be if you only ate a single small portion meal once every two or three days? Some of these fish have incredibly high metabolisms, and others don't process food well so they have to keep eating so they don't starve.

 

I believe someone made a post a couple days ago about tangs and their digestive tract. It was along the lines that their bodies aren't designed to digest food all the way. What this does is leaves whole portions of algae matter in their waste, so when they poop, they spread it around their habitat to provide even more food for themselves. This process of leaving undigested food in their tract means that even though they eat a lot, they aren't actually getting nutrients from all they eat.

[jedimaster1138]

That is way too little for this fish. You need to be feeding twice a day with a varied diet. Start feeding it!!!

 

This.

Not feeding much will help with water quality, less nutrients in means less nutrients in the water. The problem with this is when you have fish. Fish need to eat. Most of them multiple times a day. Less food means sick/dying fish. Tangs are grazers, basically cows. They need to eat almost constantly to stay healthy.

 

This.

My take is feed feed feed and let the tang control the algae. The whole idea of only feeding every other day or less has got to be from people who have no idea what the heck they are doing. Not only will the fish appreciate it but so will the corals and all the micro fauna in the tank. You might get an algae explosion but the tank will balance itself out.

 

I was growing all kinds of colorful crap on my tank walls when I upped feeding, took about a month to sort it all out.

 

 

And this.

 

Feed that little girl twice a day. Seaweed sheets 3x a week minimum. I bet she demolishes them inside of 15 minutes now?

 

If your husbandry - skimming, water changes, use of GFO etc is on point, you won't develop algae problems. Algae is a fact of life in an aquarium, it's also one of the basis's for life on Earth. You can't stop it or totally eliminate it, you can only hope to control it. That's what husbandry and the clean up crew is for. The concept of "reduce feeding to control nutrients" is a vestige of the past theory of super clean, sterile tanks. "Oh noes my nitrate is 2 ppm! Quick let's do a 99% water change before my acropora melt!" SNORE I feed my fish 2-3 times a day minimum and they demolish the food. I probably should feed more like 5 times a day but I have to go to work and sleep at some point. On weekends I keep a cup of RO/DI and add a cube of frozen food on top of the tank and sprinkle a little in every couple hours or so if I'm home. It disappears in seconds. The tangs especially act like they never ate before.

 

Tangs are high energy, constant hunting, pecking and grazing, high metabolism swimming machines who probably cover miles per day. All that energy needs fuel. Frequent smaller meals are best. Pinch and watch and wait it is a great method. Or pinch and just pinch again later.

 

My motto has been, and always will be - a happy, healthy fish, is a fat, well fed fish.

 

PS - there is no better coral food than fish poop.

 

PPS - a well fed fish won't contract or otherwise succumb to something like ich.

[ps2cho]

Not sure if the tang doesn't like the ocean nutrition red seaweed I have, but she doesn't eat it right away. It usually just sits there and she will pick as the day goes on, but never immediately.

 

The NLS pellets though she eats right away.

[MikeTR]

Any stringy poop?

feed feed feed is good.. until you get cyano..

[jedimaster1138]

Not sure if the tang doesn't like the ocean nutrition red seaweed I have, but she doesn't eat it right away. It usually just sits there and she will pick as the day goes on, but never immediately.

 

The NLS pellets though she eats right away.

 

I rotate purple, red, and green seaweed, Ocean Nutrition or Two Little Fishies. My kole always liked the green and purple the best, but like yours, was a slow picker. This was because she was constantly grazing the rocks. My hippo seems to like the purple best and the naso doesn't care, he wrecks everything - and eats it from my fingers. But he's cuckoo.

 

NLS pellets are good stuff. Hikari is good too. As for frozen, mysis, spirulina brine, rods blends, all good.

 

Tangs, contrary to popular belief, are omnivores, not herbivores. They eat everything, not just veggies. Meat good.

 

Selcon and garlic additive are also your friends.

 

nom nom nom !

[Tamberav]

Maybe try nori? My tang didn't take to it right away but once he figured out what it was, it was chow time. Now even my clown fish, coris wrasse, and neon gobies tear into nori like sharks. Weirdos.

[ps2cho]

Tried nori tonight...has sat for 6hrs without even a hint of touching it. My hermits and cleaner shrimp seem to be eating it though so guess I'll leave it in.

[MikeTR]

Tried nori tonight...has sat for 6hrs without even a hint of touching it. My hermits and cleaner shrimp seem to be eating it though so guess I'll leave it in.

Internal issues. A tang doesn't just get skinny in a month, especially if you are still feeding a few times a week. Get yourself some seachem focus and some api general cure and soak the NLS food that it does eat. It's about $15 for both and no harm done if it wasn't internal issues. These meds are reef safe.

[Tamberav]

If you have it on a clip, try to rubber band it to a rock instead to make it look more natural.

 

You can prazipro the entire tank with little to no ill effects.

[ps2cho]

I ran prazi when the tang was in QT. So far I think she's looking better.

[ps2cho]

Here is some photos from today.

 

What do you guys think I should do? I haven't seen much weight gain...

 

[ps2cho]

Bump...I've upped the food and still no better.

 

Should I dose prazi to the tank again, or do the seachem focus + api general cure? I kinda don't know what to do so need some guidance here.