Yellow Tang not eating

I'm worried about my yellow tang.  He hasn't been eating anything for about 4 days now.  We switched types of nori and I thought that he just didn't like the new stuff, so we got the old type back but he still won't eat.  Additionally he's stopped eating flake food.  He used to pig out whenever we'd feed the fish but no more.  His little stomach is getting smaller and smaller.  Has anyone had a similar experience?

Thanks, Brian

Hi-

Do you have Michael Paletta's book "The New Marine Aquarium"?  He makes some suggestions in it for dealing with finicky eaters.  Amy

Edited by Kyle Katarn

Well, get a good grip on the halter and shove a tube of Ivermectin in his mouth & let him have it to the hilt!  Then make sure he don't spit it out on yer shoe!  Seriously, some of the wormers used for horses and dogs are usable on fish.  (with adjusted dosages and forms, obviously)  An example of this is praziquantel (sp?).  Many of the parasite meds for fish, such as copper sulfate, seem to target only the external parasites.  Jungle labs makes several medications that work on internal parasites, though I am unsure how well they would work on salties.  I have used their Parasite Guard on FW fish before, with decent results.  It contains both metronidazole, and praziquantel.  You would have to use a hospital tank though, as this med would likely be devastating to a reef tank.  Also, for more delicate fish, you have to use it at half strength.  I am really not sure just how delicate tangs are!

Amy

ps-what exactly is the correct proceedure for quoting from a copyrighted document on a public forum?  Anybody know?  Did I do it right?  I don't want Mr. P. coming after me for copyright infringement!

Thanks for the advice so far.  Mark came and looked at the tank and said that our oxygen levels may be low too, so we're working on that too.  As for parasites, this is the same tang that had ich problems about a month ago.  We cleared that up with adding garlic to his food, but now that's he's not eating anymore I don't know what to do. 

I had the same problem with my yellow tang. He was extemely thin. I started to feed him fresh brine and immediately he started eating it. He would not take flake, veggies, or pellet food at all. I would say try to get some fresh brine and see what happens (so much for being an herbivore)

I hope this works for you

The lack of appetite is a symptom of a deeper problem. The Tangs breathing is about double the normal rate. The breathing rate of the two Percula?Ocellaris was about 1.5 times normal.

The first thing I noticed about the tank was limited flow and a scum on the surface. We twisted a powerhead sideways so that the output could be turned to hit the water surface. The water is quite yellow which indicates a lot of organic matter. There is no macroalgae to cause yellowing. Xenia, FD, Frogspawn and other coral expansion was okay but will improve as tank conditions improve.

I also suggested the use of activated carbon in a mesh bag set over the powerhead intake.

A 10% water change wouldn't hurt either.

Lastly, I suggest a fast. Two days without food was opined and that sounded good to me. Perhaps that ought to be extended to 3 days, then one feeding and then 3 more days of fasting. The Tang is not emaciated. Brian said that it usually eats lots of algae leather (my term for Nori ). In fact there was a 3x3 sheet waiting to be eaten. Unfortunately there was an equal amount of Nori sitting uneaten in the bottom corner behind some rock. This overfeeding of Nori is very likely the cause of yellow water. If we could have taken an ORP reading, I have little doubt that it would have been below 250.

In retrospect and for Brian's benefit these are my thoughts on the day after. I believe that too much food (a sheet of Nori, a cube of frozen, and flake daily?) over the course of this tanks four month life has gradually led to this condition. The bug population is enormous (see the white spots on the glass) yet the two anemonefish/clownfish seem to have no interest in eating bugs. This is probably because they don't need to chase bugs when they get a full meal of tasty frozen food every day.

Here are two pics at different white balance settings. Overall look is nice with an artistic placement of rock and coral.





Sorry, I've got more. The lighting was just upgraded to about 80W of PC Fluorescent, but to keep the big Tang and coral going as the tank improves, the light fixture needs to be removed from the fancy bracket, the plastic splash guard removed and the unit lowered to sit on the tank frame.

And the temp was at 82 so Brian was reducing that to about 75.

Sorry, it may seem that I had a lot of critical things to say, but I'm just calling it as I see it. Brian can take what he feels is useful and workable.

Edited by Mark Peterson

Definitely looks polluted to me too.

Awesome ...... Congrad's!!!