Healthy or not??

[DJ_drew]

hey guys!

just thought id ask a pretty simple question!

i have a lot of tangs in my tank and they all get along swimmingly
now the question i have is if my fish eat like horses and swim like crazy why the heck are they so fat??
lol
i know they get plenty of excercise and what not or are they just supposed to get fat as they get older and remain healthy
lol
they seriously look like old men with beer guts now
lol


thanks!
Drew

[Ryan]

They are not getting enough exersize for the amount of protiens and fats they are injesting. Tangs are an open water fish, no way could they swim the amount they would swim in the ocean in an aquarium.

[Haloreef]

I do not know about the statement that they are too fat. Having dove with Tangs on quite a few differnt dives I have seen alot of fat Tangs. Every time I have dove with them they swim a short distance graze for a few seconds then move on and repeat. The same behavior happens in my tank. Swimming in the ocean swimming in a tank from lights on to lights off. I know the currents in the ocean are quite a bit different but my wave box and power heads do a pretty good job of moving the water around. Having said that I have no idea if you are over feeding. Or what you are feeding for that matter.
Any pictures of the porkers?

[StirCrazy]

They are not getting enough exersize for the amount of protiens and fats they are injesting. Tangs are an open water fish, no way could they swim the amount they would swim in the ocean in an aquarium.

tangs are a reef fish not an open water fish. a tuna would be an example of a open water fish.

Steve

[Delphinus]

I think we're conditioned to believing that "fat" means "obese." Generally speaking, I'm sure an obese fish is as unhealthy as say, an obese person ... but to that end I've never seen an obese fish. I'm no fish researcher but I'm not sure the condition even really exists.

Most of the fish in captivity are undernourished. I have yet to see a fish in a fish tank that could hold a candle to how wide his or her wild counterparts are. Tangs in the wild are wide, wide fish, like 2" or even 3" wide or more. The widest tangs I see in capitivity are rarely more than say 1.5" wide.

But, having said all that .. the "guys with beer guts" description sorta troubles me. If the guts are protuding, this is not good. That could be a blockage. I had a blenny that did have a protuding belly and apparently that's not uncommon for blennies but it's not common at all for tangs. So that might actually be a problem. :(

Can you post any pictures?

[naesco]

How large is your tank and how many tangs are in it?

[DJ_drew]

i have a 300 gallon with 8 tangs and they all compete for food i feed nori once a day on 2 clips and i feed mysis once a day to the whole tank so i dont think i am over feeding them they all look amazingly healthy its just the beer gut does kinda worry me... ill post pics in a couple mins!

[DJ_drew]

my tank is in wonderful shape ive done more research then you could possibly fathom about this hobby but do not consider myself by any means an expert and MAN those fattys are hard to get pics of!!

[DJ_drew]

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0032.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0033.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0034.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0035.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0036.jpg

http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0037.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0038-1.jpg
http://i302.photobucket.com/albums/nn107/DJ_dru_2008/IMG_0039-1.jpg

[naesco]

You have a tank large enough to accommodate tangs and also the number you have. They are getting lots of exercise.
From the photos your tangs look healthy. Nice and plump just like in the wild.
IME you are not overfeeding them.
Congratulations!
Wayne Ryan

[marie]

I was a bit concerned about my achilles weight for a while but everyone I asked didn't see a problem so I quit worrying about it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/june1308.jpg

[DJ_drew]

thank god!
lol
thats the next fish im putting in is an achilles and a powder blue, and maybe a powder brown :)

[fishoholic]

I was a bit concerned about my achilles weight for a while but everyone I asked didn't see a problem so I quit worrying about it

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v224/mariesnell/june1308.jpg

I was hoping you would "weigh in" with a pic. :mrgreen: I still think he's the roundest fish ever, but in a nice and healthy sort of way.

DJ drew your tangs look healthy to me.