Tang off of food?

[reefgirl189]

Can anyone think of a reason that a healthy and vibrant sailfin tang would suddenly go off of food and go into hiding? He's always been the best eater of the group since his introduction a few weeks ago. For the last two days he won't eat. I've tried a variety of 6 different foods to no avail, all of which he's eaten in the past.

The only thing that has changed very recently is the addition of another radion light so the tank is more illuminated now. This hasn't seemed to have affected the other tankmates though as they still eat and act normally. The only thing different with him physically that I can see is that his belly looks empty. His breathing is not any different from the other fish.

Parameters were just tested today at:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate >5
Mag 1020
KH 7
Calcium 450
Salinity 1.026
pH 8.2
temp 78

[Reefie]

Have you tried soaking some Nori in Garlic?

What I've learned is that there are some fish that don't tolerate any sort of change well. It may take a couple of days for it to acclimate itself to the new light.

[gregzz4]

Agreed, it's probably upset with the sudden light intensity increase

Either that or it's a spoiled brat and doesn't like the idea that it'll have to share you with the coming baby
Congrats

[naesco]

Originally Posted by reefgirl189

Can anyone think of a reason that a healthy and vibrant sailfin tang would suddenly go off of food and go into hiding? He's always been the best eater of the group since his introduction a few weeks ago. For the last two days he won't eat. I've tried a variety of 6 different foods to no avail, all of which he's eaten in the past.

The only thing that has changed very recently is the addition of another radion light so the tank is more illuminated now. This hasn't seemed to have affected the other tankmates though as they still eat and act normally. The only thing different with him physically that I can see is that his belly looks empty. His breathing is not any different from the other fish.

Parameters were just tested today at:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate >5
Mag 1020
KH 7
Calcium 450
Salinity 1.026
pH 8.2
temp 78

t

What are you feeding her? How large is it?

[reefgirl189]

Originally Posted by gregzz4

Agreed, it's probably upset with the sudden light intensity increase

Either that or it's a spoiled brat and doesn't like the idea that it'll have to share you with the coming baby
Congrats

Oh thank-you! I can't wait for all those sleepless nights again

Here's a picture of him from today when he came out of the rocks for a moment:



He eats everything I put in there but his regular diet consists of:

green marine algea with garlic and sometimes selcon
Spectrum plus garlic sinking pellets
mysis shrimp
plankton
mussels
angel and butterfly food (which is brine, mysis, and mix of a few other things)
and rarely also some marine flakes

I soak pretty much every meal in garlic and/or selcon. I alternate between all of the foods but he eats the green marine algea and the garlic soaked mysis most often. His hunger strike coincides with the addition of the new light perfectly. I never turn on the lightning mode or anything though so it seems odd that he would be so put off by the lights. The other fish couldn't care less about them. Also he's the biggest one in the tank and is not being picked on by anyone. He's always had a voracioius appetite compared to the other ones.

[Aquattro]

Not to be a bummer, but mine did that and died 2 days later, no apparent reason. Hopefully yours is just upset with the lighting, but lighting shouldn't upset a fish much..

[gregzz4]

Aquattro may know a bit more than me , so I hope he's wrong
Besides the fact you are going to do everything to try to get him to eat, have you thought about turning off that new light for a day or 2? Or dim them all a bunch? Or something like that anyway.
He looks otherwise very healthy.
I wish I could offer you better advice, but if I was in your shoes, I'd probably do some panicky, knee-jerky thing.
Good Luck

[reefgirl189]

I'm not going to bother dimming the lights, I feel like it's coincidental that he gets sick at the addition of new light. Unless he's a vampire I don't see how lights can harm him. I did also add two new powerheads in the last week but I have the flow tuned down to roughly the same rate as before the new tunzes were in. I'm gradually increasing the rate by 5% per week.

If things change I'll update the post but I hope he starts to eat soon. I've tried all the available foods I have today and he's not interested.

All other fish still seem great and are acting normal. All corals are healthy from what I can tell. If the tang doesn't make it I'll have no idea why.

[naesco]

[quote=reefgirl189;700113]I'm not going to bother dimming the lights, I feel like it's coincidental that he gets sick at the addition of new light. Unless he's a vampire I don't see how lights can harm him. I did also add two new powerheads in the last week but I have the flow tuned down to roughly the same rate as before the new tunzes were in. I'm gradually increasing the rate by 5% per week.

If things change I'll update the post but I hope he starts to eat soon. I've tried all the available foods I have today and he's not interested.

All other fish still seem great and are acting normal. All corals are healthy from what I can tell. If the tang doesn't make it I'll have no idea why.[/QUOTE

Greg is giving you great advice.
It is very possible that you stressed the fish with the light or installing the light.
Darken the room completely and turn off the tank lights.
Approach the tank only to feed her your varied diet.
Resist the urge to shine a flashlight in the tank just to see if it is still alive or eating.

Everything should be Ok tuesday morning

Good Luck

PS it wont harm your coral.

[LeanneP]

Not sure if this will help since he is not eating anything, but my sailfin tang loves the brown algea and won't touch the green. Maybe something different will get him eating again.

Leanne