naso tang will not eat. could it be QT tank too small?

[Gregs]

just bought a naso tang on march 31st. healthy guy maybe 3-4" in size. At the LFS he was very active amongst the group of others and was the only one interested in pecking at a piece of live rock. I put him into a 33g QT tank. parameters are ideal. he is looking very good, active, full colors. but he will not eat.
ive tried:
mysis shrimp
clam
nori
green seaweed
spirulina algea wafer
lettuce
carrot
cucumber
an assortment of pellets/flakes

with and without garlic (havent tried selcon).

he looks for food/pecks at nothing on live rock... but will not eat any food floating around.
im wondering if the size of the tank is causing him to actually be mildly stressed and not interested in any food. debating about throwing him into the 220g display prematurely.
starting to worry as his stomach is begging to look a little depleted

any advice?
the only factor i see is perhaps the nori wasnt fresh. so i will try a new batch later today...

[sphelps]

Use an elastic band to wrap nori around a rock and see if that works any better

[Lance]

Can you put a small fish from the DT in with him for awhile. Other fish eating will sometimes raise interest in a new fish that won't eat. Sort of like dither fish getting shy fish out and about.

[Bblinks]

I say go with 2 little fishes purple nori on a clip with some garlic, leave it in the tank and see if he goes for it. I did that a few times with my achilles, it took him 4-5 days before he realize that it is food. I also use spectrum pellets with garlic, all my tangs goes crazy for it achille included.

[ScubaSteve]

I agree with both of the above. I used to blend seaweed, mysis and a few other meaty foods (not always together), smear it on a rock then freeze it. I found this worked well for some finicky feeders.

And dither fish (active, bold little fish) do wonders. I have a sunset anthias that needs a dither fish around or he won't even come out of the rocks, let alone consider taking food. I put a resplendent anthias in with him the other day and it has been a night and day change in behavior in terms of confidence and feeding.

[Gripenfelter]

Originally Posted by Lance

Can you put a small fish from the DT in with him for awhile. Other fish eating will sometimes raise interest in a new fish that won't eat. Sort of like dither fish getting shy fish out and about.

This.

Put in a cleaner wrasse or a Chromis in with him.