Fish-sitting makes me nervous..please help!

[fishsitter]

I am house and fish-sitting for a few months, and my friend has a 40 gallon salt water tank w/ just a yellow tang, a gobie and a few shrimp and tiny crabs. I am worried about the yellow tang...she is not looking too great...kind of seems to swimming slowly/sideways. I was told by someone that I could give her dried seaweed from the asian market (plain, dried algae) instead of going to the fish store, and I have been for about 3 days now, but I am worried that it's not digesting properly or something...it seems to never get soft like the other stuff that I ran out of did. Someone please help...ask me about dogs and I'm great! Ask me about fish and I know nothing but that they are beautiful and are fun to watch! I would hate for her or any of them not to be healthy!
Thanks in Advance!

 

[romeo]

You might also try some baby leaf spinach or romane lettuce, just make sure to wash it good. My sailfin and foxface love it! Sounds like you may have other problems. Does the fish have any visible tiny white specks on it?

 

[fishsitter]

Thanks..I'll try the spinach.
No visible specks. She has been really healthy and feisty since I've been here. Maybe I worry too much. I will keep an eye on her.

 

[romeo]

Is your tank temp OK? Any changes in lighting, feeding schedule? Most times if a fish is swimming on its side it can be O2 deprivation, thus the question about the spots. (ICH) Most salt water fish or inverts or corals don't take well to any type of change. FYI

 

[fishsitter]

I've been keeping the temp around 75-76 and adding water almost every day. I will keep an eye on them. I telled all the water stuff on Sunday and everything was perfect.
Thanks for the help!

 

[danedodger]

Test the water and let us know pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, temp, and salinity to help you better.
How large is this tang? A 40 gallon tank is really too small for a yellow tang, they need an awful long tank to swim like they really like to, but if the tang is small enough it might not be an issue yet.
You do use fresh water to top the tank off from evaporation but each time test the salinity first. If it's too high go ahead and add the fresh water to bring it to the proper salinity (which should usually be the case) but if for some reason it's not you'll want to add salt to it before adding the water to keep the tank at about 1.022-1.024 or so (where does he usually keep it?).
The most important thing, really, is to avoid big fluctuations on any of the numbers so try to keep things as steady as possible and if you do need to make changes make them slowly over a period of time so the fish can adjust.
As for feeding you can try a variety of foods that are out there to see what the fish seem to like and do best on. Feeding ONLY the algae sheets won't provide enough nutrition. The dried algae sheets and some frozen formulas for herbivores are usually best for tangs. Is he still eating well?