Naso Tang not eating

[theirr]

Hello all:
I've got a 120 gallon FOWLR with a 3" Blue Faced Angel, Harliquen Tusk, Dog faced Puffer, and a 4" Yellow Tang. I'm using a sump and have 120 lbs of live rock. Tank is well established and stable. Fish are doing very well and I've nearly never seen any aggression.
I added a 4" Naso Tang as my final fish for stocking. Here's the problem: it's been a week and he hasn't eaten anything (but did eat well at the fish store when I bought him). The other fish never picked on him when I added him to the tank, he looks fine, is out in the open quite a bit, and I dripped him for 2 hours to acculmate him.
I'm feeding squid, misis shrimp, shrimp, brine shrimp. Any suggestions to get him to eat?
Thanks for your help,
Rob

 

[ophiura]

Originally Posted by TheIrr
http:///forum/post/3171900
Hello all:
I've got a 120 gallon FOWLR with a 3" Blue Faced Angel, Harliquen Tusk, Dog faced Puffer, and a 4" Yellow Tang. I'm using a sump and have 120 lbs of live rock. Tank is well established and stable. Fish are doing very well and I've nearly never seen any aggression.
I added a 4" Naso Tang as my final fish for stocking. Here's the problem: it's been a week and he hasn't eaten anything (but did eat well at the fish store when I bought him). The other fish never picked on him when I added him to the tank, he looks fine, is out in the open quite a bit, and I dripped him for 2 hours to acculmate him.
I'm feeding squid, misis shrimp, shrimp, brine shrimp. Any suggestions to get him to eat?
Thanks for your help,
Rob
An all meat diet is not a good plan for any tang (or even large angel for that matter). What algae based food do you feed, even nori? How old is this tank? What are the water parameters, esp nitrate?

 

[crypt keeper]

Throw an algae sheet in there

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by crypt keeper
http:///forum/post/3172204
Throw an algae sheet in there
+1

Personally, I think the brown algae sheets (which are actually deep red in color) are better than the green sheets and my fish seem to like them more. Try to find sheets that have added garlic, like Ocean Nutrient.
My Blonde Naso Tang eats like a monster, BUT, really only eats the algae sheets w/ garlic. He rarely touches meaty food, and when he does, it's only live baby brine or frozen krill that comes in an angel food blend. He absolutely refuses frozen brine and mysis.
Are you feeding your angel only meaty foods as well? They NEED sponge in their diet. Angels and tangs are primarily herbivores. Most will accept some meaty food, but it should not be the main component of their diet.
Try an algae sheet AND frozen food made for herbivores. I really like Emerald Entree made by San Francisco Bay. The other frozen cube I like is Hikari Mega Marine Angel Blend. If you don't want to change foods, at the very least try a vitamin mixture that contains sponge extract (I know Boyd's makes one).

 

[theirr]

My water parameters are good - Nitrate =30 and the tank is 5.5 years old. I moved a few months ago so I got rid of the fish in it at that time and tranported all the water, sand, rock (sand wasn't disturbed much). After everything settled down I started stocking the tank. First, Harliqaen Tusk and Blue faced angel. then puffer and yellow tang. lastly, after 3 months since setup I added the tang.
I've got some alge sheets (red and green), angel formula cubes, and tang formula cubes. All the fish except for naso like it. The naso is still not eating and I put in live worms and live brine shrimp all weekend. It's been 8 days now since I put him in the tank and he hasn't eaten. He still looks fine and acts OK - looking skinnier though.
My guess at this point is that the naso was acculmated correctly but was added last and therefor is scared of the other fish. Although there are no signs of being attacked and I have seen nearly no aggression towards him. The yellow tang is bigger than him but the other fish are smaller... I guess I wait it out unless he gets ick?
Any more suggestions....thanks for the input sofar, I've used it.
R

 

[9supratt4]

How do you feed the Nori sheets? Do you use a clip? Try attaching it to a rock in the tank....Tangs are natural grazers. I had to do this when I first got my Naso.

 

[theirr]

Thanks for your help. However, the Naso died last night.
Again, I have a 120 gallon FOWLR that is 5 years old and the following fish:
3" Dog faced puffer
3" Harliquen Tusk
3" Blue Faced Angel
4" Yellow Tang
I'd like to add my final fish - a 4" Naso Tang. Should I try again? Or is it that the Nasos will be too scared being added with the fish I already have? What is your recommendation?
#1 Add the naso the other died was just a bad coinincidence
#2 Add a Blue chin Trigger
#3 Add a different fish of your choice
thanks,
R

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by TheIrr
http:///forum/post/3173693
Thanks for your help. However, the Naso died last night.
Again, I have a 120 gallon FOWLR that is 5 years old and the following fish:
3" Dog faced puffer
3" Harliquen Tusk
3" Blue Faced Angel
4" Yellow Tang
I'd like to add my final fish - a 4" Naso Tang. Should I try again? Or is it that the Nasos will be too scared being added with the fish I already have? What is your recommendation?
#1 Add the naso the other died was just a bad coinincidence
#2 Add a Blue chin Trigger
#3 Add a different fish of your choice
thanks,
R
It's going to be tough since you already have a Yellow Tang. Yellow Tangs usually need to be added AFTER the Naso in order for the Naso not to be bullied. My sailfin bosses around my Naso, but the Naso is bigger so the sailfin will back down. If you're set on the Naso, I'd get one bigger than the Yellow Tang.
I honestly think that the Naso is too peaceful for your tank and you'd be better suited with a more aggressive fish, or at least one that won't get bullied so easily.

 

[jackri]

I added a yellow bellied blue hippo tang to my 90g as my last fish. It took him literally 10 days to start eating but he was really fat and healthy when he came in. He actually needed my yellow tang as an eating buddy at first. Now he's a pig with the rest of them. I always had a nori sheet available for him and tried garlic -- just took a lot of time for him to come out of his shell though.

 

[9supratt4]

Really sorry about your loss!!