Naso wont eat...looks bad

[fulcrum]

I got a Naso about a week ago. He ate a bit, but never with any enthusiasm. I tried garlic on seaweed selects and he seemed interested, but again...never ate voraciously . Two days ago I noticed he was looking thin. Today he looks concave and he is not swimming well. He is resting on the bottom and appears to be breathing heavy.
Ph is a bit low (8.0)
Nitrates 25
Ammonia is undetectable
Salinity is perfect
The other fish are flourishing and there appeared to be no agression to the new Tang at all. I was actually amazed at how smooth the introduction was.
The tank is a well established 125 long with a blue hippo (4") a niger trigger (3.5") a velevt damsel (2.5") and a volitan lion (4")
From reading the threads on Naso tangs I'm guessing this is common. I've given him a week as suggested in the other threads, but he really doesn't look good. Any thoughts?

 

[fulcrum]

Too late. I went downsatirs and foud him pulled against the powerhead. He was still alive, but clearly not going to make it, so I euthanized him. He looked perfectly healthy, other than being WAYYYYY too thin.
Someone please tell me if they think there was anything I did wrong. I would hate to make this mistake again.
Maybe the mistake was the type of fish in the first place. I was not aware that Naso's had this problem with eating.

 

[dreeves]

How did you acclimate the fish?

 

[tony detroit]

sorry-
I lost my first naso as well. The one I have now I have had for about 8 months. It gets fed 5 times daily by a feeder and a couple times at night too. Running a UV sterilizer helped my tangs and did make quite the difference, I am positive. It's belly is fat beyond belief.
Mine really likes spectrum and kent marine pellets for some reason. What really helped is the introduction I think. Catch all your fish and introduce your naso first, then put back in all your other fish. My naso is bigger then most everything else in my tank and is the biggest baby. Let the naso be the first in the new territory, I strongly believe that this makes quite the difference. Yours probably freaked out when he saw your other fish. I can stick my hands in my tank for 30seconds and it hides under a rock for 45minutes breathing profusely. I think nasos should be rated as a expert fish, because at least once a month somebody has the same problem you and I had on this board. My first naso that I lost I never saw him eat once then I made it my goal to get every type of food under the sun. After asking enough questions I think they get very easily stressed and this leads to their demise. When nasos are kept in tanks by themselves they usually do very good at my friends LFS. I think blondes are somewhat easier than regular nasos as well.
Good luck

 

[fulcrum]

Sorry it took so long to post. Its been a crazy holiday season.
I acclimated him by floating his bag for 30 minutes to equilibrate the temp, then removing a shot of bag water and adding a shot of tank water every five minutes for over an hour. I did not quarantine, but I am running a good UV sterilizer. (not the best practice, but in a FO i've been told its fine)
I am not sure if the other fish freaked him out. They socialized well for days. He just never ate. I tried a mix of flake, chopped seaweed, sewead selects and formula one.
I have learned that when I do a search before buying a fish I will now put the word "feeding" in my search line.

 

[ebsochin]

Sorry to hear about your loss!

Tony detroit summed it up pretty well. Seems I keep following after him. I have two naso tangs in two different tanks. One is about 4-5inches and the other is 11+ with streamers. The key to these fish is to watch them eat at the store. I definetly agree with tony when he said to make sure to introduce them to the tank first.
As far as acclimating your fish, I would suggest (not only for nasos but for all your inhabitants) the drip method. Get a 5 gal bucket or rubermaid bucket, a 6-10foot piece of tubing and a air pump. When you bring the fish home, float the bag in the tank for about 15-20min. While that is taking place, place one end of the tubing into the tank and secure it under a rock or get a clip to secure it. Tie a small knot in the other end and place it in the bucket. Once the 15-20mins are up, cut the bag open and gently pour the water and the fish into the bucket. Creat a suction on the tubing by sucking on the end in the bucket and get a steady drip of water flowing into the bucket, about 6-8 drops per second. Make sure there isn't a free flow into the bucket. You can adjust the flow by the knot you tied. Set up the air pump so that air will flow into the bucket and wait, wait, wait. You want to make sure that the water amount atleast quadruples over atleat a 2-3 hour process. (longer for some species).
Sorry for the long drown out post but I have found this to be the best method of introducing new fish.
One more thing, tony was right as far as the blonde nasos being a lot easier. They will thrive to eat. I had two before I had these two nasos (they died during hurricane Isabel)

Don't be scared of these fish though. They are awesome when you do it right!! Your 125 should be good for one, but just know that they will grow to 18+ inches and like someone else said on this board, they are a stiff bodied fish and need turning room. Hope this helps. Sorry for the novel.