pale Regal Tang at LFS, can he regain his color?

[brians]

I was at my LFS today and there was a nice sized (5-6") Regal Tang there I was thinking about getting. The thing is, he is very discolored. He is obviously very stressed probably from being in such a small tank (10 gallon?) and probably isn't being fed properly. I also noticed they had a yellow tang there that was totally white. Poor thing.
My question is, if I was to bring the Regal Tang home and put him in my 125g, which so far only has 6 chromis, 2 clowns, and a scooter blenny, could he totally regain his color back under proper conditions? I don't really want to pay $50 for such a sickly looking fish even though he would be definitly better off in my tank.
Also, what else should I look for on this fish, disease wise? I didn't get a good chance to really check him out today.
On a side note... There was a lady and her two daughters looking at the Tang. The lady was telling the worker she wanted it and kept calling it a "Dori". When he started to explain to her about saltwater fish she asked, "Why can't I just take him home today and put some salt in my water?" Anyways, they walked over by the new tanks and talked for a little while and when they came back I over heard her say, "OK, I guess I'll come back around January after I'm set up." Sounds like he may of talked a little sense into her atleast.

 

[beaslbob]

I am amazed with saltwater fish at pet stores. Fresh it is much easier to tell. move your hand up in fromt of the glass. If the fish follow you hand they you know they are eating and healthy. Salt a different story. I bought a yellow tang that looked very healthy and it lasted 3 weeks (3 month old tank). A few weeks later I bought this small starved looking yellow not expecting much. Now months later it has a full belly, is constantly grazing, bright and colorful, and even survived 2-3 instances of white spots. Sure I still look at and select fish. It's just hard to tell (especially with salt) how the fish will ultimately turn out.
The regal cold be pale because of being in a 10g or possible because it is older. perhaps others can shed some light.

 

[daniel411]

jwtrojan44 and beaselbob pretty much summed it up.
On another note though, purchaseing a unhealthy fish encourages a business that health is something that can be skipped on. I've also noticed most of the blue regals I see that are quite large, are paler than a healthy smaller one. I've always wondered if they lose some of their color as they increase in size. Or that its just harder to feed them the abundance of nutritional food that they need at that size.

 

[magic]

well I have to say that there are some places that just want to sell fish, But a lot of the time fish come in and have a problem and if there not dead then we are not going to kill them. the best we can do is to put them in a tank and see how they do, and then some one comes in and thinks we don't take care of our fish. there are things that we do but lets face it, we are a business and we can only do so much. I would love to set up a QT system that would blow you away but for one I have no room, two I am always to busy. Just see that some fish just don't do good to start with and its not always the pet store

 

[fshhub]

i agree
on a side note, what time of day was it you saw this fish? Many sw fish(tngs included) pale at night, kinda like a built in camoflage for night time defense system. And it often takes a while b4 they completely regain their color.
HTH

 

[dreeves]

What was in the tank with the fish?
A lack of inverts usually indicates the usage of copper...copper can and usually does cause fish to fade in color...if this is the case, the fish will gain its color back once the copper is diluted or removed...
If this isnt the case...offer a lower fee for the fish due to its obvious health conditions...then put him in a hospital tank and treat as needed...
Saving a fish and watching it thrive is a wonderful experience...and very possible to achieve.