Powder Blue not eating

[bluehippo124]

I'm having the same problem with my Powder Blue (med size),
I cant get him to eat - got him last thursday. By the way I'm new to the board and the hobby.
my tank is 55 gal - I had a blu hipo already , couple of damsels , tank is about 3 months old -
salinity 1.024, ph -8.2, nit-0, amon-0
added him in with a red sea desjardin and the Powder Blue is so healthy looking and swimming good but not eating , I tried the lettuce on the rock - still not eating - about the 4th day
the 3rd day looks like ick showing up. I have been trying Brin shrimp and seaweed and tried the lettuce just now.

 

[azonic]

Ok...if your LFS will let you, take ALL THREE TANGS OUT AND BACK! You simply cannot support all those in a 55 gallon tank...a 3 month old tank no less! Every response to your post will be the same from everyone.....bring them back, they will get MUCH too big for your tank.
The powder blue is a very very delicate fish which requires someone with a good degree of experience and a well established system....even then they are very finicky adapting to a new home. The red sea sailfin will grow at least 12 inches or more as an adult and the blue tang the same. IMO the ONLY tang that would fit in a 55 gallon is a yellow, though some people wouldn't even agree with that.
I hate to seem like a jerk but you are going to kill all of your fish. You said ich is showing up....it's no coincidence that 3 tangs in a 55 gallon, 3 month old tank is causing ich to show up.
Bring the fish back, invest in a good marine aquaria book, read this site for a while and do not listen to 99% of what your LFS tells you. They only want money, nothing else.
Someone else, please chime in here...

 

[bluehippo124]

These Tangs are small - especially the Blue hippo and Damsels - Hopefully as they get larger I will upgrade the tank size - oh and you do sound like a jerk - but thanks for replying.
Cant return them, looks like I need to upgrade tank size- and I am reading as much as I can and learning the hobby for the last 6 months.

 

[azonic]

Originally posted by bluehippo124
These Tangs are small - especially the Blue hippo and Damsels - Hopefully as they get larger I will upgrade the tank size - oh and you do sound like a jerk - but thanks for replying.
Cant return them, looks like I need to upgrade tank size- and I am reading as much as I can and learning the hobby for the last 6 months.
What are you 10? 12 years old? I'm very sorry for sounding like I was a jerk...I have no time for people like you. You won't upgrade your tank, you will keep the one you have and keep adding fish to it. Mark my word, the tank will crash and you will then post a message asking what happened to your tank, why is everything dead, etc, etc.
I'm not going to argue back and forth with you about this. Whether I sound like a jerk or not you need to do some serious reading and research before going any further into this hobby.
I'd bet my bottom dollar, all 3 of your tangs will die within a short period of time. I wish you luck in the hobby all the same.

 

[bluehippo124]

Whats the problem - Do I know you ?? I sense a lot of anger and hostility.
I am new to the hobby like I stated earlier - I am not trying to maltreat the fish - get a grip guy
I am on the message board to do the right thing. You know nothing about me dont steroetype me - and dont say I am not going to do something.
What do you do? hang out at this message board all day and cuss out little kids like me? I see you posts.
Maybe it makes you feel better? Sorry if I ruined your day! I just raised a question.

 

[azonic]

Whoa, calm down bud. The right thing would of been to come to the message board before you put 3 tangs in your 55 gallon tank.
I'm done with this thread, I'm sorry if my opinions were not what you wanted to hear. Good luck and welcome to the board.

 

[bluehippo124]

no hard feelings - maybe I was misled by the store owner - well I have them now and I am trying to resolve the matter

 

[azonic]

Just curious, but what did the store owner say regarding your tank and the tangs...

 

[bluehippo124]

First I told him tank size and everything - I always ask if the fish are compatible - and here I am with 3 tangs in a 55 gal -

 

[psufan43]

I agree that your tank is WAY TOO SMALL FOR 3 TANGS
But to answer your question try live brine shrimp.
Any somewhat hard to care for fish, you should start on brine shrimp. And dont feed them for the first day.
I wish you luck. But the worst mistake you can make is overcrowding.
for the 55 gallon. Maybe you should try some damsels and some dwarf angels and a percula clown. Beside they are pretty easy to mangae and are nice starter fish.

 

[bluehippo124]

thank you!!

 

[wrassecal]

Where are you? If your lfs won't take back any of the tangs maybe there is someone with an established tank that can help you out. Azonic is right, you are probably lokking at big trouble here. The powder blue is probably stressing from the other tangs, even if it appears to you that they are not fighting. They are delicate fish that need an established system with very stable conditions and lots of algae. Under optimum conditions it usually takes them a while to settle in. In the meantime, try soaking the food, nori etc in garlic extract. You can get it at lfs or even grocery store or GNC. It may stimulate it's appetite and will help it's immune system. If you only see a very few specks of ich, then the garlic may help. And please try to get them out of your tank, maybe just keep the yellow and feed plenty of nori. Also, see if your lfs has some caulerpa (mine like grape caulerpa the best) and put some in your tank for the tangs while you find them a good home.

 

[elan]

i completely understand where you are coming from.... and this is what most people go though when they come to this BB after they listened to their LFS....it happened to me.
a big part of this hobby is to research before you do anything. It will save you lots of hassles and money, in the short and long run.
first thing is first... you will have to treat all your fish for ich.... i really doubt anyone will want an ich infested fish even if you were giving away for free....
i would go to the disease forum, and list out everything in your tank.. all fish, any inverts, live rock, if you have sand for a substrate, etc, etc.... you may be able to treat your tank with hypo salinity as is, which is the best treatment for ich..and doesnt cost much money...... dont waste your money on medicines. I shelled out about $50 bucks so far on medicines with a dead tang, and recently, two dead peculia clowns as a result.... a good $100 lesson and the guilt of killing fish unnecessarily. but the lesson learned is that i am not going to add another fish till after i set up a hospital tank and my tank has waiting the 6 month mark.
after you do some more research, you will figure out that pretty soon, your tangs will outgrow your tank……but till that happens, try and rid your ich problem…. the sooner you do it, the better the chance for your tangs and other fish…. then you have a few months to figure out what you will do with your tank and tang problems.

 

[bluehippo124]

thanks elan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[flamehawk]

Lessons...again....Always read alott before you buy...if you read the right books and mags and apply what you read you would never have bought 3 tangs for a 55. Always post Before you buy....almost never listen to an lfs who is selling you fish...especially s/w...very few have your best interest in mind...some do..but too few to take a chance for a new hobbiest. Now on to your problem. assumiing you don't have any inverts or live rock( by the way you really should have L/R to increase your chances for success w/ a PB, in a bigger tank of course) you should get a refractmeter and slowly take your salinity down to 1.009. Keep it there for 3-4 weeks. This is called hyposalinity and should take care of the ick. Once ich eraticated, sell PB and desj. Personally I'd keep the YT, bring back the damsels and re-stock slowly after 2 months of no problems, with royal gramma and a perc. clown, about 45-50 lbs. of L/R and call it a day. Sit back and enjoy!! Good luck.

 

[wrassecal]

If he lived near me, I would certainly take his fish and help him out by quarantine and hypo in my q tank. I agree with post in the disease forum, but I really want to stress that if this ich is just starting up and your tang is not eating to immediately start garlic soaked nori and tempt them with food soaked in that and get them some caulerpa if possible. They really need the green stuff. I'm not talking about lost fish and lost dollars, I'm talking about trying to help the guy save the lives of the fish he's got right now. Now if the fish are the only thing he has, no inverts, no live rock, no live sand then yes he can do hypo in the main tank.