Regal Tang not acclimating well

razoreqx

razoreqx

Active Member
:help:
I have a 4" Regal Blue Tang (Paracanthurus hepatus)
that I added to the tank to complete my list of fish in the reef ..
His tank mates are:
2 2" Firefish Goby (Nemateleotris magnifica)
1 2" Spotted Mandarin (Synchiropus picturatus)
3 4" Engineer Goby (Pholidichthys leucotaenia)
1 3" Sailfin/Algae Blenny (Salarias fasciatus)
1 2" Coral Beauty Angelfish (Centropyge bispinosus)
1 3" Yellow Hawaiian Tang (Zebrasoma flavescens)
He has been in the tank for three days. He wont eat or swim and has been hiding behind the same piece of LR since he was introduced to the tank.
I have been watching the tank to make sure no one is picking on him.. He's really all alone and no one really pays much attention to him.
Since I have gotten him his color is fading. He shows no signs of ICK or other disease.. only a color fade.
Another interesting note. He seems to bob his head up and down off the substrate with the current and lean to the side as if his balance was messed up. Though if you move something in the tank he can swim fine....
What can I do to get this fish to eat and accept his new home?
Thanks in advance. All comments welcome.
 
technik

technik

Member
They are just really shy. I left the lights off for awhile to let him get used to the tank and the guy still sleeps sideways under rocks at night. Leave the lights off and see if he swims around.
 
razoreqx

razoreqx

Active Member

Originally posted by Technik
They are just really shy. I left the lights off for awhile to let him get used to the tank and the guy still sleeps sideways under rocks at night. Leave the lights off and see if he swims around.
Thanks just worried about him.. Never had anything give me such a scare as this guy does :)
 
nancy

nancy

Member
Keep a close eye onhim like oyu are. OUr blue hippo stated doing that and he didn't make it:((((((((((((((((. I was crushed....
 
cincyreefer

cincyreefer

Active Member
I am surprised you were able to find one now... They haven't been available much at all lately it seems. Except for maybe the ones from New Calidonia (sp?) which cost an arm and a leg. Hmmm, did you see it eat before you bought it? What other fish was it in with and was it shy in the tank when you were observing it?
 
technik

technik

Member
When I first got mine he was always hiding. So I sat far away from the tank and noticed him swimming around when he thought I was gone. So I started to approach the tank from the side and drop food in. The other fish ate the pellets and he would watch. Then he started joining in on the feast in a few days. The guy still ducks for cover when I approach the front, but comes out when food is in the water and doesn't mind me at all.
 
mary

mary

Member
A large tang! When thay are purchased smaller they adjust faster, if they were healthy to start with. Mine hid for weeks, only to come out to feed after several days. He loved ramaine lettuce from a clip suctioned to the side of tank: washed very well and preferably organic. Dried seaweed also. He is very stressed if whitish. Once he did show himself, he seemed to need the slime that he got off of various leathers. They are extremely shy. Give it time but question the care it had and how and where it was caught. That could be significant.
 
leopard_babe

leopard_babe

Active Member
My tang hid for days. I thought she was dead, but then she would come out. She liked to snack on my plants. Congrats on your new fish. Where are the pictures???
 
mary

mary

Member
Oh, by the way. Regal Tangs, as with many fish. do pale a little as they get larger. Don't expect him to be as intense as a baby hippo.
 
razoreqx

razoreqx

Active Member
Hi Mary and thanks.. Yea I knew he was faded a little.. Im talking about from the time I picked him up at the LFS to getting him in the Display tank.. Hes still a little pale... Im not sure if hes eating yet because he spends most of his time hiding behind the LR.. but he is making more and more "appearances" outside his safezone :)
 
leopard_babe

leopard_babe

Active Member
gosh that hippo is so beautiful. I put my food in a turkey baster, and put it in front of my hippos face. And then squeezed out the contents. That is how I got mine to eat!!!
 
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