Yellow tang with poor color?

1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
Originally Posted by Saltman23
http:///forum/post/2473498
yes i know, but i have had the fish for many years. he obviously would have been dead if it was same type of stress!

Originally Posted by Saltman23
http:///forum/post/2473599
prolly about a year. just added a naso today!
Saltman, if you want help when you have a problem you need to give completely accurate answers.
When I said your fish seemed stressed you said you'd had it for 4 years. Then you changed to having it for a year.
I'm saying, more strongly than ever, your fish is showing signs of stress because you do not have it in the proper habitat. Now, you've added a fish that will grow more than twice the size of the already stressed Yellow Tang.
Why add a fish when you're not sure what's already wrong in the tank? Especially why add such a large fish that requires so much more space than you can provide?
You asked on a different thread about the Naso and were told it wouldn't go with your tank. Now you added it without QT first. If you didn't have ich in your tank there is a great chance you will now as Tangs are known to frequently carry it.
Good luck. I hope it works well, but I have no idea how it can...
 
crashbandicoot

crashbandicoot

Active Member
Jotney took the words outa my mouth with that one .
Basicaly if you dont listen to advice your not going to get much help after a while . people find it pointless to offer help to others that dont listen
 
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saltman23

Guest
first, for the confusion of the fish's age. the fish is four years old. i have had him for one year. my friends had him for 3 years.
second, the reason i just added the naso was because i will soon be upgrading to a larger tank. so i am not worried about the size. The naso is also very small. prolly around 2-3 inces.
finally, the reason i added the naso while the tang was showing these signs is because i have added other fish such as the flame to my tank, while the yellow had this discoloration. No Problems at all.
 
slycoolman

slycoolman

Member
Every time there is a query on tang health people start blaming tank size. IMO, 75 is more than enough for a five inch yellow (in the Far East they keep 'em in 20 gallons). Have you considered it being simply a colour variation?
 
1journeyman

1journeyman

Active Member
I've said this a lot the past couple of weeks...
If a fish, which typically can grow 7+ inches and is an active swimmer, is not outgrowing a 4 foot tank then you need to figure out what you are doing wrong.
Tank size and habitat are key in reducing stress for Tangs (as well as many other marine species). If a Tang is showing classic signs of stress, and it is in a small environment I think that's an obvious place to start the discussion.
 
slycoolman

slycoolman

Member
According to most authors (Bob Fenner, Scott Michael, Nick Ireland, et al.) yellows can be kept in this size tank (Fenner says 50 gallons, Ireland & Michael 60), and I personally find 75 gallons to be a reasonable tank size. Demanding more is arrogant IMO and has very little scientific basis. For one, Zebrasoma are not particularly fast swimmers and two they do not grow very large, with 8'' being the maximum as listed on FishBase. Expecting fish to grow to the size of the giants in the wild is unreasonable, (genetics, hormones and self-regulation are all to "blame"; it is the reason we don't see four foot cigar sharks in aquaria) let alone blaming the owner for the fish not reaching that size. You can be a "tang police" if you want but don't try to shove it down other's throats unless you can come up with more than anecdotal or speculative evidence.
To the OP: there is such a thing as partially leucistic or "koi morph" yellow tangs, it is possible you have one of those. If the tang has been in your tank for a year and not shown any other "problems", TBH it's probably nothing to worry about.
 
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saltman23

Guest
Thank You SlyCoolman!
This tang might be one of those color variations you are talking about.
 
slycoolman

slycoolman

Member
Can you post a pic? The fish could still be stressed from some other source (a white vertical band can be indicative). Tank size probably has nothing to do with it tho'. And lastly as alluded to above, the tang could simply have weak colour. You could try feeding spirulina in case you do not already... it is among the "wonder foods". Simply increasing the amount will help too, as they graze in the wild.
 
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saltman23

Guest
i do have spirulina flakes but he doesent really go for that.
do they make strips made of spirulina.
 
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saltman23

Guest
there is not line or bar ( i do know what you are talking about)
i will try to post pics soon
 
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sexyshrimp101

Guest
What is the point of even asking for advice if you only take the advice that goes along with what you want to hear??? You have had many replies, but only took the advice of the person that sided with you. I think it is really funny personally that you take the advice of one person because it sounds good to you, and ignore the vast majority of people that answered you and the vast majority of people on this site that say otherwise from what you want to hear. Seriously, why ask

Oh, and out of curiosity, how many tanks do you have???
 
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saltman23

Guest
I AM not taking anyones side! i appreciate all comments and replies.
 
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saltman23

Guest
i have 4 freshwater tanks and 3 soon to be 4 saltwater tanks
 
aquaknight

aquaknight

Active Member
Hmmm, any progress on getting some pics?
Wondering maybe it's the beginnings of HLLE? Ocean Nutrition makes Spirulina formula in frozen cubes. I slice it up and feed it to my tangs/angel. Definitely would feed him some and looks into adding vitamins to the food.
 
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