yellow tang

[piccasotrigger]

I'm having an extremely difficult time getting my yellow tang to eat. I purchased him 5 days ago and the first day he was nibbling at the algae on the lr, but since then nothing. I have tried Ocean nutrition flakes along with frozen brine shimp with sparalina. Its a 75 gallon and after doing all tests the water is near perfect, besides my calcium being at 500 ppm. I noticed when i bought him he had black stringy things attached to his white spike. I thought it may be plant material that got caught on him when they netted him. Well its been 5 days and its still there. He doesnt appear to be scratching or hiding, but he is rather skinny and frail. Does anyone have any ideas?

 

[meowzer]

Can you get a pic of these stringy things?
ALso have you tried the algae sheets? frozen Mysis shrimp...or anything else?

 

[sepulatian]

Do the stringy things appear to be moving at all? Try the algae sheets and also, if all else fails, pick up some live brine.

 

[piccasotrigger]

Actually looking at it again it looks more like 3 little black barbs surrounding his spike. I can get a pic in the morning. i was going to try algae sheets, but theres algae all over the lr and he seems to have no interest at all, my experience with other yellow tangs was they were constantly grazing, so im assuming its something deeper than just not likeing the food. I wish i would have just takin him back when i saw those black things.

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[sepulatian]

He may have worms. Formalin baths will take care of it, or you my need to treat him with copper. Get those pictures up when you can.
What kind of algae is on the rocks? How old is your system?

 

[piccasotrigger]

Omg i hate this hobby!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just turned on the lights to try and get a pic. The feather duster i got today was floating around in the current until finally got stuck to a rock directly under the chiller output so now he is getting blasted with cold water. I found my brand new squasmosa clam with sand on him as the sand is now blowing all over from me moving the jets earlier. 4 astrea snails that i just got today are upside down and i have to take down this huge light in order to get my hand in the tank. Im in microbubble hell and cant figure out how air is getting in my system. I'm so beyond frustration,watching someone elses reef is peacful but owning one is far from lol. Im gonna get that algae tommorow.

 

[sepulatian]

Deep breaths piccaso, deep breaths. You will find that the longer you have your tank the more enjoyable it is. Everyone has a rough time at first. That is why it is best to go slow and give yourself time to fine tune. By the time that you have stock your equipment should be functioning properly and not need to be adjusted. It will get better, I swear.

 

[piccasotrigger]

wow what a difference a day makes. This morning i turned on my lights to see my tang eating off the rocks. The feather duster was able to move from under the chiller and the clam mantle is extended nicely. I tried right now to feed the tang the brine/spirulina an he ate almost a whole cube even though the previous 3 days he didnt touch any. I still have a couple questions though. The clam still has sand on top of him it is very small amount but none the less will this hurt him? My tang seems to be getting beat up when he swims infront of the jets, is this because he is frail from not eating or to much flow? I have a 75 gallon with built in overflow there is 3 jets and a 1145 gph pump. The chiller is also putting out about 350 gph. Lastly how do i keep the feather dusters in one place? do they attach on there own or do they just drift around every now and then? thanks for any answers.