Yellow Tang's odd behavior

jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
This has happened twice now. When feeding my fish (Rod's food in base cases) about halfway through feeding I noticed my yellow tang laying almost on his side on the bottom of the tank barely moving. He didn't appear to be scared and breathing was about normal (possibility a little more rapid then normal but its hard to say). After a few minutes of not moving he would cough up some food and start swimming as if nothing happened.
I've had this tang for well over 3 years now and I have never noticed anything like this until these last two times it has happened.
Based on the fact that it has only happened during feeding and the fact that he coughs up some food before returning to normal I am thinking that he must be eatting too quickly or getting too big a chunk of food at once.
Has anyone else seen this type of behavior in their fish and should I be concerned about him?
Thanks
 
meowzer

meowzer

Moderator
What does "bump" mean?
I hope someone answers I have been wondering that too...LOL...But never asked.
 
guitarplr85

guitarplr85

Member
Bump means it brings your thread back up to the top. Im not to sure its almost like he is eating to much at a time and choking on it like a little kid. Um I know I have a trigger he goes nuts during feeding and sometimes he will eat to much you will see him spit all the food back out go back grab it all spit it back out until he finally eats it all. Im waiting for the day when he does something like that. sorry im not to much of a help. Maybe not put as much food in at one time. Feed a little, let them eat that then feed the rest. Then I have been told to make sure that you feed enough so that the fish dont have to like fight over it all.
 
t316

t316

Active Member
Jerth, I noticed the op was on the 21st. So you are still seeing this same behavior I assume. Is your food 'clumpy' or peices too big? This does sound odd, but unless he has some type of problem inside his mouth causing him not to be able to swallow, I don't see what else it could be. Try crushing up the food more or going with smaller pieces.
 
jackri

jackri

Active Member
Try feeding something else... is it just that behavior on one type of food? Sounds like a choking problem. Is the food completely thawed, maybe brain freeze? yeah I'm grabbing at ideas too :D
 
guitarplr85

guitarplr85

Member
I think t316 and jackri are correct. I use to feed rods food, and to be honest I didnt personaly like it. When I feed it, it was huge chunks, I started putting it in containers for the week with water and put it in the fridge, and would let it thaw out. Rods food has so many different types of food mixed into one. Try some Nori for the tang, and see if it acts the same.
 
jerthunter

jerthunter

Active Member
Thanks for the responses.
It has only happened twice that I have seen and seeing and the times were maybe a week apart. So far it has only happened with rods food.
I figure it must be that the food wasn't fully thawed or it was too big.
I am curious if this 'choking' could be fatal to the fish since I imagine they can still breath unlike us humans if we were to choke.
I might not use the rod's food anymore once I run out, and I'll try to break it up into small pieces before I feed. I do feed Nori and other algae sheets to the tang but he basically goes after whatever I put in the tank for the other fish too.
 
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