Yellow Tang has no colour

[mat167]

Hey everyone,
I got a yellow tang from someone who was disassembling their tank. I figured he was pale because of the stress of the shipment. Now it's been about 1 year that I have him, and the colour is better than initially but still sub-par. I know for a fact the guy who had him before me was feeding him bloodworms as a staple diet so I've been making my best efforts to supply him with a rich herbivorous diet (dried nori 4x a week on a clip so he can eat at his own pace and spirulina flake twice a day). Do you think the colour will eventually come back or his permanently pale?

[cl2ysta1]

i think you need to give him a better diet. More variety. more frozen food. there are numerous recipes out there for homeade frozen food which would cover everything. While they are herbivores they enjoy meaty food too.

[mat167]

Alright, well I also give a staple diet of mysis shrimp, plankton, brine shrimp on occaision, clam, and squid. But you don't think it's a permanant condition?

[cl2ysta1]

he could possibly just be that color.. has he ever been bright? I'm honestly guessing it is a diet issue though. Any chances on some pictures? i'm guessing he looks kind of washed out

[mat167]

I've only seen him this colour, I'll get some pics on tomorow probably because my lights are off now. Either way a better diet won't do him any harm. On that note I also noticed he's a bit stunted at about 4 inches. The previous owner had him and a maroon clown in a 50 gallon so my suspiscion could be valid. I really want him to grow.

[petoonia]

I agree that diet could very well be the issue. Does the tang look skinny? I would offer the nori daily, and add some other foods to the diet. Also soak food in selcon, or vita chem. Some foods I can think of would be emerald entree, cyclopeeze, spirulina enriched brine shrimp, or formula 2.

[mat167]

Not skinny at all. Very active, and curious. I'll start the nori every day and I'll definately look into more variation.

[cl2ysta1]

this is what i feed my tanks... each get a sheet of nori daily. Basically i put whatever in there they will finish by afternoon. My one tank i put two sheets in daily b/c they eat it in about 2 seconds.

They than get a morning feeding of prime reef. than a little later some mysis.
afternoon they get emerald entree and sallys marine cuisine.

When ig et home from work for the day i give another prime reef feeding

than at night they get another frozen food mix of some sort. I soak all my frozen food in selcon.

this is something I feed to all my tanks. I have a varitey of anthias that need fed numerous times along with breeding clown pairs that also need fed frequently and of course the tangs...

all of my fish have amazing color and look very smooth and velvety.

along with being quite fat ;)
colors zoomin everywhere. the fish are too fast for mjy camera

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o172/cl2ysta1/crystal041.jpg

[t5Nitro]

You talking about the tang near the rabbitfish? I don't think that is a yellow tang. Otherwise, I can't find another fish that you would've considered a yellow tang in the pic unless it's hiding :lol:

[cl2ysta1]

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o172/cl2ysta1/flames005.jpg
you can see on mr. naso here how velvety he looks. I really think a new diet will help your yellow tang :) we had one that was about 8 years old that lived in a 180 all his life. He never got bigger than about 4-5 inches
http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o172/cl2ysta1/120007.jpg

[cl2ysta1]

i no longer own a yellow tang. the one we owned was such a jerk. I'll never own another :)

i was just showing the colorful fish on the diet i feed.

[mat167]

Really nice tank. Mine is so bare right now, its relatively new. I hope my set up comes out alright :S

[kes_reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12430090#post12430090 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cl2ysta1
this is what i feed my tanks... each get a sheet of nori daily. Basically i put whatever in there they will finish by afternoon. My one tank i put two sheets in daily b/c they eat it in about 2 seconds.

They than get a morning feeding of prime reef. than a little later some mysis.
afternoon they get emerald entree and sallys marine cuisine.

When ig et home from work for the day i give another prime reef feeding

than at night they get another frozen food mix of some sort. I soak all my frozen food in selcon.

this is something I feed to all my tanks. I have a varitey of anthias that need fed numerous times along with breeding clown pairs that also need fed frequently and of course the tangs...

all of my fish have amazing color and look very smooth and velvety.

along with being quite fat ;)
colors zoomin everywhere. the fish are too fast for mjy camera

http://i120.photobucket.com/albums/o172/cl2ysta1/crystal041.jpg

It's true, our fish eat better than we do. :p

[kes_reef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12428062#post12428062 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mat167
Hey everyone,
I got a yellow tang from someone who was disassembling their tank. I figured he was pale because of the stress of the shipment. Now it's been about 1 year that I have him, and the colour is better than initially but still sub-par. I know for a fact the guy who had him before me was feeding him bloodworms as a staple diet so I've been making my best efforts to supply him with a rich herbivorous diet (dried nori 4x a week on a clip so he can eat at his own pace and spirulina flake twice a day). Do you think the colour will eventually come back or his permanently pale?

Sure it's not a pale scopas tang, right? ;-)
Most likely its diet is the first thing that comes to mind but there could be other factors i.e., other tankmates, lack of adequate hiding places, etc. Just nori and spirulina flakes aren't sufficient. Make sure to use fresh nori (you can taste the difference), cut it up in small portions and soak it in vita chem or selcon for at least 15-20mins. piscine energetics' mysis shrimp is very high in protein. Also, cyclopeeze, spirulina and forumula 2 frozen foods would be great and the color may return or at least improve.

[cl2ysta1]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12430355#post12430355 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by mat167
Really nice tank. Mine is so bare right now, its relatively new. I hope my set up comes out alright :S


that tank is only four months old :) the coraline just started exploding a few weeks ago. few more months it's going to be gorgeous.

[jubjub]

give it some good mysis shrimp is what i would say after mine started pigging out on that he brightened up big time...also i put about 1/4 sheet of nori in every other day always gone when i wake up so im not sure if he's the one eating it or not...but

[mat167]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12431190#post12431190 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kes_reef
Sure it's not a pale scopas tang, right? ;-)
Most likely its diet is the first thing that comes to mind but there could be other factors i.e., other tankmates, lack of adequate hiding places, etc. Just nori and spirulina flakes aren't sufficient. Make sure to use fresh nori (you can taste the difference), cut it up in small portions and soak it in vita chem or selcon for at least 15-20mins. piscine energetics' mysis shrimp is very high in protein. Also, cyclopeeze, spirulina and forumula 2 frozen foods would be great and the color may return or at least improve.

Heh no I'm positive its a yellow. Formula 2? I'll give that I try. And the selcon, I'll try to get my hands on some of that.