Feeding Sohal Tang

[kc]

I purchased a sohal tang about 3 weeks ago and everything seems fine excpet it refuses to eat. I feed the fish with brine shrimp, formula1/2, broccoli and lettuce, nori seaweed but it only eats the green algae from the water returning box which I don't have much. Any idea what else I can try, it is getting skinny.


Thanks
KC

 

[reedman]

Seems kinda strange. Mine eats anything I throw in the tank and then moves on to grazing algae when he finishes with the real food. Just a pig! Was he eating at the store before you bought him? Might just be a bad acclimation at the store or problems with catch and transport. How long has he been this way. Also, might just be that he prefers the green algae that you mentioned and when it's gone he'll eat something else.

 

[kc]

It is going to be a month and still only eats green algae which I don't have much in my tank. I bought it through internet, according to the company he ate live brine and spectrum pellets. I did feed with live brine but no luck.

 

[plack]

only a suggestion from a rookie

I believe any fish that wont eat is stressed, to help it get better try this suggestion from a lady who has a small shop in the area running it out of her house cured a fish that had bad ich with 2 things and it has been healthy for 3 months now and said how this works for many thing the 2 items she suggested are
1) Kent _Coral-Vite_(A vitamin liquid supplement)
2) Kent_Garlic Xtreme(Attractant and Food Supplement)
It's supposed to get finiky eaters to eat
I Have these and only 3 blue and yellow tailed damsels and they pick at each other and was told to get a 4th but in the mean time an going this route and he is growing bach his partially nipped off tail anyway good luck i would try the garlic extreme IF it were me AGAIN- I am new to this too but with the internet and books and places like this help you to learn some things a little quicker

 

[Terry B]

Stress may very well be a factor as Sohal tangs should only be kept in a large tank. They suffer from confinement stress in anything but a large tank and six foot long is probably a minimum for long term care. Soaking the foods in garlic is a good idea as this often gets a fish's attention.

I believe that they are herbevores in the wild, but like most tangs they will eat meaty seafoods once adapted to captivity. In the wild they eat a variety of algaes including sargassum and fine filement algae. I suggest trying some dried seaweed including the red, some spirulina (I like frozen). You can offer some sliced zucchini and broccoli if you freeze it first. They might even take a little shredded carrot after a while. Once it is eating a wider variety of plant based foods it may start eating pacifica plankton, blood worms, mysis shrimp etc. I would also make it a habit to feed it often and leave something in the tank such as dried algae (when you find which kind it will eat) during the day. Make it a habit to soak the foods in alternately in Selcon and a good vitamin such as Zoe.

Cheers,
Terry B

 

[Elmo18]

In my experience, a sohal tang is one of the most voracious eaters of all reef fishes. It will devour almost anything. This goes from caulerpa, mysis shrimp, brine shrimp, formula2 gel formula, any flake food, etc etc.

I would get Formula 2 frozen food, thaw and then feed pieces within the tank. Also feed mysis to supplement protein in their herbivorous diet.

I had one for a year before selling it, and also bought from internet. Once established, it will rule your tank, cruising everywhere.

Beautiful fish.

- Elmo

 

[FishyinKy]

Thank you for that Terry, I've had tangs for years and always wondered about the carrots. In my experience with tangs they often will not eat long algaes, they like short ones and to get them to eat things like hair algae I've seen people cut the algae to shorten the length and then the tangs that totally ignored it went wild on it. Just my two cents

Mac

 

[kc]

Thanks for the replies. I tried everything as mention but not worked at all. The sohal tang died about 2 weeks ago. I bought one last week and she ate anyhting.

Thanks all.