Tang color

[DonW]

Goodmorning,

I purchased a Achilles sp? Tang a few weeks ago. At first he was shy and stayed hidden. He is now swimming and eating with the other fish. He looks like you dipped him in bleach. Only the front half of him has lost color. It does'nt fade its a line. Like dying half an easter egg.
My hope is that this is normal and will go away. All water params are perfect. No fish are picking on him but he does tend to stay away from the Sailfin.

Don

 

[MCSInc]

salad???

What volume of greens is he getting? I had a yellow tang that would turn pale (almost powdered looking) if he missed his salad for a couple of days. I always fed seawead salad or some such that had a lot of greens.

Ever see the difference between a store bought egg (pale yellow) and the eggs of free ranging farm chickens (heavy on the orange)? Same type of thing.

 

[jks1]

hmm, can t say that Ive seen anything like that before. If hes eating and not getting stressed by his tankmates, I guess all is well. I would agree to make sure he gets plenty of Nori or the like..

 

[DonW]

Here he is

 

[DonW]

Again

 

[kevinpo]

Hi Don,
Quite odd. I've not seen anything quite like it. I have had some with light sections on them from shipping stress but they go away in a few weeks.

This paticular tang prefers brown algae. Nori or brown Seaweed Selects fed every day along with a high protien food (60%+) like freeze dried plankton will soon fatten him up.

HTH,
Kevin

 

[DonW]

Thanks for the suggestions,
Kind of a odd. Ive always fed my tangs fomula 2 cubes in the morning and fomula 1 flake at night. I usually feed a variety of either algea or seaweed on a clip twice a week. Probably overfeeding but my sailfin is actually a little on the fat side. But he sure seems happy.
I also have a lawnmower that needs to see Jenny Craig, this new guy has just got me baffeled.

Don

 

[Alice]

That is odd.

 

[NaH2O]

Don, that is very strange. Good description of dipped in bleach...that's what it looks like. I would give Kevin's suggestion on feeding a try. Definately let us know how this goes. How soon after his introduction did he look this way?

 

[SeattleFishGirl]

DonW,

All pictures or real Achilles tangs I have seen have a slight color variation from front to back like yours. Maybe yours just has a more pronounced color variation than most. Go to www.liveaquaria.com to see a good example or do a google seargh on Achilles Tangs for other reference information on this breed. Good luck!

 

[DonW]

Seattlefish Girl,

Its the pronounced line that concerns me. Fading with tangs in general is normal. These fish are usually faded. They stress easy and dont spend alot of time in the community.

NaH20

I'll let you know how this turns out, I think he may just be stressed. He eats well but spends alot of time behind the rock work. He does take care of the food that get back there, so maybe a good thing.

Don

 

[plumber_bob]

FEED HIM LOTS OF ALGAE!!!