Help with Blonde Naso Tang

[mowaka]

Bought a blonde Naso tang on Friday. Looks and seems healthy but hasn’t eaten since he’s been in my quarantine tank. Added 3 other tangs at same time. All are feeding and none are being bullied. Is it normal for him not to eat for a few days? Gowing increasingly concerned.

Tried flake, brine, mysis, pellets and nori sheets.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

Bought a blonde Naso tang on Friday. Looks and seems healthy but hasn’t eaten since he’s been in my quarantine tank. Added 3 other tangs at same time. All are feeding and none are being bullied. Is it normal for him not to eat for a few days? Gowing increasingly concerned.

Tried flake, brine, mysis, pellets and nori sheets.

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That isn't normal. The 3 other tangs eating well indicates that the issue isn't with the food being fed, or the tank itself, else they would also be affected.

Can you post a video of the naso? (Youtube works well).

Just an FYI - we are seeing a lot of issues with newly acquired blonde naso tangs here in the US. Many of them die soon after being acquired, but with no discernable disease symptoms. I think it is a supply chain issue. I'm not sure if the UK is seeing a similar issue though.

 

[mowaka]

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

That isn't normal. The 3 other tangs eating well indicates that the issue isn't with the food being fed, or the tank itself, else they would also be affected.

Can you post a video of the naso? (Youtube works well).

Just an FYI - we are seeing a lot of issues with newly acquired blonde naso tangs here in the US. Many of them die soon after being acquired, but with no discernable disease symptoms. I think it is a supply chain issue. I'm not sure if the UK is seeing a similar issue though.

I will record video yes. In UK fish are normally bred in captivity.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I will record video yes. In UK fish are normally bred in captivity.

This species is not raised in captivity as far as I have ever heard of......

 

[Sdbuehler1]

I’ve purchased 2 naso tangs within the last two months from two different LFS and both exhibited same behavior. Wouldn’t eat anything I tried to feed, frozen, seaweed, pellets and died within a few days of bringing them home. I have given up on that species for now and have a blue tang and sailfin which have been in QT for 3 weeks and are doing great. Very frustrating to hear this may be due to poor collection methods but I guess that makes me feel better that it probably wasnt poor care on my end.

 

[mowaka]

I’ve purchased 2 naso tangs within the last two months from two different LFS and both exhibited same behavior. Wouldn’t eat anything I tried to feed, frozen, seaweed, pellets and died within a few days of bringing them home. I have given up on that species for now and have a blue tang and sailfin which have been in QT for 3 weeks and are doing great. Very frustrating to hear this may be due to poor collection methods but I guess that makes me feel better that it probably wasnt poor care on my end.

Highly unlikely to be you mate if the others are doing well. There does seem to be a lot of chatter about this online at the moment. I doubt very much mine will be alive in the morning.

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Maybe they are using cyanide to collect?!

 

[mowaka]

Maybe they are using cyanide to collect?!

Possible I guess. It’s just strange how they seem to be ok in the lfs. All the reports I have seen is when customers bring them home they stop eating and die.

 

[JumboShrimp]

Might your LFS be keeping them at lower salinity, and running some cooper, just to keep them looking good long enough to sell... then they hit the home reef tank, and 'Whammo!'?

 

[mowaka]

Might your LFS be keeping them at lower salinity, and running some cooper, just to keep them looking good long enough to sell... then they hit the home reef tank, and 'Whammo!'?

Yes again you are very right. I asked but they said they don’t run copper. Who knows if it’s true ‍

 

[twiatr2001]

My experiences with this fish are similar, blonde nasos are very hard to get to eat, I found that chaeto originally worked for me and then once they got accustomed to eating in the tank, then they would start trying other foods.

 

[OrionN]

I only keep one Naso in my 45 years of reef keeping. The 18 inches size scare the heck out of me in the past. They are so beautiful that I bit the bullet and got a tiny one in 5/2024 from Petco. I did not have any problem with get this one to eat. In fact, he was harassed by the resident Tangs horde for the first few weeks, required me to put a larger mirror in front of the tank for 2 straight weeks.
Never mind the aiptasia. My CBB pair is putting a huge dent into this population the last year. I am sure soon there will not be any aiptasia in my DT.
5/2024

June 2024

Feb 2025

 

[Bruttall]

A while back, 8 maybe 12 months? Maybe a little longer there was another round of Naso's dying with in 6 months, they just stopped eating and died. This was rumored to be cyanide poisoning possibly or damage done when collecting the fish.

 

[Jim_inDen]

I’ve had my Naso for about 3 months, no issues at all, eating immediately and is a pig. Recently, though, nothing has changed in the tank, but I have added a chocolate tank and a flag fin angel about a week ago. Have a 360 gallon Fowler. The Naso was slightly aggressive towards the chocolate for maybe a day. All of a sudden he didn’t eat yesterday and hasn’t eaten at all today… Just kind of hangs in the middle of the tank stationary. No interest in food at all and no apparent disease on him. Any thoughts/ideas? Thank you in advance!

 

[winxp_man]

I have been reading more and more about people stating method of catch is making these fish possibly a death bomb. It’s not just here on R2R. My brother wanted one. I told him to watch out. As others have stated it’s not you or the tank if the others are good.

Recently in a QT tank I had three tangs. Two powers one mimic. The mimic ended up being a blind tang, poor guy ended up passing.

 

[winxp_man]

I’ve had my Naso for about 3 months, no issues at all, eating immediately and is a pig. Recently, though, nothing has changed in the tank, but I have added a chocolate tank and a flag fin angel about a week ago. Have a 360 gallon Fowler. The Naso was slightly aggressive towards the chocolate for maybe a day. All of a sudden he didn’t eat yesterday and hasn’t eaten at all today… Just kind of hangs in the middle of the tank stationary. No interest in food at all and no apparent disease on him. Any thoughts/ideas? Thank you in advance!

I would remove the newly added fish to a temp QT, and see what the Naso does.

 

[Jay Hemdal Verified Community Expert]

I’ve had my Naso for about 3 months, no issues at all, eating immediately and is a pig. Recently, though, nothing has changed in the tank, but I have added a chocolate tank and a flag fin angel about a week ago. Have a 360 gallon Fowler. The Naso was slightly aggressive towards the chocolate for maybe a day. All of a sudden he didn’t eat yesterday and hasn’t eaten at all today… Just kind of hangs in the middle of the tank stationary. No interest in food at all and no apparent disease on him. Any thoughts/ideas? Thank you in advance!

Is the tang breathing fast? If you aren't sure, if you post a video, I can evaluate it for you (Youtube hosting works well for videos here).

 

[Jim_inDen]

Thank you for the responses. Here’s a video, not sure if his breathing is fast or not.
He’s the aggressor with the mimic if anything and not that often. He was eating like normal 5 days into the introduction of the new fish.

 

[Jim_inDen]

View attachment 4089631

 

[OrionN]

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