Is my tang starving?

[GothFishKeeper]

I’ve noticed the past couple days that my blue eye kole tang has seemed sluggish compared to his usual energetic happy self. In fact all my fish, which includes a pair of skunk clowns and a pintail fairy wrasse, have seemed a bit off. My clowns have been at opposite ends of the tank, each sticking to one area by themselves. Nothing has changed aside from adding a chiller to my setup because I have so many different pumps in my sump which heats the tank. I still feed Rod’s herbivore blend once daily, and every other day I put in a strip of Rod’s red seaweed for my tang and I spot feed mysis to my wrasse and my clowns so they stop hogging all the seaweed.
Anyways, today I noticed my tang looks pretty skinny, especially in the area right behind his stomach which looks sunken. What do you think? Also note that he’s always had the scar on his right side, not sure where it came from but it hasn’t seemed to bug him since I got him.
Parameters are in check.

 

[littlefoxx]

Yes he is. @vetteguy53081

 

[LPS Bum]

He looks way too thin to me. I’d go out of my way to get that guy fattened up, but it’ll take a long time.

Do you see him eating?

 

[JGT]

Stomach is pinched. Def too thin. Need to increase the feeding regiment.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I’ve noticed the past couple days that my blue eye kole tang has seemed sluggish compared to his usual energetic happy self. In fact all my fish, which includes a pair of skunk clowns and a pintail fairy wrasse, have seemed a bit off. My clowns have been at opposite ends of the tank, each sticking to one area by themselves. Nothing has changed aside from adding a chiller to my setup because I have so many different pumps in my sump which heats the tank. I still feed Rod’s herbivore blend once daily, and every other day I put in a strip of Rod’s red seaweed for my tang and I spot feed mysis to my wrasse and my clowns so they stop hogging all the seaweed.
Anyways, today I noticed my tang looks pretty skinny, especially in the area right behind his stomach which looks sunken. What do you think? Also note that he’s always had the scar on his right side, not sure where it came from but it hasn’t seemed to bug him since I got him.
Parameters are in check.

Its obviously thin. Has it eaten for you in the past and what foods are you offering other than rods? LRS Herbivore diet is a better blend as My tangs will take the rods but spit certain pieces in the package
If not, is fish breathing normal or labored?
I fear it may be feeding off its liver and will continue to deteriorate.
What is your ammonia level and how are you testing?
With other fish being as you described "OFF", what behaviors have you noticed such as lethargic, gasping at surface, itching/scratching and overall skin condition?
Can you post a video under white light intensity - No blue for about 60 seconds?

 

[GothFishKeeper]

Stomach is pinched. Def too thin. Need to increase the feeding regiment.

He looks way too thin to me. I’d go out of my way to get that guy fattened up, but it’ll take a long time.

Do you see him eating?

Yes he is. @vetteguy53081

All noted, that’s what I was thinking too but I’m not sure why. I feed this tank very heavily and he’s always chomping away at everything i put in.

 

[56longroof]

Your only feeding once a day? I feed my fish 3-4 times a day and put 1/4 to 1/2 a sheet of nori in every day. Not surprised it's so skinny.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

Its obviously thin. Has it eaten for you in the past and what foods are you offering other than rods? LRS Herbivore diet is a better blend as My tangs will take the rods but spit certain pieces in the package
If not, is fish breathing normal or labored?
I fear it may be feeding off its liver and will continue to deteriorate.
What is your ammonia level and how are you testing?
With other fish being as you described "OFF", what behaviors have you noticed such as lethargic, gasping at surface, itching/scratching and overall skin condition?
Can you post a video under white light intensity - No blue for about 60 seconds?

Will do, here’s the youtube link to a video since I’m on mobile.

Breathing is normal, he eats fine but doesn’t seem to take to the seaweed when its not on the clip.
Ammonia is at 0 tested with hanna checker
Other fish are behaving in a healthy way but just not themselves if that makes any sense. Clowns typically stick near the overflow and wrasse swims the whole tank all day. Last two days my female has seemed to almost be protecting a certain rock in the front left while my male has been behind the rocks towards the top center. Pintail has been around my female circling her.
As for my tang, he’s typically almost always working on the rocks and the last couple days he hasn’t seemed to be doing it as much. You can even notice algae starting to build up due to this.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Will do, here’s the youtube link to a video since I’m on mobile.

Breathing is normal, he eats fine but doesn’t seem to take to the seaweed when its not on the clip.
Ammonia is at 0 tested with hanna checker
Other fish are behaving in a healthy way but just not themselves if that makes any sense. Clowns typically stick near the overflow and wrasse swims the whole tank all day. Last two days my female has seemed to almost be protecting a certain rock in the front left while my male has been behind the rocks towards the top center. Pintail has been around my female circling her.
As for my tang, he’s typically almost always working on the rocks and the last couple days he hasn’t seemed to be doing it as much. You can even notice algae starting to build up due to this.

Thank you for video. Best news is fish shows an interest in food and is feeding. Seaweed alone cannot keep this fish going and a suggestion would be a water change and adding some foods to diet such as:
LRS herbivore diet
Formula 2 flake and frozen
TDO Pellets
small plankton
Hikari Marine cuisine
Ocean nutrition veggie diet
spirulina brine shrimp
mysis shrimp
Prime reef
continue your Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract

Add selcon vitamins to foods occasionally

 

[GothFishKeeper]

Thank you for video. Best news is fish shows an interest in food and is feeding. Seaweed alone cannot keep this fish going and a suggestion would be a water change and adding some foods to diet such as:
LRS herbivore diet
Formula 2 flake and frozen
TDO Pellets
small plankton
Hikari Marine cuisine
Ocean nutrition veggie diet
spirulina brine shrimp
mysis shrimp
Prime reef
continue your Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract

Add selcon vitamins to foods occasionally

Thank you, I’ll place a BRS order now

 

[exnisstech]

I feed my gang PE mysis (heavy on the mysis) lrs, formula one and two pellets, dk1 pellets and sustainable aquatics hatchery diet pellets and they thrive. My Naso is fat and healthy and has been with me over 8 years as well as my purple which I've had for over six years. I never did feed much nori and it doesn't seem to have had any negative effect. I do feed very heavy twice a day with pellet snacks in between.

My convict is a fatty also. I've had him for over 3 years.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I feed my gang PE mysis (heavy on the mysis) lrs, formula one and two pellets, dk1 pellets and sustainable aquatics hatchery diet pellets and they thrive. My Naso is fat and healthy and has been with me over 8 years as well as my purple which I've had for over six years. I never did feed much nori and it doesn't seem to have had any negative effect. I do feed very heavy twice a day with pellet snacks in between.

My convict is a fatty also. I've had him for over 3 years.

You need to fatten the purple and naso some more. the convict looks plump

Mine cant eat enough

 

[exnisstech]

You need to fatten the purple and naso some more. the convict looks plump

Mine cant eat enough

It may be camera angle but these fish are all plump.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

Thank you for video. Best news is fish shows an interest in food and is feeding. Seaweed alone cannot keep this fish going and a suggestion would be a water change and adding some foods to diet such as:
LRS herbivore diet
Formula 2 flake and frozen
TDO Pellets
small plankton
Hikari Marine cuisine
Ocean nutrition veggie diet
spirulina brine shrimp
mysis shrimp
Prime reef
continue your Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract

Add selcon vitamins to foods occasionally

Update: the last couple days he now seems less interested in food. He eats a little bit during feeding time but he’s acting as if he’s full. His actual stomach is still very much bulging as seen in the pictures and video from before, could he somehow be constipated? He’s still grazing on the rocks from time to time but still not as much as he typically would before this issue came about. Last night I put a piece of gracilaria macroalgae on the clip for him instead of seaweed and he seemed to enjoy it but after a few bites he seemed uninterested again. I’m not sure what to do. Tomorrow I’ll finally be picking up some LRS herbivore frenzy but I’m not sure how to help him get out what he’s already taken down if that is an issue.

 

[reeferforever]

I’ve noticed the past couple days that my blue eye kole tang has seemed sluggish compared to his usual energetic happy self. In fact all my fish, which includes a pair of skunk clowns and a pintail fairy wrasse, have seemed a bit off. My clowns have been at opposite ends of the tank, each sticking to one area by themselves. Nothing has changed aside from adding a chiller to my setup because I have so many different pumps in my sump which heats the tank. I still feed Rod’s herbivore blend once daily, and every other day I put in a strip of Rod’s red seaweed for my tang and I spot feed mysis to my wrasse and my clowns so they stop hogging all the seaweed.
Anyways, today I noticed my tang looks pretty skinny, especially in the area right behind his stomach which looks sunken. What do you think? Also note that he’s always had the scar on his right side, not sure where it came from but it hasn’t seemed to bug him since I got him.
Parameters are in check.

He looks very skinny.

 

[GothFishKeeper]

He looks very skinny.

Yes that’s what I’m trying to fix

 

[Rene2br]

If there is some kind of intestinal blockage, FW dips can sometimes induce bowel movements. That is pretty drastic. Make sure you understand how to perform fw dips properly. Very important... My goto when it comes to improving really skinny fish, especially tangs is feeding frozen brine shrimp. Enriched if you can find it. You feed a little as often as you can. If the fish is still eating, brine shrimp are easy for the animal to swallow. Emaciated fish have a hard time with larger foods sometimes like mysis. For whatever reason brine is the right size. Watch that he actually eats the food. Not just tasting the food. If it is acutally eating, within a few weeks you should start to see an improvement and you can start moving up to larger foods. This will typically happen organically. If he isn't eating the brine, then there is something else that needs to be addressed.

From your video, there does not seem to be anything external to point to. This would mean that there is an internal issue and much harder to diagnose. If you can catch it the FW can help ascertain if there is indeed a blockage. If you haven't noticed any bowel movements then this could be the case. If you start noticing the animal is vomiting up food items, I'd treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic. This is kind of the last resort. It looks pretty vigorous still so hopefully it is just the food type. Good Luck. This part of the hobby sucks and is really stressful. Thanks for trying to care for your animal!

 

[GothFishKeeper]

If there is some kind of intestinal blockage, FW dips can sometimes induce bowel movements. That is pretty drastic. Make sure you understand how to perform fw dips properly. Very important... My goto when it comes to improving really skinny fish, especially tangs is feeding frozen brine shrimp. Enriched if you can find it. You feed a little as often as you can. If the fish is still eating, brine shrimp are easy for the animal to swallow. Emaciated fish have a hard time with larger foods sometimes like mysis. For whatever reason brine is the right size. Watch that he actually eats the food. Not just tasting the food. If it is acutally eating, within a few weeks you should start to see an improvement and you can start moving up to larger foods. This will typically happen organically. If he isn't eating the brine, then there is something else that needs to be addressed.

From your video, there does not seem to be anything external to point to. This would mean that there is an internal issue and much harder to diagnose. If you can catch it the FW can help ascertain if there is indeed a blockage. If you haven't noticed any bowel movements then this could be the case. If you start noticing the animal is vomiting up food items, I'd treat with a broad spectrum antibiotic. This is kind of the last resort. It looks pretty vigorous still so hopefully it is just the food type. Good Luck. This part of the hobby sucks and is really stressful. Thanks for trying to care for your animal!

Thank you! I am experienced with fw dips as we do them every week after fish come in at work.

However, his loss of appetite has now set in and he won’t touch any food. Does white stringy poop indicate parasites in SW the same as FW? I’ve never dealt with it with my saltwater fish. But the last couple days his poops have been completely white, and have been stringy/liquidy

 

[Rene2br]

Usually, this means that there is an internal infection or parasites. Again, when it is internal, very hard to diagnose. You just have to throw everything at it and hope for the best. The white poop is definitelty a tale tale sign that the issue is internal..

 

[Rene2br]

Start an antibacterial dip. That is probably as far as I would go..