Shy Tomini Tang

[tag62001]

I've recently gotten a shy new tomini tang from diver's den. I have a 29 gallon quarantine tank but there had been an incident with my pair of captive bred mandarins. I had gotten a pair about a week or so before but my male was missing his right pectoral fin and was very small and thin ( I know captive bred are small but he was very small) and my female was fat and bigger than him.... She must have been tormenting him at lights out because I never saw it during the day they just stayed on opposite sides. Until I saw her bit his back and take off his dorsal fin... I separated them immediately and put her in the display and tried to bring him back... He made it awhile but never really ate after... So he was in the qt when I got the tang so I wasn't able to do my get to know you period with him like I would have liked. He found a nice huge cave and never seems to leave it. I only have the female Mandarin ( who gets along great with him ) and a cleaner shrimp and 2 trochus snails and an astraea snail. It's only been a week as of tomorrow but it would be nice to see him swim and explore his home a bit... Still trying to get him to eat seaweed but he eats pellets and frozen just fine I just target feed in front of the cave to make sure ( I started target feeding the Mandarin to make sure she ate and just carried over). Any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated. Thank you

 

[Big G]

Bump

 

[danieyella]

Does he come out to explore during lights out that you can tell? Maybe you could cut down the light period as he adjusts, it doesn't look like you have any corals in there yet?

 

[Mastiffsrule]

Evening.

Love mine. I have 1 in my 180, 1 in my 90. They are somewhat shy by nature. The one in the 90 I rarely see until dinner. The one in the 180 pals around with a smaller yellow but is also shy when approaching the tank. Pellets and frozen are ok. Try to cut or shred up the seaweed into flake size food. i like Selcon for vitamins, not everyone does. Just try to get at least 75% veg to 25% meaty food

 

[tag62001]

Does he come out to explore during lights out that you can tell? Maybe you could cut down the light period as he adjusts, it doesn't look like you have any corals in there yet?

I have seen him explore alittle around the connecting caves and a couple times he's gone up by the return and pecked at the algae on the glass but zips right back away. No corals yet so I will try having the lights on alittle less. ( I have scared the crap out if him a couple times on accident, trying to get some seaweed to stay by the entrance to his cave because he won't come use the clip yet. And he swims up by the return and poops. He gets along well with my Mandarin at least. Hoping she shows him it's ok to swim around. I'm thinking some seaweed pellets might work better than the purple stuff I have so far. And thank you.

 

[tag62001]

Evening.

Love mine. I have 1 in my 180, 1 in my 90. They are somewhat shy by nature. The one in the 90 I rarely see until dinner. The one in the 180 pals around with a smaller yellow but is also shy when approaching the tank. Pellets and frozen are ok. Try to cut or shred up the seaweed into flake size food. i like Selcon for vitamins, not everyone does. Just try to get at least 75% veg to 25% meaty food

I use selcon as well, any tips on getting him to eat seaweed? Should I just try the seaweed pellets? I'm tempted to put him in the qt like I wanted for that get to know you period but I'd feel bad and don't want to stress him more catching him. But if it would get him more used to me... Just not sure. And for the seaweed I've been crumbling it a bit in front of his cave but I never see him go for it. And thank you I appreciate it.

 

[Spieg]

They can be pretty shy and can take a long time to get comfortable in a new environment. Mine is out a lot when I'm not near the tank... I can watch him hide when he sees me or the dog coming. Even at feeding time he is pretty skittish and quick to hide at any sudden movement on my part. He gets along with all my other fish and even hangs out in a cave with my Anemone and Maroon Clown. Great algae eater so I would try to offer a lot of plant based foods (I like to alternate cubes of Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp or Mega Marine Algae), but he's happy to eat just about anything like flakes or pellets.

Mine is never out after lights out... always the first fish to bed down in the evening.

 

[Mastiffsrule]

I would not obsess too much on the Nori. I would hang it on a clip in the tank 10 minutes before feeding and leave in for about 20-30 minutes. Put it in an area you see him pecking at, or where you normally feed. Put in a small piece daily and see what happens. I have a file fish that even eats it.

If you have access to a local LFS that sells live black worms they are great food. I soak Selcon into formula two flake. My frozen includes hikari mega marina algae, spirulina brine, PE mysis nls pellets and a few others.

leave him in, unless you see disease and need to treat see aggression. He should come around, offer small meals 2-3 times a day if possible.

 

[tag62001]

They can be pretty shy and can take a long time to get comfortable in a new environment. Mine is out a lot when I'm not near the tank... I can watch him hide when he sees me or the dog coming. Even at feeding time he is pretty skittish and quick to hide at any sudden movement on my part. He gets along with all my other fish and even hangs out in a cave with my Anemone and Maroon Clown. Great algae eater so I would try to offer a lot of plant based foods (I like to alternate cubes of Hikari Spirulina Brine Shrimp or Mega Marine Algae), but he's happy to eat just about anything like flakes or pellets.

Mine is never out after lights out... always the first fish to bed down in the evening.

Thank you, I knew it was going to be a bit of a challenge, I've got 2 boys and the tank is in the living room. I do my best to get them to understand to try to be calmer around the tank so the fish can be calm and get used to things. I'll try to get up before the lights come on and see if he's out and about beforehand or not. He just loves that cave and for his size it's very spacious. I feed tdo chromaboost pellets, frozen baby Brine shrimp ( mainly for my Mandarin) and LRS herbivore blend and LRS nano blend and Julian springs sea veggies purple seaweed but still trying to get him to try it. I'll try your suggestions thank you.

 

[tag62001]

I would not obsess too much on the Nori. I would hang it on a clip in the tank 10 minutes before feeding and leave in for about 20-30 minutes. Put it in an area you see him pecking at, or where you normally feed. Put in a small piece daily and see what happens. I have a file fish that even eats it.

If you have access to a local LFS that sells live black worms they are great food. I soak Selcon into formula two flake. My frozen includes hikari mega marina algae, spirulina brine, PE mysis nls pellets and a few others.

leave him in, unless you see disease and need to treat see aggression. He should come around, offer small meals 2-3 times a day if possible.

Thank you, I've got the clip in front of his cage but you made me think to try moving it around to the back ( the only place he seems to come out). Unfortunately my closest LFS is either Minneapolis or Des Moines, I'm smack dab between the two so it's 2 hours one way for either but I've done it and will keep doing so haha. I probably overfeed at the moment but I want to make sure they are eating, and it's not easy only having 2 fish to feed lol it's either waste a ton or overfeed some I'm trying to find a balance. Also any advice on tank mates? Maybe a couple clowns out and about would make him more comfortable and show him it's ok? Just a thought. Again thank you and I will absolutely check out your food recommendations.

 

[tag62001]

Thank you, I've got the clip in front of his cage but you made me think to try moving it around to the back ( the only place he seems to come out). Unfortunately my closest LFS is either Minneapolis or Des Moines, I'm smack dab between the two so it's 2 hours one way for either but I've done it and will keep doing so haha. I probably overfeed at the moment but I want to make sure they are eating, and it's not easy only having 2 fish to feed lol it's either waste a ton or overfeed some I'm trying to find a balance. Also any advice on tank mates? Maybe a couple clowns out and about would make him more comfortable and show him it's ok? Just a thought. Again thank you and I will absolutely check out your food recommendations.

Cave not cage*