Tang will not take to food in QT

[Michael Gentile]

I’ve had a mandarin, a madis goby, and a tomini bristletooth tang in qt for 3 days now. The Midas and mandarin are eating fine and have full bellies but I cannot get the tang to eat at all. He shows no interest in anything. I have tried Red and green algae on a clip, garlic blood worms, hikari algae pellets, flake food, frozen Mysis, and live brine shrimp. Maybe I’m missing something else I could try. If he doesn’t take to food tomorrow I’ll be really worried, I always place the food in and walk away with all flow and pumps off. He just always hides in a foam tube and never leaves. Anyone have some ideas I would hate to lose him

 

[ZoixDark]

how big is the tang and how bit is the QT tank? how's he looking?

 

[jtf74]

I’ve had a mandarin, a madis goby, and a tomini bristletooth tang in qt for 3 days now. The Midas and mandarin are eating fine and have full bellies but I cannot get the tang to eat at all. He shows no interest in anything. I have tried Red and green algae on a clip, garlic blood worms, hikari algae pellets, flake food, frozen Mysis, and live brine shrimp. Maybe I’m missing something else I could try. If he doesn’t take to food tomorrow I’ll be really worried, I always place the food in and walk away with all flow and pumps off. He just always hides in a foam tube and never leaves. Anyone have some ideas I would hate to lose him

Had a yellow in QT for 90 plus days and never saw it eat as it hid all the time. Once it got moved in with other fish it took cues from them and started eating well. Keep feeding as mine had to be eating though I never saw it. Mine liked frozen omnivore mix. Good luck

 

[Michael Gentile]

how big is the tang and how bit is the QT tank? how's he looking?

He’s maybe an inch if that, he’s very small, the qt is only 10g, he just looks very scared, pale but his stomach isn’t sunken in, I stuffed some algae pellets into his little cave and after I showered they were gonna so hopefully he was the one that ate them

 

[Michael Gentile]

Had a yellow in QT for 90 plus days and never saw it eat as it hid all the time. Once it got moved in with other fish it took cues from them and started eating well. Keep feeding as mine had to be eating though I never saw it. Mine liked frozen omnivore mix. Good luck

I’ll run to the store tomorrow and give that mix a try, can’t hurt, thank you for the advice! I’ll keep at it, just didn’t want to dose prazi until he ate

 

[vetteguy53081]

Literally NO fish turns down brine shrimp. Try that and add a little garlic extract to it as an attractant.

 

[Michael Gentile]

Literally NO fish turns down brine shrimp. Try that and add a little garlic extract to it as an attractant.

I didn’t soak them in garlic but I gave the tank a comfortable amount of live brine and he said no to it

 

[vetteguy53081]

I didn’t soak them in garlic but I gave the tank a comfortable amount of live brine and he said no to it

Hmmm- hopefully no gill flukes or anything. Brine shrimp entices All fish. Fishes' breathing good, not rapid ?

 

[lefkonj]

Have anywhere for him to hide in QT? If he is getting spooked he might not eat. I have seen new fish like this be afraid of us big scary humans, and when we leave they pick at the nori or pellets

 

[Michael Gentile]

Have anywhere for him to hide in QT? If he is getting spooked he might not eat. I have seen new fish like this be afraid of us big scary humans, and when we leave they pick at the nori or pellets

yeah i have a couple tubes some sponge and old reef rock in there, the qt is bare bottom though, plenty of spots to hide from me

 

[Michael Gentile]

Hmmm- hopefully no gill flukes or anything. Brine shrimp entices All fish. Fishes' breathing good, not rapid ?

he looks really healthy, i did a bag check and when i do catch glimpses of him he swims fine and doesnt seem to be gasping or breathing hard. i have pictures and videos if you would like

 

[Zionas]

Maybe a bit on the small side and I heard this genus sometimes takes more time than average accepting prepared foods. Hopefully with some live brine and with some time he’ll accept everything. Unlike the more omnivorous Zebrasoma and some Acanthurus that are traditional herbivores, Ctenochaetus are detritus eaters.

 

[Michael Gentile]

Maybe a bit on the small side and I heard this genus sometimes takes more time than average accepting prepared foods. Hopefully with some live brine and with some time he’ll accept everything. Unlike the more omnivorous Zebrasoma and some Acanthurus that are traditional herbivores, Ctenochaetus are detritus eaters.

I got him to finally munch on some pellets today, soaked some hikari algae pellets in garlic for 10 minutes, and when I dropped them in and walked away I saw him picking at them through the doorway, but this information is awesome to know, I should def do more research on the scientific names

 

[Greg P]

Good to hear there's some food interest now
For the first couple days with new fish I keep the QT light off and sit near the tank so they can see me/get used to me being around

 

[Zionas]

Good to know.