Kole tang still not eating!
 

Alright so it has been two weeks since I got my kole tang but all it eats are the diatoms off the sand and picks at rocks from time to time. Garlic soaked mysis/cylopeeze/plankton/flake doesn't work on him. And (blaming his bad diet) today he got ich!

Any suggestion on which food I should try? I am getting worried since it is to the point of stress due to starvation.

Have you feed it nori soaked in garlic extreme and selcon. If not you should do this now, often and if it eats it.

Do you have at least one side of your tank left 'dirty'?

Kole tangs need to feed on film algae which is the greased stuff you feel see on the glass. They will also eat it off of smooth stones you place in the glass.

I tried nori soaked in garlic guard (not selcon though; don't know where I can find that in Calgary) and the foxface eats it from the clip before the tang can see it. I even tried rubber banding it around a pvc pipe and drop it on the sandbed so that it can notice it but doesn't seem interested other than diatom. I haven't had any problem with fish not eating until I got the kole. I am pretty sure diatom is not giving it the proper nutrition and hence its health is deteriorating.

Do you clean all sides of the glass

I did leave one side for him to munch on but he doesn't seem to be interested on that either. But I do leave some films. Just the diatoms and occasional LR grazing. And chills with the foxface (wish he would starting eating like the foxface).

I had a couple tangs that wouldn't take food but emerald entre did the trick

Mr Hassan he needs films algae which he finds on the glass and smooth areas
Most kole adapt quickly but yours appears not to so leave the glass dirty. He is after film algae not diatoms.
If he is pecking he is eating but can't find the food he needs so he is starving.
Fix it.

I have a Kole Tang, and his first food (besides constantly picking algae from the rocks and glass) was freeze dried mysis in the QT tank, and it is still his favorite food. Then he started eating a few pellets after that. Never could get him to eat nori (weird for a tang), and still won't. And yes, I have a foxface too, and he is a real pig for that nori. I also have the Kole eating veggie flakes (while the foxface won't touch it). But he still fills his day bouncing around the tank, pecking for algae.

I am guessing its like formula 2?

So I am guessing that I am doing anything wrong, its just tangs' nature to be stubborn. I did check my parameters and those are in check (the water is not stressing out thats for sure).

He was getting quite active (apart from being shy whenever I am standing close to the tank) but he became very slow today and only roams around in one side of the tank. I am not totally sure but I have read that koles hardly (if any at all) touch nori. I am seriously getting worried. :(

Well, if he has ich, that is not good. Because I always QT with hypo, my new fish always get a good start. The hypo seems to give them extra vitality, and they take new food fairly quickly.

I know. It has to start eat within a day or two or else it is doomed :( I have cured visible ich from quite a few fishes with just overfeeding them but this guy seems to be too stubborn :twised:

You just can' let her die.
See if you can give her to another reef right away. One who has a qt with film algae on the glass

I am not saying that I will let it die. Trying to catch it and give it to someone else would be more stressful and I don't think that would be a good idea. I have the natural resources for it in the tank (film algae) but it just wouldn't eat. I am going to try the formula 2 tomorrow. Keeping my finger crossed.

Try everything!
What are you going to do about the ich infestation that has attacked your already weakened kole?

The typical method I followed before: overfeed it. It hasn't weaken to the point of heavy breathing yet. I just need the correct food to entice it to eat. Tell me the name of the food that all tangs love. Ocean formula 2 or something else?

I would like to suggest hypo in a QT. But unless you have one already set up fully cycled and mature, chances are not good for that to work either. Hastily set up QT's usually don't work. And as you said, catching him and moving him again will be stressful.

Ich usually subsides a bit every few days. If you can get him eating during that time, and maybe some immunity might kick in, you (he) might get lucky and survive. But I honestly don't like your chances.

I don't know what else to suggest at this stage. Good luck.

Thanks :) Honestly, I don't have the provision to set up a QT in my current home. And like you said, setting QT hastily is always a bad idea. Will do it once I move to the new place (hopefully it will have some space to spare). I kept on reading the net and people say that just give it time, it will start eating and so on. Till now, the longest starvation that I have seen in a new fish is possible an hour or something and thats it. Even the foxface, which is extremely shy, started eating the moment I got it in the tank. I just hope it starts eating!

All commonly kept tangs need algae. The cheapest good source is non flavoured nori.

Regal tangs are meat eaters and need meaty foods

Koles need film algae.

Most tangs will eat what the reefer feeds it.

Sqish some garlic, use garlic extreme or garlic extract on the food you choose to try. It acts as an appetite enhancer

Thanks. Will keep this thread updated (even if it leads to flaming me).

I know they are film eaters.. But I've never seen any fish not take a look at something live... How about trying some live white or black worms? I got some blenny s eating once with black worms.. Those worms wiggle something fierce once they hit saltwater.. Might attract his attention and get a feeding response? Worth a try i would say.

I do have brine shrimp eggs. Worth a shot?

tang
 

my kole loves to eat the algae i scrape off the glass;actually all my fish go nuts for it.they get freaked out if i use a algae magnet,so i switched to a scraper

Where would one find these live worms.. In edmonton say?

So, what happened to the Kole? Did he make it, or not?

Nop :( It passed away the next day. Ocean nutrition was the last hope but it got banned in Canada for some reason. I was running from LFS to LFS for the "right" food but had no luck :( I am just a bad tang guy :cry: No more fish till I move and hopefully get a QT.

Sorry to hear. Are your other fish OK?

Yap they are "kicking". Foxface caught ich too but it shredded its skin and is now clean. All of the fishes are eating healthily and I am trying to feed them more than one time a day.

One of the stages of ich is that falls off the fish giving the appearance of a cure but it comes back with Vengeance.
If you have no qt get some garlic extreme from a Lfs or garlic extract from a health food store and soak nori in it and feed. Feed very often and only garlic soaked food.

Yap I am doing that :) All the nori that's going in gets soaked in garlic guard for a min or two.

Make it five minutes until it is soaked. Nor sure about garlic guard as it may be watered down. How much and how often are you feedin

My current schedule is permitting twice per day. And when I stay at home, I make it 3 or 4 times. And feed them enough to make them happy in that feeding, not too much or not too less.

Feed them more. The idea is to get as much garlic in them as possible. Not to make them happy. They have ich.

Oki tokie :)

But I had the impression that garlic only act as a taste enhancer instead of some sort of medicine.

There is no scientific evidence (afaik) that garlic cures ich. It does seem to enhance appetite as my fish go nuts when I add it so I bet the increased nutrition helps fish battle the parasite. There is research showing liver problems for fish when fed garlic but this was a study on aqua cultured food species not ornamentals. I restrict my garlic feeding only when I feel a fish isn't looking healthy and not on a regular basis.

Most reefers have success using garlic extract for treating iChat. I am unaware of any scientific study that saws it does not work

I Agee that garlic extract should not be used daily as its potency may have negative effects over long term use.

Is this when fish talk too much? Or too long?
Sorry, couldn't resist...

Haha. Curse autocorrect :razz:

Kole Tang eats PE Mysis Shrimp
 

Hi,

My Kole Tang wouldn't eat for 2 weeks. I just kept feeding the other fish PE Mysis shrimp and it finally realized what they were eating and then started competing for its share. Meanwhile it cleaned up the back overflow - never looked so good and I already had a yellow tang.

AquaAddict