Yellow eyed kole Tang?

[abulgin]

Originally posted by psilentchild
Shouldnt he eat from the algae strip in my QT?

You keep asking me this, and I keep answering your question. I would not expect a new fish, thrown into a quarantine tank to immediately start eating Nori off a clip. Besides the fact that the fish is stressed, it's an unnatural looking food and it will take some exploring to get accustomed to it. As I said, my Kole Tang didn't eat fish food for about 10-14 days--it simply roamed the tank and picked at my live rock and glass. This is normal.

[kudora]

my kole tang favorite is formula 2, and barely touches any algae on the clip, i have tried them all, green, red and brown. he is happy picking at the rocks all day.

he is not aggresive either, for the first month he would chase the algae blenny away in open water but that has also stopped. i have a 3" GSM and its my koles best friend.

[psilentchild]

From what I'm reading I think I'm going to give him a few days in my QT and then put him in my DT and let him eat of my LR.I have about 70 pds of LR with 9 turbo and 1 cowie snails.Would he be ok with the snails for as will there be enough algae for him or is there something I sholud add for him like this formula 3.What is that?Also do the cleaner shrimp eat ich?If this has been answer already I m sorry I must have missed it.

[psilentchild]

?

[kudora]

no cleaner shrimp do not eat ich.
if your going to QT then QT for at least 3 weeks to keep an eye on him if he comes down with something then you can keep it away from your DT. if not then you could take abulgin advise and use formalin. what ever you do dont just put him into the DT tank with out taking some kind of precaution. if doing a formalin dip read up on it untill you feel confident you know what your doing.

i have you agree with abulgin, only you can make that decision, since you are evaluating/studing your fish. before you decide anything do take some time to read the new to rc answer thread located here
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1031074
and read all of the threads.

[psilentchild]

Thanks for all the info.I am going to wait bout a month before a put him in my DT.I want to make sure he is eating.I dont remember anybody posting anything on this formalin.What is this?Is there a post somewhere or a article about it that I can read up on

[tmz]

In my opinion the fish should stay in qt for at east 4 weeks,preferably six. Give it some places to hide with scraps of pvc.

The lfs just got it and you then took it . So this fish has been through shipping and a second move in a brief period of time. It can take it a week or more to settle down even if both acclimations were top notch.

Remaining in qt will not stress the fish if the qt is well maintained. Moving an unquarantined fish to a display is always a high risk for disaster particularly one that is not behaving well and not eating. You may consider droping the sg a bit south of 1.20 to make it a little easier for it.

Ctenochaetus strigosus(kole tang) is a bristle tooth tang they comb live rock, the bottom and the glass for diatoms, phyto and detrius.It's not big on clips like other surgeon fishes. It will eventually eat it . For now move it lower in the tank and offer some meaty foods such as brine, mysis and bloodworm.

It may take a week for this fish to settle down and up to 4 weeks for it to show signs of disease. For future reference, it is always better to pick a fish that your lfs has had for a week or more and then only after you have seen it eat.Loss of appetite can be an early symptom for a number of diseases or just high stress.

Kole tangs can be aggressive ,particularly to newcomers to the tank.Not like a Sohal but aggressive nonetheless.

[abulgin]

Originally posted by tmz
In my opinion the fish should stay in qt for at east 4 weeks,preferably six. Give it some places to hide with scraps of pvc.

The lfs just got it and you then took it . So this fish has been through shipping and a second move in a brief period of time. It can take it a week or more to settle down even if both acclimations were top notch.

Remaining in qt will not stress the fish if the qt is well maintained. Moving an unquarantined fish to a display is always a high risk for disaster particularly one that is not behaving well and not eating. You may consider droping the sg a bit south of 1.20 to make it a little easier for it.

Ctenochaetus strigosus(kole tang) is a bristle tooth tang they comb live rock, the bottom and the glass for diatoms, phyto and detrius.It's not big on clips like other surgeon fishes. It will eventually eat it . For now move it lower in the tank and offer some meaty foods such as brine, mysis and bloodworm.

It may take a week for this fish to settle down and up to 4 weeks for it to show signs of disease. For future reference, it is always better to pick a fish that your lfs has had for a week or more and then only after you have seen it eat.Loss of appetite can be an early symptom for a number of diseases or just high stress.

Kole tangs can be aggressive ,particularly to newcomers to the tank.Not like a Sohal but aggressive nonetheless.

Well, I respect TMZ for his incredible experience, but I do think there are so many factors that come into play here--just to name a few, how the fish looks and acts, how the QT is set up, how big the QT is, etc. The fish may not be eating because the only thing that has been offered is unpalatable. We just don't know, which makes it hard to give advice. TMZ's approach is definitely the prudent one--it is better to lose one fish than many. With that said, please do read this article: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/koletang.htm. This article takes the position that Kole Tangs are not aggresive, and that has been my experience as well.

Monitor the fish's health and you decide what to do. While I agree that it can take up to 4 weeks to show signs of disease, if this fish has been in QT for 2+ week, shows no sign of ich but is not eating, I might have a different approach than if the fish starts eating tomorrow (in which case I would leave it in QT). The reason I did not keep my Kole in QT more than a few days is that my fish looked very healthy and was not touching any food.

Formula 3 is just a type of fish food that any quality LFS should carry.

Formalin is formaldehyde and water. It kills ich, both free floating and those cysts lightly embedded in the fish by causing the slime coat to slough off. It is a very effective medicine, but is very toxic so you need to be careful when administering (follow the directions on the bottle and AERATE the water while the fish is being dipped). http://www.wetwebmedia.com/formalinart.htm

[psilentchild]

How long should I leave the clip in there the package say take it out after 6 hrs if food is not eating?He has been niping at the glass but he has been swimming all around the clip.He was eating of the LR in my LFS so I assumed he was eating thats why I went ahead a got him.TMZ thank salot you have help me out with other problems I have had.So thanks for all the knowledge you have pass on and thanks to everybody else for all the help

[abulgin]

I would stop trying to feed it nori. The reason they tell you take it out after 6 hours is that it starts to decompose, and will drive your ammonia levels up, which are already delicate in an un-cycled quarantine tank. Instead, might try attaching some kale or romaine lettuce to a piece of live rock or PVC with a rubberband and see if that won't get him eating.

[tmz]

The Kole tang is less aggressive than many tangs but they are rambunctious and many can be quite aggressive. I've seen several that way including one that contiuously chased my hooded fairy wrasse.

[kudora]

there was a thread on yellow eye kole tangs a few months back and some posters besides myself mentioned that the tang could be aggresive against certain types of fish.

[abulgin]

Originally posted by kudora
there was a thread on yellow eye kole tangs a few months back and some posters besides myself mentioned that the tang could be aggresive against certain types of fish.

As with almost everything in life, it all depends on your fish. Fish have personalities too! My Kole does chase my sailfin blenny around from time to time, but mostly it just bounces around looking for a nice green rock.

[Bambalam]

Originally posted by tmz
The Kole tang is less aggressive than many tangs but they are rambunctious and many can be quite aggressive. I've seen several that way including one that contiuously chased my hooded fairy wrasse.

+1

I have to put a mirror up to the side of my tank every time I get a new fish to keep my Kole preoccupied. It harrassed a copperband butterfly to death before I tried this trick. To say that all Kole's are not aggressive is kind of a blanket statement.

[abulgin]

I shouldn't have originally said "Kole's are not aggressive" without qualifying it with something like TMZ's statement. What I meant was, as far as tangs go they are (supposed to be) pretty laid back. And I do agree that they are rambunctious. Of course, every fish is different so who knows what you'll end up getting.

[timschmidt]

Good read here. My kole is in QT and not eating from a clip. LOL I just put a sacrificial bit of LR rubble with algae in QT just to give food.

[otrlynn]

Two thoughts, I posted earlier that I currently have a Kole tang in QT. To condense the story, he wasn't eating much of anything, ich became evident and is being treated with hypo. About the time that the ich disappeared (at least the obvious signs of it) he began eating. So, the "not-eating" may be due to him being in a new environment, or he may be in the early stages of an illness or parasite infestation. So, keep a good eye on him; after all that is why he is in QT. It may be coincidental, but I ditched the Nori clip and soaked a piece of Nori in Garlic guard, and rubber-banded it to a small piece of live rock. Picking off a rock seems like more natural fish behavior. It was the first thing the Kole began eating. If he's interested, he'll go for it quickly. I would not leave it in the tank for more than an hour or two. Just FYI, he has not been aggressive with the 3 other fish in my QT. He's right there when I feed and is faster than some of the other fish, particularly the clown, but other than snatching the food, doesn't bother the other fish. One is a firefish, an fish that could be easily bullied.

[abulgin]

Originally posted by otrlynn
It may be coincidental, but I ditched the Nori clip and soaked a piece of Nori in Garlic guard, and rubber-banded it to a small piece of live rock. Picking off a rock seems like more natural fish behavior.

+1. Great suggestion.

[psilentchild]

Well he is eating now

[otrlynn]

Originally posted by abulgin
+1. Great suggestion.

I wish I could take credit for it! One of the many useful things I learned somewhere on Reef Central!

[tmz]

Originally posted by psilentchild
Well he is eating now

Good to hear. Good luck.

[nickts40]

I have 5 tangs and the Kole is the most timid. All the other ones eat out of my hand but the Kole never approaches. Even though the Kole is the biggest tang he is the slowest eater, and took him weeks to even approach the clip as the other tang jockeyed for position.

I agree with previous poster. I had a pair of GSMs and they terrorized the tank and did not nake it into my new 220.

[timschmidt]

After moving the food from a clip to a rock my Kole starting chowing down too. Apparently I did not research him as well as I thought. But he is eating, swimming, and healthy.

[psilentchild]

I read in a book that you can feed them slices of zucchini and broccoli.Has anybody done this and if so did it work?

[otrlynn]

Originally posted by psilentchild
I read in a book that you can feed them slices of zucchini and broccoli.Has anybody done this and if so did it work?

I have read about broccoli and small pieces of lettuce but have also read that you should freeze them first, then thaw them, to break down the fibers in the veggies. I have not tried this. My thinking is to stick with the "natural" food of the fish as much as possible.