feeding a Kole Tang in QT

[schatzi]

Hi I've got a Kole YE Tang in QT that doesn't appear to be eating yet. He's 3" long, pretty shy and been in the tank 3 days now. it's a 20L with a couple hob filters and a ph. I've tried algae wafers, nori, flakes, pellets and frozen mysis. He might be eating the wafers or they are just breaking down in the water. He doesn't look skinny and nothing else looks out of wack.

I'm also going to try some lettuce and a grazing block if I can find one. Parameters are decent. I might have the slightest bit of ammonia, it's the API test and it doesn't get green but the yellow has a bit of green look to it so it's possibly present. The sponges in the HOB's were cycled in the QT last summer and then put in a mesh bag in my sump for the last 7 months. I'm also doing 5 gal changes each day, sometimes twice. I'm not testing nitrite or nitrate and don't have a light on the tank.

Anyone have good results soaking the nori in selcon or garlic?

 

[Dmorty217]

Soaking in garlic and selcon will help get the kole eating I would also put garlic and selcon on the mysis. If the tang is fat and healthy I wouldn't be too worried about him not eating yet

 

[coral_lagoon]

Hang/clip a piece of Nori,and leave it in there. Since the fish looks good he will eat, just give a couple of more days or so..

 

[reef80]

I had the same issue w/ my YE Kole and it took him on the 5th or 6th day to start eatting. He was about the same size. I think it takes them longer to eat if they are collected at larger sizes due to the drasitic changes in their life. They generally are shy at first and isolated but will become extremely overt and moves and graves at the rock all day long once it becomes acclimated to tank life. My DT would not be the same without my YE and BE Kole. Yours should be fine since he came in fat and plump...he will eat soon.

 

[schatzi]

everything's looking good. I think he is eating. I cleaned the tank and drained 10 gallons for new water. The ammonia is before the change.

The nitrite and nitrate after the water change.

I folded up a sheet and a half of nori and put it low next to the pipe he's been in. The nori I cleaned out was torn up so he may have been eating.

I think it's looking good.

 

[MondoBongo]

i leave a large ball of some various macro algae in my QT tank.

it's fairly cheap at my LFS, and whenever i have a herbivore in there they love it. i just brought my yellow eyed kole tang to the DT after a 9 week rest in QT, he munched on the algae ball like crazy while in QT, and now in the main system has been grazing on the rocks, glass, sand, and nori i clip in there.

long story slightly longer, you may want to grab a big ball of macro algae at some point to float in your QT for him. that way he can graze at his leisure on fresh stuff.

 

[schatzi]

that's a good idea. i've got mostly just chaeto but there is some gha. How is cheato as a food for these guys? I've seen that they shouldn't eat it.

 

[schatzi]

An update on the fish. She's in the DT now 2 days and doing great.

While in QT I didn't see any signs of her eating until about 7 days. The lucky food was algae wafers that fell apart in the water and she ate the scraps off the bottom. Wouldn't ever eat frozen, nori, flakes or pellets.

She was pretty shy in QT until the last few days, now in the DT she's very social, eating at the LR, trying algae on the sand and even sampling a few flake food pieces.
Here's video shot today with my phone