feeding kole tang in qt

R

reefkeeper78

New member
I've recently aquired a kole tang that is 2" ish. I have currently had it in qt now for 24 hours. Its swimming and moving around the tank but not eating yet? I'm not worried yet but would like some advice on how to feed this fish before days go by without eating.

The qt tank is a 29g bare bottom with 12lbs of live rock. I have a singe powerhead for movement and a heater. I have a hob filter with only sponge that was soaking in dt tank for benificial bateria. Currently, water is 1.025 sg, 0 amonia, 0 nitrates, 0 nitrites. I turned the lights off for the first 15 hours it was in the tank. I've tried flake food, mysis shrimp and some instant ocean sea weed blend and haven't seen it eat yet. I also tried soaking in garlic extract as well.

I see no obvious signs of stress or disease. Its still skidish when I come near the tank at this point. These fish normally feed on filmatous algae but I have no source of that in the qt tank. I've heard they can sometimes eat other sources of food. This is my third attempt at one of these fish, but the first time I've tried qt first.

Any advice would be helpfull to me.
 
I haven't had luck with my last two Kole tangs in QT unfortunately (1.023 and <5 nitrates). They ate at the LFS like pigs. In my QT, they moved and swam around from the very beginning, but never ate. I tried formula 1 flakes, NLS pellets, mysis, Nori seaweed, and Arcti-Pods, all soaked in garlic without any success. I also placed pieces of established live rock from my DT for the Kole tangs to peck on. Unfortunately, within a week the tangs passed away. I purchased them from reputable stores and haven't had any luck. I'm following your thread for tips and hope yours fare a lot better!

Oh, I read on wetwebmedia that Kole tangs do not fare as well in QT, and should be moved to the DT instead. For my next attempt in the future I may consider placing them directly into the DT, but am still thinking about it.
 
Tossing a tang in your tank without QT sounds about as fun as adding wild caught clowns without QT. No way I would ever do that.
 
I had my Kole tang in QT with a foxface rabbitfish. I was able to get both of them to start eating by rubber banding a small sheet of nori to a piece of live rock. As time went on I was able to get both of them to eat a bit of Rod's frozen food daily.

I'm not sure which fish started eating first, but I suspect it was the foxface simply because now that fish is the biggest hog in my display. It's entirely possible the Kole learned to eat the seaweed off the rock by watching the foxface eat.

Maybe you could try attaching the nori to a rock if you haven't already?
 
I've tried the nori sea weed soaked in garlic extract rubber banded to a rock. The fish seemed to have no intrest at all. I sat patinently for 30 mins without moving so as not to scare the fish. I did notice that it pecked at a rock a couple times but not the one that had the sea weed attached. I did notice that the fish seemed very intrested in its own reflection. I thought at first it was pecking at the glass but while sitting there for 30 mins, it became apparent that it wasn't pecking the glass but just swimming with its own reflection.
I do have a rock or two in my dt that has some filmatious algae on it. I was also wondering if anyone has tried blood worms? will tangs eat them. Any other thoughts or ideas?
 
I'v tried too feed my kole tang blood worms but did not take to them, my other tangs did eat them but it took a min. nothing like some myis shrimp. It just picks at the rocks and glass and shrimp for me.
 
I assume you also tried the nori rubberbanded to the rock without the garlic?

You might try a couple of live brine shrimp. They aren't very nutritious but they may break the ice. Also, refrigerated copepods (Arctipods) might be worth I try.

Good luck. I just watched a YLB with no outward signs of problems refuse to eat and die in a couple of days. It is frustrating, but these fish go through a lot from capture to holding to shipping to holding to shipping again.

One other thought - get a piece of macro algae from your LFS and put it in the QT. Maybe it will pick at live greens. Hopefully, they can recommend one that the tang might eat in the wild.
 
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no I haven't tried without the garlic, guess that will be tommrow's attempt. Will go through the routine again with mysis, flake and nori on the rock. I have a ton of chateo in my sump, guess that couldn't hurt either.
 
Kole tangs don't eat macro algae like caulerpa. They feed on film algae, so a sterile QT is a hard environment for them.

I had one that was dangerously skinny in a hospital tank being treated for a bad case of ich. The only reason he survived is that he started eating Sera spirulina tabs. They're not easy to find, but all my fish love them. They stick on the side of the tank so the fish can graze.

I don't know if the link below violates the rules, since this site isn't a sponsor, but it's the only place I've been able to find them reliably. Foster & Smith carries some Sera products, but not these.

http://www.corysrus.com/gallery_ac_1.htm

Once he got used to eating the tabs, he started eating nori, too. They can adapt, it's just a slow process.
 
C0rp said:
Tossing a tang in your tank without QT sounds about as fun as adding wild caught clowns without QT. No way I would ever do that.
Click to expand...

I agree. The only reason I'm considering is because my LFS quarantines, medicates, and observes the fish for at least 2 weeks. I know that's not a true QT length, but it's a risk I'm weighing now.
 
So after sitting in my basement for what seemed and eternity but in reality only about an hour and a half, I think that I witnessed the fish eating or attempting to eat. It seemed to be more active tonight, pecking at the power head while it was off as well as possibly some of the green sea weed that wasn't soaked in garlic. I tried most everything I had in the house tonight to see if I could find something to intrest the fish. It seemed teo be feverishly pecking at the water column when mysis were added though it had to be microscopic pieces as the larger ones were left alone. I tried thawing some frozen coral food that was high in algae, seemed to again be feeding out of the water column but not as feverishly. I tried thawing cylopes, seemed to peck around the tank some but not massivly. I finally gave in and turned on the filter and powe head again which of course stirred all the excess food in the water. At that point the fish went crazy pecking at the water column. It seemed to stay in the corrners mostly where the water swirls gently. The fish is still shy and darts away when I come tnear the tank but if I'm patient and sit still, the fish will come out of hiding and swim around the tank now with my head only a couple feet away from the tank. Small steps but at least in what seems the right direction. Still no signs of disease. Still has decent color as well, not as bright as pictures I have seen but not bleak either. With any luck it will truly start eating and condition will be improving.

My last effort for feeding will a different food source will come tommrow night. I'm going to remove a 3 or 4lb rock from the dt that seems to have some film algae growing on it and place in the qt. Maybe the fish gods will smile on me at that point.
 
Hope things turn out well for you. My Kole is one of my favorite fish, very active and colorful with those big yellow eyes.

I must've gotten lucky with my individual, I had no idea these animals were so difficult in quarantine.
 
Well I was forced to put the kole in the display tank. I found a leak in the qt tank and didn't want to re-live nightmares (several years ago I had a seal failure in a 60g octo about 2/3 the way down the tank at the ever convient 2:30am on workday) I was going to wait awhile still before adding the fish but was unable to obtain a tank at 10:30pm on a thursday night. The fish looks very healty, was eating decently in the qt, becoming more tolerant of me near the tank, and generally happy overall. So I decided that I would take a gamble. I put the fish in the display tank at 10pm thursday night. The salinity was a perfect match from qt to dt and ph between the two very close, less than 0.2 diff. I caught the fish in the qt, put it into a 1 gallon ziploc bag and floated it in the dt for 20 mins. I released the fish and watched it disapear behind some of the rocks. I turned off the display tank lights, closed all the shades in the living room and left it like that all day. When I came home from work at 6:30pm friday night I slowly turned on the lights. Shades first then a little later attinics the a little later whites. About 25 mins between each. I turned off all the lights slowly as well shortly after 10pm that night. Saturday the tank went back to its normal schedule. I have seen the fish swimming and grazing on the rocks and glass work all day. I've tried to keep the kids from running through the house (fat chance of that) as much as possible as that is the only thing that seems to make the fish disapear into the rocks. I've put some green seaweed sheets soaked in garlic extract attached to a pvc pipe with a rubber band and suspended 3/4 the way into the tank via fishing line. After about 30mins the fish has been grazing at the algae for the last 2 hours steadily. It seems to peck at it then swim away for awhile, graze other spots in the tank then come back. The only thing that I have noticed and hope is just nothing, is a small white spot on one fin. I can't say that it was or wasn't there in the qt as the fish was to fast and the lighting is fairly dim. Bottom line, so far so good!
 
Tangs are really omnivores, not herbivores. I've kept many tangs and almost all ate meaty stuff in QT before greens. Any tang will almost always eat mysis or spirulina loaded brine shrimp.
 
fish still happily swimming along and eating well. still not eating mysis yet like some said it would but readily accepting seaweed sheets. It has become a little bossy, especially to the lawnmower blenny. I never really seen a kole go after fish so aggresively before, but this one deff. does go after the blenny very aggresively. The blenny hid for about a week and when it does come out its chased back into hiding. No signs of stress or disease on any fish so hopefully I've dodged a bullit in that respect....
 
Kole vs. lawnmower blenny. Funny, I have the same situation. :lol:

In fact the blenny is the only fish in my tank the Kole harrasses. Must view him as a direct competitor, since they both have the same feeding style.
 
reefkeeper78 said:
fish still happily swimming along and eating well. still not eating mysis yet like some said it would but readily accepting seaweed sheets. It has become a little bossy, especially to the lawnmower blenny. I never really seen a kole go after fish so aggresively before, but this one deff. does go after the blenny very aggresively. The blenny hid for about a week and when it does come out its chased back into hiding. No signs of stress or disease on any fish so hopefully I've dodged a bullit in that respect....
Click to expand...

Keep an eye on the blenny. Over time the constant stress may cause some health issues. Be ready to act.
 
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