If you've successfully kept a Kole Yellow-Eyed tang through QT...

[iwishtofish]

...please let me know. I'd love some advice on getting them to eat, reducing stress, etc. Mine is coming Tuesday from Live Aquaria, and I have set up a 20L as my QT.

 

[sjwitt]

I didn't have any trouble getting my Kole to eat in QT. It ate nori and spirulina flakes and pellets. It can be shy so give it plenty of 'hiding' places. I would also cover sides and back of the QT and only have the front opened for viewing. BTW, 20L is about 5 gallons which seems really small to me for a QT. I hope this fish is small. Make sure you do plenty of water changes because that small a volume will need it.

 

[natebedwell06]

i think he means a 20 long not 20 liters

 

[L8 2 RISE]

yellow eye kole tangs are very aggressive in my experience and you won't have any problem getting it to eat or anything. If it were me I'd just put it directly in my tank and skip the qt since it's from DD. Don't worry about eating, it should eat just about anything.

 

[iwishtofish]

I didn't have any trouble getting my Kole to eat in QT. It ate nori and spirulina flakes and pellets. It can be shy so give it plenty of 'hiding' places. I would also cover sides and back of the QT and only have the front opened for viewing. BTW, 20L is about 5 gallons which seems really small to me for a QT. I hope this fish is small. Make sure you do plenty of water changes because that small a volume will need it.

Hey, thanks for the food recommendations. I'll cover the sides of the tank. PVC pipe for the hiding places? Did you acclimate the fish to any artificial lighting?

i think he means a 20 long not 20 liters

Yes, 20g long.

yellow eye kole tangs are very aggressive in my experience and you won't have any problem getting it to eat or anything. If it were me I'd just put it directly in my tank and skip the qt since it's from DD. Don't worry about eating, it should eat just about anything.

I'm glad to hear about the eating. This fish is actually from just Live Aquaria (California?), rather than their Diver's Den facility, which I believe is somewhere else.

 

[rssjsb]

I've had a couple. They both took awhile to accept prepared foods. With a few exceptions, I would encourage you to QT any fish you get, regardless of where it comes from, if only so you can let it recover from shipping and you can make sure it's eating before introducing it into your tank. A 20 long should be fine.

I got my current one started on Sera spirulina stick-on tabs in QT. Once he accepted those, he would eat anything. It may take awhile before it eats nori - it's not a natural food for them. Has your QT been set up long?

 

[iwishtofish]

I've had a couple. They both took awhile to accept prepared foods. With a few exceptions, I would encourage you to QT any fish you get, regardless of where it comes from, if only so you can let it recover from shipping and you can make sure it's eating before introducing it into your tank. A 20 long should be fine.

I got my current one started on Sera spirulina stick-on tabs in QT. Once he accepted those, he would eat anything. It may take awhile before it eats nori - it's not a natural food for them. Has your QT been set up long?

I do plan to QT this fish - I'd feel too bad if it got sick in my DT, and I couldn't catch it to treat it.

Thank you for the food info. My QT has been fully set up only just recently, but I've had a biowheel floating in my sump for maybe a few months. I plan to pop that in the Penguin HOB filter, and monitor for ammonia frequently. I'm also planning on 5g water changes, as needed, as well as using a turkey baster to suck out any food and waste detritus that gathers.

 

[sjwitt]

Oh, glad to hear is 20g long (spend time on international sites so seeing 20L to me means liters). As far a the nori, I don't put it in a clip, I hold it in the water and rub it between my fingers so it 'peels' off in small pieces. All my fish (even Anthias) go crazy for it.

And yes, QT every fish regardless of where it comes from not only for disease but also to give them time to recuperate and start eating. I have taken to 6 week QT to make sure they're eating and getting fat before they go into the DT And are, of course, disease free.

 

[sjwitt]

Hey, thanks for the food recommendations. I'll cover the sides of the tank. PVC pipe for the hiding places? Did you acclimate the fish to any artificial lighting?

I actually use the "plastic rocks" because it looks more natural. Maybe fish don't care but the PVC doesn't seem too 'relaxing' to me. Anyway PVC would work too.

I do light acclimate. My QT is 55g with T5 lighting. When they first go in, it do lights out or actinic only for the first day. Then, go to 3 hrs actinics, 4 hrs of actinics and whites with 3 hrs actinics. When they go into the DT (250W MHs) the lighting remains on the normal DT schedule since it has lots of LR with caves and hiding places so they can 'deal' with the lighting change.

 

[jim.crunk]

Maybe I just got lucky, but after being in my DT for 5 minutes he became a total little piggy(he is ony 2" long). He has never hidden in the rocks except to sleep at night. Is kind of funny to watch him, he has buddied up with my Coral Beauty and follows him around like a littile puppy.
I never used a QT and I do think they are a great idea.

 

[mermin]

Got mine from dd. Ate nls pellets right out of the bag. It was a bit shy in the beginning but he's always out and about now

 

[iwishtofish]

Oh, glad to hear is 20g long (spend time on international sites so seeing 20L to me means liters). As far a the nori, I don't put it in a clip, I hold it in the water and rub it between my fingers so it 'peels' off in small pieces. All my fish (even Anthias) go crazy for it.

And yes, QT every fish regardless of where it comes from not only for disease but also to give them time to recuperate and start eating. I have taken to 6 week QT to make sure they're eating and getting fat before they go into the DT And are, of course, disease free.

Sounds good. I'll try the nori trick. Unfortunately, I have some food to pick up. All I have is Instant Ocean Seaweed blend.

I actually use the "plastic rocks" because it looks more natural. Maybe fish don't care but the PVC doesn't seem too 'relaxing' to me. Anyway PVC would work too.

I do light acclimate. My QT is 55g with T5 lighting. When they first go in, it do lights out or actinic only for the first day. Then, go to 3 hrs actinics, 4 hrs of actinics and whites with 3 hrs actinics. When they go into the DT (250W MHs) the lighting remains on the normal DT schedule since it has lots of LR with caves and hiding places so they can 'deal' with the lighting change.

I looked at fake ornaments at Walmart this evening - I decided I just don't want to spend the money. Poor fish. I guess pvc will be home for a while.

Thanks for letting me know how you do your lighting.

Maybe I just got lucky, but after being in my DT for 5 minutes he became a total little piggy(he is ony 2" long). He has never hidden in the rocks except to sleep at night. Is kind of funny to watch him, he has buddied up with my Coral Beauty and follows him around like a littile puppy.
I never used a QT and I do think they are a great idea.

I hope mine has a good appetite! I'm excited about this fish, but not completely optimistic due to past experience with fish. I'm trying to do it right this time!

Got mine from dd. Ate nls pellets right out of the bag. It was a bit shy in the beginning but he's always out and about now

I wish mine was from DD. We'll see how it goes!

 

[billyzbear]

My yellow eye will not eat nori. He is an algae eating machine thou. He will eat some flake and mysis. He is a tad aggressive. He thinks all the algae is his and doesn't like to share.

 

[iwishtofish]

My yellow eye will not eat nori. He is an algae eating machine thou. He will eat some flake and mysis. He is a tad aggressive. He thinks all the algae is his and doesn't like to share.

I hope mine is a pig, too!

Anyone have any problems with ich, or flukes - or worse?

 

[lilalove]

I QT'd mine for 5 days, long enough for one Prazi treatment. It wasn't eating and hiding behind the rocks all the time in QT. I do have sand and rock in my 29 gallon, so it's more of an acclimation tank. It just wasn't happy, so I dumped it in the DT. It started picking at the microalgae the second it was in the water. Now it eats NLS pellets, goes nuts for them actually, live black worms, and flakes. It's getting fat, and although they are supposedly one of the more docile tangs, this guy will give my tailspot blenny chase. Mine doesn't eat Nori either.

I don't normally advocate skipping QT, and I still think you should with this fish. However, if it isn't doing well in your QT, you will have to make a tough choice between keeping it in QT and perhaps having it perish, or putting it in your DT and risk infection. Good luck! I hope it works out. Let us know how it goes.

 

[jmg416]

yellow eye kole tangs are very aggressive in my experience and you won't have any problem getting it to eat or anything. If it were me I'd just put it directly in my tank and skip the qt since it's from DD. Don't worry about eating, it should eat just about anything.

I never had any issues getting mine to eat, when I had one. But aggressive is certainly not a word I would use to describe it.

 

[iwishtofish]

I QT'd mine for 5 days, long enough for one Prazi treatment. It wasn't eating and hiding behind the rocks all the time in QT. I do have sand and rock in my 29 gallon, so it's more of an acclimation tank. It just wasn't happy, so I dumped it in the DT. It started picking at the microalgae the second it was in the water. Now it eats NLS pellets, goes nuts for them actually, live black worms, and flakes. It's getting fat, and although they are supposedly one of the more docile tangs, this guy will give my tailspot blenny chase. Mine doesn't eat Nori either.

I don't normally advocate skipping QT, and I still think you should with this fish. However, if it isn't doing well in your QT, you will have to make a tough choice between keeping it in QT and perhaps having it perish, or putting it in your DT and risk infection. Good luck! I hope it works out. Let us know how it goes.

I know, it might come down to a tough decision. At least it will be my only fish for a while. If I have to put it in the DT, and it turns out to be sick and not trappable, at least I'll have no other losses and I can keep the tank fallow.

Thank you for the comments, and the food tips!

I never had any issues getting mine to eat, when I had one. But aggressive is certainly not a word I would use to describe it.

I'm glad of that, since this will be the first fish added.

 

[iwishtofish]

The QT pH dropped to 7.2. The fish is breathing heavily, and at one point was completely stunned. I am trying to correct this with water changes. I'm not sure a tang can survive this, much less any fish other than a damsel.

I may have added a small amount of vinegar instead of top off water. I use old vinegar jugs for RO/DI water, and have been really good at keeping the separated, at least until now, of course.

The fish also shipped in water with a salinity of 1.018. Two major strikes against me, here.

 

[iwishtofish]

Well, major score just now. Fish taking mysis. I'll soak it in Selcon next round.

 

[iwishtofish]

The fish has stayed in the same corner of the tank, pretty much the whole time, finning to stay in place against the slight current of the powerhead.

Is this going to exhaust the fish, eventually? It won't seem to go to the pvc pipe to hide. Maybe it is too foreign-looking?

At least it is getting some energy replenished - it takes algae food and mysis. I don't know how often to feed, though.