juvenile clown tang lossing weight =(

[JmLee]

heres my regimen for feed. Morning i feed them brine shrimp with spurlina. and after that i will put " ocean nutrition " red marine algae on a food clip in the tank and he will munch on that pretty much all day. Then at night i usually give mysis with brine wich he loves as well. But it looks like he's cheeks are sinking in and he does this wierd thing where he twitches against the tank. Hes gone through ich about twice. Thans

 

[leebca]

I don't understand how it could have 'gone through [Marine Ich] twice.' Are you not keeping the fish healthy and disease free? Is it in a tank contaminated by Marine Ich?

A fish eating properly but loosing weight is often a sign of internal worms or parasites (assuming tank and water are perfect for it). Give the fish a dose of Praziquantel (droncit). More info on that treatment is found in this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=644238

The Clown Tang, similar to the Sohal Tang, has an 'attitude' that is often pushy and tough. But don't let that make you think the fish is easy or can tolerate less than perfect water quality. This tang needs a lot of swimming space (a 180 gallon tank for the juvenile would be best); top water quality; and the right environment. Like most tangs, its 'skin' is not well protected and the fish can be the target of many different kinds of parasites and even small ammonia spikes can initiate bouts of septicemia.

It's a herbivore and needs a lot of greens. It also needs a lot of food. The young ones are best fed three or four times a day since they are used to getting their food pretty much throughout the day. Of a regime of three feeds a day: one of gut loaded brine shrimp is okay (alternate between spirulina and fat gut loaded brine shrimp); a second feeding of Formula 2 (flake, pellet or frozen); a third feeding of one of a few different choices (like mini-mysis shrimp, or blood worms, or 'herbivore' prepared foods, or Formula 1, or home grown macro algae, or broccoli, or ?). This along with the daily feeding of algae on the clip is a good pattern for the juvenile Clown Tang.

Use vitamins, and fats on one feeding per day. Mix beta glucan in with the food once a day while the fish is recovering to help boost its immune system.

Good luck! :rollface:

 

[JmLee]

thanks for the reply. i do 5 - 10 gallon water change once every week and a half. no ammonia, no nitrites about 40 - 50 ppm nitrate that im battling at the moment, alkalinity is about 200 and my PH is 8.1. This tank is about 3 months old so its not exactly stable yet, i run 1 bag of carbon and i am using phosguard at the moment. I also run the UV for about 4 - 5 hours a day. And as far as the tank size i have a 125 on the side so eventually he will end up there. And off topic is your last name Lee? if so mine is to ha ha i know... that had nothing to do with anything.

Oh and the ich deal, one week he had it for about 1 day and it was gone the next day.. then next week he had it again for about 1 day... and it was gone again... thats what i mean. Maybe its not ich? but to me it sure did look like it.

 

[leebca]

You had me worried about the Marine Ich thing. I don't think it was MI. This tang (as most tangs) is very susceptible to that parasite. The parasite just doesn't 'go away.' Why not run the UV all the time?

I'd say the tank is too young for this tang. You'd want at least 6-8 months to lapse before attempting many of the Butterflyfishes and tangs. Your tank is going through many changes the tang won't appreciate. But good for you for realizing this on your own! :thumbsup:

First name is Lee.

 

[JmLee]

well tang is doing ALOT better i was just under feeding him. But now he's nice and plump