Kole Tang won't come out of hiding

[Stevenliu9]

This kole tang is the "shyest" I have ever seen.
I ordered a Kole Tang from a dealer it arrived with some scratch and looked stressed. So I put it in my seahorse tank for now until it heals. But it's been two days of hiding I can see the fish but have not seen it come out of hiding. There are only three other seahorse and a possum wrasse in the tank with a bunch of macro algae. How long does it take for your kole tang to get over the shyness before they come out to feed (even with no competition or aggression in the tank)?

 

[arashsheikhpoor]

arent seahorse tanks kept at a much lower temp than what the kole would be comfortable in?

It took my tank about 2 day for it to be comfortable to come out while i was in the room.

 

[Dr Colliebreath]

I wouldn't worry at this point (two days in). It can take a couple of weeks for a new fish to come out of hiding (there are a couple of reports here of koles not coming out while a person is in the room for weeks), and your fish sounds like it has had a rough time which is likely to make it more cautious. Keep offering a mix of foods, try rubber banding some nori to a rock, make sure the water parameters are perfect so as not to stress the fish further, and give the fish a week or two to settle in.

 

[Stevenliu9]

Thanks guys!
And by the way I have tank raised erectus seahorse they are kept at 78F. So temp is not a problem.

 

[rssjsb]

Yes, koles are notoriously shy. Frank's advice is good.

 

[PhaneSoul]

I wouldn't worry at this point (two days in). It can take a couple of weeks for a new fish to come out of hiding (there are a couple of reports here of koles not coming out while a person is in the room for weeks), and your fish sounds like it has had a rough time which is likely to make it more cautious. Keep offering a mix of foods, try rubber banding some nori to a rock, make sure the water parameters are perfect so as not to stress the fish further, and give the fish a week or two to settle in.

put my tang in that 'weeks of shyness' group, mine took about 2 weeks to eat frozen food (prior to getting him I purposely grew algae for him to naturally graze) and about a month before he would swim around in the open while I was watching the tank. he is still skittish after several months, he swims when I feed and watch the tank but any sudden movements and he will go hide