Kole Yellow Eye Tang spitting food

[sweeper7]

So I gave this fish a 2nd try yesterday and he seems to have the same issue my first Kole tang had.

I bought one a year ago, nice and big but he would eat food and spit it out as if he can't swallow and now this new fish seems to be having the same issue.

He keeps putting the pellets in his mouth and spitting it out as if he can't swallow.

any idea what this is?

Currently in the QT he is going through PraziPro and a very low dose of cupramine.

 

[snorvich]

try mysis or some other frozen food as well as nori on a clip

 

[Deinonych]

try mysis or some other frozen food as well as nori on a clip

+1

I always start new acquisitions on mysis. Remember that these fish, being wild caught, are not used to eating processed foods like pellets. Mysis at least looks like something they would eat on the reef.

 

[sweeper7]

But him spitting it out indicates he can't swallow, no?

I say this because the first one i had would spit food out and became so thn it died.

 

[snorvich]

But him spitting it out indicates he can't swallow, no?

I say this because the first one i had would spit food out and became so thn it died.

It means he does not like what you are providing. Hence the suggestions above.

 

[lagatbezan]

+1 on the mysis. Also might be because of the meds in the water. I always usually try to get the fish to eat well for a few days before I start any meds.

 

[Nina51]

my kole tang will eat pretty much anything i throw at him but he especially loves formula 2. i buy the frozen cubes and slice real thin pieces off.

 

[sweeper7]

I will try the mysis tomorrow. I put the meds in 24-36 hours later usually I wait until they eat most of the time but thought maybe he spit the food out because he was ill.

 

[sweeper7]

So that didn't work. He didn't leave the PVC at all.

I did some research and a few people have mentioned that their 'new' koles didn't eat for about 2 weeks and also they were very very shy of the owner and outside movement for a while as well.

Hoping this is the issue because I see the Koles venture out of the PVC maybe 10-15 times a day but for a quick 3 second swim then back in. I did try lots of different foods, including formula 2 which he didn't even sniff nor did the Flame Angel that literally has eating everything so far but that.

I never got any fish to eat that formula since i bought it, wonder if its old lol.

 

[coverdog]

I have had my Kole tang for about a year and a half now. He still spits out pellets most of the time but scarfs on mysis and nori. I guess he just doesn't care for pellets.

 

[Nina51]

any luck getting your guy to eat yet?

 

[sweeper7]

So a couple updates...

1) his stomach doesn't look as pinched anymore. I cant' tell what he's eating, maybe he's finding some food at the bottom of the PVC but I have noticed there isn't any sign of poop anymore for the past 4 days. I think he is eating the 2nd fishes poop?

2) those spots are still on the fins, not sure if its ich or not because it isn't a spot, they look like big blobs, like the fin looks a bit cloudy until you notice the spots are whats causing that appearance.

 

[DasCamel]

Kole tangs are hard to get comfortable in a QT. I lost my first one in QT, the 2nd treating for Brook. Both times they were very skittish w/o live rock present. It does take them 2-4 weeks to get used to the QT. Once they go into the DT, night and day difference.

 

[sweeper7]

thing is I had one a few years ago in a DT and he was all over the place, 100% not shy and active but he kept losing weight and he wouldn't eat, he would spit the pellets out and eventually he wasted away as he got thinner and thinner.

I'm not sure if i can't get them to eat the food they like which all my other fish gobble up in seconds or it was due to an illness.

this time i am treating him with prazi and cupramine and trying all kinds of foods. Hopefully the same pattern as the previous doesn't exist.

 

[Nina51]

i doubt he's eating fish poop and even if he was, i would think it would have zero nutrition. the food you are offering...are you using any vitamin supplements like selcon or vita-chem? the use of garlic can stimulate appetite also but isn't a long term solution. also, the meds you are treating the tank with will cause appetite suppression.

as for the white spots, it is most likely lympho. it isn't usually fatal and not terribly contagious but takes a few weeks to run its course. soaking food in a vitamin supplement will go a long way in recovery from lympho.

 

[sweeper7]

okay so the Tang is upside down this morning.

Talk about seeing it coming last week but not this week.

 

[Nina51]

i posted in your other thread. sorry you lost him.