naso tang not eating

[dviper150]

I just got a beautiful male naso tang in last Friday. It hasn't eaten since. is this normal? I have tried pellets, mysis, formula 1, and algae and even romain lettuce. Anyone have had the same experience? I don't want it dying of starvation. All the naso's i have owned in the past always started eating as soon as the second day of being in the tank. he just hides behind the rocks now and comes out once in awhile. When I put food, it makes an attempt and goes back to his hole. Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[dviper150]

didn't realize I posted this thread twice on this forum...oh well. Any help still?

 

[luckyk0505]

Bigger the fish is, harder to get them eat and will take longer. If he is attempting

that is very good sign. Naso tang is usually very active, I got 7 inch blonde naso that

would pick on alages very first day but he didnt take prepared food for first 10 days.

Naso tang isn't hard fish to care, but they might refused to eat if they are good size.

If you have good size tank and he is not getting harrsed by anything you shouldn't

worry so much. Sorry about bad English

 

[Texastravis]

dviper150,

bummer on the naso, the pics you sent makes him look good. From the pics I saw him already in your DY. If you can I would remove him and place him in a quarantine tank so he can get adapted to aquarium life (expecially if he is acting scared).

+1 on the fact that larger WC specimens are hard to get to eat at first. However, they can go a lot longer without food than a smaller specimen so you shouldnt have much to worry about for awhile. The best thing I have done for tangs to get to eat is nori strips rubber banded to rocks (NOT clips). This makes the algae appear like its growing from the rocks. I would place several in your tank, he will eat it eventually. You can also try calurpa.

If he still isnt eating live brine shrimp has almost always worked for me on finky eaters. Once he adapts to that brine shrimp you can start moving him to frozen and then pellets.

Good Luck keep me posted

 

[Guy(ReefSmart)]

I,ve had no luck with naso tangs I've had 2 starve to death I won't buy another

 

[dviper150]

Good call travis, I was thinking the same thing that it might be scared to come near the clip so what I did was on the left side of my tank, i put the veggie clip with nori so the other fish can eat that and on the right side where the naso was hiding i tied down some romain lettuce to a small rock with a rubber band. I left the room to do other stuff and i came back to find that it was nibbling on the lettuce!!! Not what I expected for a beast of a fish like this but good start . Hopefully it will work up his appetite in the next few days.

 

[Texastravis]

Good call travis, I was thinking the same thing that it might be scared to come near the clip so what I did was on the left side of my tank, i put the veggie clip with nori so the other fish can eat that and on the right side where the naso was hiding i tied down some romain lettuce to a small rock with a rubber band. I left the room to do other stuff and i came back to find that it was nibbling on the lettuce!!! Not what I expected for a beast of a fish like this but good start . Hopefully it will work up his appetite in the next few days.

Excellent! Should be easy to get him eating other stuff now. Often times new fish are scared of crazy colored clips and magnets. Even though its a pain its ALWAYS best to rubber band to rock for new arrivals!

Hopefully his streamers will start to come in!

 

[Salty92]

I would agree with everyone else but just add some garlic. When I first got my purple tang and naso they were not eating for about a week until I started adding garlic. Did wonders the starting eating with two days of adding it. IMP

 

[dviper150]

do you add garlic to the tank directly or the food?

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

soak hikari A pellets in Kent Zoe with a drop of Kent garlic extreme...

Note fat daddy on the left

 

[luckyk0505]

Ah Blonde naso! My LFS has one that is around 9 inches, super fat and amazing color

I think Blonde nasos are the best looking naso out there

 

[BrianD]

Try the red seaweed select.

 

[dviper150]

nice tank stanley. The naso started eating a little now but i will try all sorts of algae to build up his appetite. I'll get some red algae tomorrow.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

Once it's eating I do use the ON green, red, and brown on a clip every 2-3 days. Some of the literature I have says that nasos need a good amount of brown seaweed.

Here's the real fat daddy shot!

 

[dviper150]

stanley, you have some very nice fish and that blonde naso looks amazing. how big is it? How big is your tank?

 

[SS21CA]

Try Garlic. Leave seaweed in the tank. Try soaking pellets, mysid, and or seaweed and see if it helps.

 

[Texastravis]

I think Blonde nasos are the best looking naso out there

Psh. Haw naso tops blonde naso any day (when full grown). Large Hawaiian nasos have some fantastic colors on their head.

I have never needed garlic but I hear it does help/work sometimes. Just soak any food you have in the garlic (the longer the better). The aroma of garlic sparks the fish's interest.

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

ON seaweeds have garlic in them. Mine is a garbage fish now and eats everything except the 3mm NLS pellets--but he eats all the other sizes of NLS:spin2:

A 6 ply of 3"x3" mix of seaweed sheets lasts approximately 3 minutes--thats with me turning the part in the clip long ways:eek2: