New Kole Tang

Lagger

New member
Got this guy about 2-3 weeks ago & he still hasn't touched any food I feed the tank. It just picks off the rocks all day long. It looks healthy, has good color & not starved or anything. He's pretty much acclimated to the tank by now & doesnt shy away from me or the other tank mates.

Im kinda afraid it wont take to eating prep. food & wind up starved. Likely to happen or no?
 
Have you offered any nori? Mine LOVES it. Didn't take long to figure out what it was either.

If you haven't offered it yet, give it a try. I put mine on a rock with a rubber band. Fold it up tight first, otherwise is breaks up and goes everywhere.
 
I have a clip that my sailfin goes nuts for whenever I feed em nori...

Thanks for the tip on tieing to the rock. Maybe he'd figure it out if I did that....haha
 
I've had my Kole for about a year now and had the same problem with him. I've tried soaking my nori in various things suggested here, clipping it in different places including on rocks, and he won't touch it. He cleans the glass and rocks well, but won't touch nori. I've found three things that he will readily eat other than algae that grows in the tank. Hikari Marine S pellets and Hikari Mega Marine and Hikari Marine Algae. The two latter are both frozen foods and I believe the part of them that he eats is the same in both. Whatever it is, it looks like miniature pink Cheetos. He has no interest in any of the other foods that I feed.
 
My Kole tang loves Emerald Entree (frozen food). Mine took awhile to start eating the nori off of the clip, I just kept putting it in everyday, and eventually he started eating it. Mine also loves spirulina flakes.
 
son of a gun....

My staples are pretty much Hikari S and Formula 2 pellets daytime & homemade frozen at night (which all my fish go in a frenzy for). I aslo alternate frozen mysis & clams occasionally.

he's not touching it so far. I really like the dark body on the fish, stands out nice.
 
Give it some time... I know that mine was refusing food at the LFS for 2 weeks before I found it... and it refused food for another 3-4 weeks after I brought it home.

It should eventually eat... I wouldn't worry about it yet. As long as it isn't becoming too skinny, it should be fine.
 
Within 2 weeks he will be eating and pooping like crazy, don't worry... The fact that he is picking is great... he is eating algae, which is his natural nutrition from the wild.... Put clips of Nori in there..... My 2 tangs, Kole and Sailfin devour a clip a day...
 
I would say give it time. I got mine 3 weeks ago and it didnt eat anything except pick on rocks and glass. I started her off with some formula 2 and spirulina flakes and she now eats everything from dry pellets to frozen. She never got on to eat nori from the clip yet.
 
Just give it some time. I have had my Kole for 5 years now and it was very finicky at first. It would only graze on the rocks for a while. After a bit of time, it began to eat prepared foods.

I now feed mine Mysis, Cyclopeeze, Prime reef flakes, Formula 2 frozen as well as seaweed selects algae sheets. My Kole is a very aggressive eater. I am sure yours will be also given time to settle in.

Try soaking the food in some Extreme garlic. It seems to attract and entice some finicky fish to eat.

If you have some film algae and diatoms in your tank that the Kole is grazing on, he should be fine until he begins to accept offered foods.
 
Back
Top