Why do I keep losing Yellow Tang's?

serbusfish

serbusfish

New member
I dont know what the problem is but I cant seem to keep Yellow Tang's alive long term. They normally live between 5 - 10 months but then suddenly become lethargic, thin, and die. My most recent one was acting weird on Thurday night but was still eating, the next day he had disappeared so I assume my clean up crew dealt with him after his death.

I feed my fish ever other day, swapping between flake and mysis. I am wondering if Tangs need feeding every day? Could this be the cause? All my other fish are fat and healthy with this feeding regime, and I have had most of them for 3 years at this point.
 
serbusfish said:
I feed my fish ever other day, swapping between flake and mysis. I am wondering if Tangs need feeding every day? Could this be the cause? All my other fish are fat and healthy with this feeding regime, and I have had most of them for 3 years at this point.
Click to expand...

IMO, you should feed most fish every day and some will need multiple times a day.
 
Twice per day + algae sheet on a clip so they can nibble all day.

Smaller and more frequent is always better than more and less frequent.

Do you eat only once per day?
Do you ever want a snack?
Think in those terms, and YT will be fine
 
when adding new fish, you'll need to feed frequently, not every other day, tangs have a high metabolism, you said they get lethargic and thin, sounds like you've been starving them and they are slowly withering away.
 
Not to pile on, but no fish suddenly becomes thin .... that takes a while. I turned the corner with tangs years ago with multiple daily feedings. Mine now get fed at least three times a day.
 
As noted above, they are constant grazers and naturally cover large swaths of reefs in search for food. Assuming based on your signature that you are keeping them in a 75 gallon tank, that is on the small side for them as they just won’t have enough food sources to graze on let alone the fact they yellow tangs are typically wild caught and you are putting them into an environment that doesn’t really mimic what they are used to since they don’t have the diversity of natural food sources and swimming freedom. Couple that with every other day feeding and they will starve to death. Increasing your feeding habits to at least once a day and including things like nori, mysis and other foods will help a lot but I don’t think the display size is ideal for long term success with them due to their active nature.
 
serbusfish said:
I feed my fish ever other day, swapping between flake and mysis. I am wondering if Tangs need feeding every day? Could this be the cause? All my other fish are fat and healthy with this feeding regime, and I have had most of them for 3 years at this point.
Click to expand...

Another point, Yellow Tangs are strictly herbivores...mostly other aquarium fish are omnivores. That being said....you need to feed them seaweed pellets ("Hikari") or Nori or even romaine lettuce. I feed my tang AT LEAST 2x/daily....as others have said they are grazers, constantly pecking away on something. If you watch a healthy tang, they swim constantly. They may slow a little at night, but I almost never see my tang in one place for one second.

BTW, I think 75G is fine unless it is older and big. Also, make sure you have plenty of rockwork for him to swim over, under, through and around.
 
e40c4916f2821a7139607d9d4e96aaa0.jpg

I have my yellow since =-12 years
Feed twice per day and more


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
slief said:
As noted above, they are constant grazers and naturally cover large swaths of reefs in search for food. Assuming based on your signature that you are keeping them in a 75 gallon tank, that is on the small side for them as they just won't have enough food sources to graze on let alone the fact they yellow tangs are typically wild caught and you are putting them into an environment that doesn't really mimic what they are used to since they don't have the diversity of natural food sources and swimming freedom. Couple that with every other day feeding and they will starve to death. Increasing your feeding habits to at least once a day and including things like nori, mysis and other foods will help a lot but I don't think the display size is ideal for long term success with them due to their active nature.
Click to expand...

I've had a Y Tang for six years in a 45g, with several other fish. Feed Them once a day.
 
Feed twice a day as stated above.

I also have two clips with Bok Choi in the tank everyday. My tangs are as healthy as can be and all is eaten each day.
 
Although I agree that you could use to feed your fish more often, I'm going to go against the grain and say the main reason you are having these losses is do to the diet you do provide. As has been mentioned, yellow tangs need a more herbivorous diet. Whether that comes from an algae sheet every other day, pelleted algal-based food or frozen is up to you, but your tangs need more veggies.

Kevin
 
I personally have 4 tangs in my 180 (along with 7 other various fish) and they are fed once daily with a cube of mysis and a cube of spirulina brine. After that they get 2/3 of a 8x7 nori sheet and all are plump and well. My tangs all have this shape when observing them from behind.....()

If you see a sunken stomach you're not feeding nearly enough.
 
Lesson learned, definitely feed more. I did occasionally put nori sheets in the tank, once or twice a week. Im not decided on whether to get another yet, I really like them and they are so far the only fish i've found that eat red bubble algae, so I suppose if I dont get one mine will grow back.
 
Fishes should have a full stomach all the time. If this is not the case then you either not feeding enough or not feed the right food or not enough natural food in aquarium for them to eat. I see many tanks with thin skinny fishes, empty stomach. This always make me sad. I often suggest to the reefer to feed more. For some this help. For others I am just a stuck up know it all.
I am glad we were able to help you.
 
+1 you're starving your system. The Sailfin and Purple tangs in this post are still going strong at 24 years with only Spectrum pellets in a autofeeder dropping small amounts 8 times a day. When New Life came out with their "Algaemax" I switched them to that from the standard Spectrum pellets. (Sadly the Yellow Tang was lost a year ago when AC failed.)
 
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