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Kole Tang Losing Weight

horseplay

NJRC Member
I bought this fish about six weeks ago. He's about 3" - 4". Even since I got him he has been slowly losing weight. I feed him daily sometimes more than 1 time in the weekend. He eats very well. Frozen mysis and spirulina flakes. These are high quality flakes too 33% spirulina. So why is he losing weight?
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Tangs need algae daily. Go to your local oriental market and buy nori used to make sushi....in the store I go to (in East Brunswick), it's in the Japanese isle. Feed at least a half sheet per day. That will fatten him up.
 
I heard fish go crazy if you add some garlic extract to their food. Try to add a couple of drops of garlic juice to the nori and see if that works.
 

mnat

Officer Emeritus
Staff member
Moderator
If a fish is eating well and slowly losing weight it can be a sign of an internal parasite. Prazi is was of the better ways to deal with it.
 
+1 To garlic, I use garlic paste on the fish food and even put some of the paste on the tank.

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Leafy greens such as romaine are good to feel tangs as well. Might take a little for them to get used to recognizing as a food source but they are a good source of nutrition for all tangs
 

horseplay

NJRC Member
After some thinking I think I am not feeding enough. It seems food go through the fish too quickly without the body absorbing the nutrient long enough, consistent with their grazing nature. The poop comes out like bird poop, not like the solid typical fish poop. So even though I have been feeding a high protein flake majority of it is not is not absorbed. It seems people are feeding half a sheet of nori per day for a tang of this size. So I will feed it more nori and see what happens.

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Nori with few drops of garlic extract/juice should convince just about any tang to eat it. How do you feed the algae strips? Do you just throw it in the tank or do you have a clip to hang it on? If you have only one tang who is not used to eating it... try the clip. I have 4 tangs in my tank and as soon as I throw one sheet about 2" x 2" they are all fighting for it. And mine have been presoaked with drops of garlic juice. See if that help!
 

redfishbluefish

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
When I first starting feeding nori to my tangs, I use to fold the approximate 5 x 5 piece of nori twice, cutting the folded line each time. This made an approximate 1 ½ square, four layers thick, which was attached to an algae clip. The tangs (and other fish) would attack like starving piranha, ripping the entire squares off the clip….which would now float around the tank.

Here is what I do now:

Again, fold it in half and cut the fold:

IMG_2361.jpg



Fold it in half again, cut the fold

IMG_2363.jpg



Clip it into the algae clip….and here is where things change….start cutting the algae ca 1/16 to 1/8 strips all the way across:

IMG_2365.jpg



So when you get done you have 10 to 12 cuts on the algae, making multiple small strips:

IMG_2367.jpg




So now when the piranha attack, they only get a mouth full.
 

kschweer

Administrator
Staff member
Officer Emeritus
Moderator
When I first starting feeding nori to my tangs, I use to fold the approximate 5 x 5 piece of nori twice, cutting the folded line each time. This made an approximate 1 ½ square, four layers thick, which was attached to an algae clip. The tangs (and other fish) would attack like starving piranha, ripping the entire squares off the clip….which would now float around the tank.

Here is what I do now:

Again, fold it in half and cut the fold:

IMG_2361.jpg



Fold it in half again, cut the fold

IMG_2363.jpg



Clip it into the algae clip….and here is where things change….start cutting the algae ca 1/16 to 1/8 strips all the way across:

IMG_2365.jpg



So when you get done you have 10 to 12 cuts on the algae, making multiple small strips:

IMG_2367.jpg




So now when the piranha attack, they only get a mouth full.

+1. Works great
 

horseplay

NJRC Member
Paul - that's a great tip. I was wondering how other people do it. I use 1" x 2" strip and it doesn't last long before it get torn from the clip.

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