Sailfin Tang

[Kempker1498]

I have noticed my Sailfin Tang has been hiding for a few days now...I just had a sighting of it and I noticed its stomach is huge and eyes seem to be larger. I am pretty sure this is not normal...any suggestions on what this could be?

Thanks..Andrew

[Regric25]

Sorry to hear your fish is sick! :( Mabe its Bloat?

[Kempker1498]

I was talking to a buddy who also has a reef tank...he suggested I change up my feeding habits. I was feeding the fish only mysis shrimp...going to start changing it up. Thank that will help?

[FSU]

I am sure others will chime in as many of them know much more than I. With a tang, you need seaweed/nori/spirulina/algae. It is a must in their diet. Without it there can and will be problems such as head erosion, I believe it is called and also lateral line disease, not to mention the stress put on the fish from a poor diet. Their are also frozen foods such as "Emerald Entree" and a few others that have spirulina in them. Personally, I use nori sheets, spirulina flakes, spirulina enriched brine shrimp & Mysis.

Also, the Nori in my opinion, really brings out the personality of tangs. In my experiences, they get used to you and your hand being in the tank very quickly. Mine come right to me when I reach in the tank, whether to feed them or when cleaning. They also eat out of my hand, which is one of the greatest experiences to me. It's like a puppy in a tank of water lol

Anyway, definitely use the nori. You can try it on clips or use elastic bands on a small piece of rock. A lot of times they will need to start on the rock first until they understand it's for them and get used to it being placed there. Once comfortable, they will usually switch to the clip fairly quick.

[FSU]

Also, there is green, red, and brown nori. Some tangs will eat them all, and some are picky and will only eat 1 or 2 of them. If you have problems with one color, by all means, try another. Mine will nibble on brown and green, but absolutely DESTROY red!

[Kempker1498]

Awesome...I will pick some up from Polly's tomorrow.

[Regric25]

I agree its primary diet should be algae. Good luck to you! Keep us posted.

[Kempker1498]

I know this is poor research on my part...but now that the algae diet has been brought up...the hair algae has been cut down significantly since he was put in the tank. Maybe he is just fat??

[Regric25]

possibly but if its drastically out of porportion to the rest of its body then something could be wrong. Depending on its size I would put a nori sheet on the glass 1x a day. see how much it consumes and adjust the amount to feed each day.

[Kristy]

Can you get a picture of the tang so we can see if it just looks fat or seems problematic? Also, how long have you had the tang? I did some research last night on WWM for those symptoms. One source suggested it might be parasitic, especially if he was newly introduced to your tank. Hard to be conclusive without a little more info.

[Kempker1498]

I am sorry for the lack of information...it has been in the tank for about 3 weeks max...and I never see it. It had gone into a hiding place and I can't find it. It did show itself yesterday, when I introduced another fish...that's when I noticed the drastic stomach size. I haven't seen it all day today...