Underfeeding?

[greengoblin72]

i have two tangs- a blue & a yellow. theyve been looking discolored for a while now; near the heads has become faded, and the blue has black spots around the head as well. i dont think theyre dying, because for 1, ive had these fish for a month or two, & thats the longest ive ever had a tang. 2, i dont think its because they havent been given enough plant food, because i always make sure theres some in there. im not sure if ive been underfeeding them, but thats my hunch. i have these two tangs, two different clowns, & three of the purple & yellow fish, i forget their name (& a recently acquired coral). i put in three frozen brine shrimp cubes every morning, & occasionally some flakes or plant food. is this enough? help!

 

[Paul_MTS]

what size are all the fish? if there a fair size it doesn't sound like much good for them.

what size is the tank and what filtration do you run?

 

[greengoblin72]

what size are all the fish? if there a fair size it doesn't sound like much good for them.

what size is the tank and what filtration do you run?

well the three purple & yellow are a fairly small size, cuz i just got them about a week or two ago. the yellow tang isnt large, but id say its about 3 1/2 by 3 1/2 inches. the blue is maybe one inch, fairly small. one clown is about 2 1/2- 3 inches long, & the other clown is maybe 1 inch. my filter, i think this is right, is an emporer with two wheels. my tank is 40 gal. i think i am underfeeding them...

 

[superman]

For starters, that tank is way to small for even one tang, tangs are straight line swimmers, and really should not be kept in anything smaller than a 6 foot long tank IMO. As far as feedings go, you should get sheets of nori or seaweed and use one sheet every other day with those fish. A sheet is about 10"x10"

 

[Chac]

Are you defrosting the Brine before adding it to the tank

I wouldn't be to keen to feed Brine that often TBH.

Defo add Nori, My fish go love it & will go through 1 sheet a day

I would try to get your fish eating Flake & Nori & about 1 - 2 Week give them Brine as a treat

 

[squall7733]

Have you tried feeding them Spectrum? My tangs love it, and they look just beautiful.

 

[Tiggs]

as has been said.....brine is fish junk food (unless you add vits to it)...and please say you arent just chucking in frozen lumps of it

T

ps- 2 tangs is prob one too many, in that tank it is prob two too many.

 

[Lynden]

You said black spots? Could be black ich, caused by tubellarian worms. Make sure you are feeding them very often, juvinile tangs require at least three meals a day. In fact (correct me if im wrong), tangs will die if not fed at least once every 24 hours. and brine shrimp is not sufficient, it is basically popcorn for fish, and is usually used (by me anyway) to get a picky bugger to eat. My brines are vitamin enriched, so they are a little better than normal. Maybe grow some more algae, since tangs will snack on this. Try to feed your tangs the best food possible all of the time, since they are very sensitive to disease. THey can get lateral line erosion as well, which is basically marine hole in the head.

If they are not being mean to eachother, i doubt its aggresion. Your tank seems to be a little overstocked for a 40, by the way.