I think we need to know if this is a new fish? How long has it been in the tank? Are there any fish bothering it?

New fish need to acclimate to your tank and this could take some time. It varies from fish to fish even in the same species!

I would say just have the food there and in time hunger will win out in the end!

 

Sorry I should have given more detail. The Yellow Tang has been in my tank now for over two years. No other fish bother it and it never seems stressed. I have a Coral Beauty Angel. two Percula Clowns, a Cleaner Shrimp and two Peppermint Shrimp in a 55 gallon tank with about 40 pounds of live rock. Nothing has changed with the tank for a long time, I have purposely limited the number of fish and live rock so as to to give the Tang more room and less stress.

I have been reading on the forum about Lateral Line disease. What are the symptoms? Possibly my Tang has this?

 

There could be a list of things wrong, make sure and test everything you can, also study your fish closely.
You may want to try soaking seaweed in garlic of some type. If it is LLD read up on that symptom and cure, If I remember yes it could be but without more info I can't tell you that for sure.

 

Lateral Line Desease is very easy to see. There will be a white or light color line running from just above it's eyes all the way down to it's tail. A very thin line, but very distingustable. Lateral Line Desease is mainly caused by poor water quality. Most of the time it is completely curable with water changes and good water peramerters.

 

didn't I read somewhere that stray voltage can cause LLD also? If so a grounding probe may help and you may want to take a close look at all pumps, heaters, and power heads.

 

Yes Joel, stray voltage can also cause or be a contributing factor.

I had forgotten about that. Thanks

 

There are lots of alleged causes of HLLE - I subscribe to any and all of them. Poor water quality, poor diet, and/or stray voltage. IMO that's not what is going on here, given the fish's stated diet, and the keeper's diligence. However if it was HLLE, it wouldn't necessarily affect the fish's appetite, and if it was advanced, you'd see the problem because eventually the fins erode right off.

I kept a tang for 10 months which had acute HLLE when I removed him from his owner's tank last October. He just went back "home" last week - although I have my doubts about how he'll do, his owner insisted I bring him back. This fish was pale- nearly white, and its dorsal, ventral and caudal fins were about gone. The fish did grow back most of its ventral and caudal fins but the dorsal was so scarred from the erosion that it will never grow back. He got his colour back - eats like a horse, and is otherwise healthy now except for the ugly-duckling look of the scarred fins.... but I digress.... I have seen fish completely reverse from this condition, even with severe erosion, but only if it's caught before years have gone by - I think "Twiggy" was like this for a very long time before I came into the picture, and his owner had no idea anything was wrong (!!!) He's not a hobbyist, he's a "tank owner"...but anyway...

If your tang looks healthy, no pits in the head, no obvious erosion of the lateral line and no fin erosion, then I doubt that it's HLLE - however, it might be a good idea to check your electrical appliances for malfunction, because any stray voltage could be worrying him enough to disrupt his appetite. Observe his behavior, and see if he's grazing at all on rock etc., and any other anomalies in his behavior that might give you a clue as to what's bothering him.

Hope this helps.
Jenn

 

Ditto on all the previous good advice,,
check water parameters ,i would say first,,,
did anything change tankwise lately? as in a newly added fish?
maybe harrassment might sent the tang in a fear thing,and not want to eat,,,,
check the archives for "stray voltage/grounding probes " etc. to check how to verify/check to see if you have induced/stray voltage in the tank.
good luck, keep us posted,,,

 

For those interested, the September issue of FAMA magazine has the first of three installments on the subject of HLLE.
Terry B

 

Thanks everybody for your input. I've up'ed my water changes to once a week from once every two weeks and that seems to have made a difference. My Tang still isn't back to his old self but he is much improved and with every water change he seems to be getting better. My water parameters looked good except I had high Nitrate so maybe that was the cause?
I'm still not sure I'm doing the best for my Tang food-wise but I'll start a new thread for that topic.

AxelG

 

I'm glad your tang seems to be doing better. Before you mentioned that you'd had him for some time, I was gonna tell you that maybe he's like mine, won't ever eat seaweed. I've gotten a case of hair algae lately and he seems not even interested in that either. But boy will he go after flake food or mysis shrimp. I don't know why I thought they were herbivores?