Pale yellow tang

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birman

Aquarium Advice Regular
Joined
Jul 24, 2003
Messages
67
Location
Singapore
One of my yellow tang turns very pale. It's still swimming around but likes to hide behind the rocks most of the time. It's still feeding but minimal.
What's wrong? All my other fishes are doing fine. Is it down with some kind of illness?
:(
 
Pale colors in fish are quite common when frieghtened or during aggressive stances they can change from light to very dark in a matter of seconds. With yellow tangs, they will lighten when hiding or scared and darken up when there is aggression.

With this being a new fish it is most likely just getting accustom to it's surroundings and should not be a concern. Keep tabs on it for possible signs of infection/parasites and overt aggression from tank mates?

What other fish are in the tank and I am also assuming you did not QT the tank prior to it's addition in the main display tank?

Cheers
Steve
 
yellow tangs also lose color due too bad feedings by not giving them enuff greens in there diet try some green sea weed.
 
This yellow tang is the largest fish in my tank and is going hand-in-hand with the other yellow tang. There is no agression against it. This tang has been with me for more than a month with no problem till few days ago when it starts to retreat itself. I've been feeding a mixture of brown and green seaweed too. Could it been nitrate? I'm currently trying to battle the high nitrate. But, if so, why is this the only fish affected?
 
Nitrate would need to be in the high 100's to affect a Tang like that. How large is the tank? If you have more than one Zebramosa sp. then that's probably the problem unless you have a very very large tank.

Guy
 
I would go with stress... The Yellow Tangs, are best when kept either alone or in groups of 3 or odd numbers... I have had more than one person tell me this and two I know had this same experience and due to even numbers, were not happy until one died.

One more note, if your profile is up to date, your tank is over stocked.. this could be the problem....
 
my tank is 55 gallon. the tangs have been together with no problem so i don't think the presence of another one has caused this problem else this problem could've surfaced quite awhile ago. But, you're absolutely correct with my nitrate. i've just tested and my nitrate is sky high, like in the 100s. i just did 20% water change. added in acquamarine nitrate remover and has started my nitrate bio-eliminator a few days ago but all these takes at least a week to kick in. is there any faster way?
 
good news is the yellow tang has came out from its hiding and swim around a bit to eat. i've also added some tropical science marine-max into the water to avoid parasites and infection now.
 
yes, i understand i'm overstocked. however, i've been having this stock level for few months with no problem. i suspect i'm overfeeding that caused the nitrate surge and need to cut back. i've been regularly checking all my water parameter on a weekly basis to make sure things are going alright. this nitrate surge is only discovered this week.
 
timbo2 said:
One more note, if your profile is up to date, your tank is over stocked.. this could be the problem....
I completely agree with this. Even though you have had some basic success, a few month is nothing compared to how long you should be able to care for these animals. This might just be the first "hick-up", but I suspect you will have many more to come. Two large growing fish in a 55 gal is very ill advised and you should really re-consider it. Not to mention conspecies will not tollerate each other for long in a small space as they mature.

Cheers
Steve
 
thanks for your advice steve. my yellow tang is doing ok again :) . It's grazing again with its partner. I'll be planning upgrade to my tank size soon.... hopefully pretty soon.
 
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