Blonde Naso not really eating…

vetteguy53081 · May 30, 2021

ASIN28 said:
Thank you for responding Jay! It was eating seaweed and flakes the first few days. Eating Seaweed a lot actually I was giving it to him continuously. Although he wasn’t eating frozen, or pellets that I tried.
The fish has no labored or fast breathing he’s pretty active to be honest however you can see his pinched belly he has too.
I feel bad because I'm thinking he is possibly stressed and would like to test him out into the main displays he he will be less stressed in there. But I want to make sure he doesn’t have any possible bacteria infection or parasite that may be causing him not to eat.

This fish is indeed thin and needs to be fattened up and loaded with vitamins for immunity health and garlic extract for immunity health.
I recommend for tangs and other herbivores always:

Spirulina brine shrimp
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
LRS Herbivore diet
Formula 2 flake and frozen
Hikari Marine cuisine
Hikari Mega marine algae
Mysis shrimp
small plankton

Jay Hemdal · May 30, 2021

vetteguy53081 said:
This fish is indeed thin and needs to be fattened up and loaded with vitamins for immunity health and garlic extract for immunity health.
I recommend for tangs and other herbivores always:

Spirulina brine shrimp
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract
LRS Herbivore diet
Formula 2 flake and frozen
Hikari Marine cuisine
Hikari Mega marine algae
Mysis shrimp
small plankton

The OP said the fish stopped feeding yesterday, so that issue needs to be dealt with first IMO.

Jay

vetteguy53081 · May 30, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
The OP said the fish stopped feeding yesterday, so that issue needs to be dealt with first IMO.

Jay

Agreed.
The list was to make him aware of required foods as nori and flake will not cut it

ASIN28 · May 31, 2021

Billldg said:
You need to get it eating ASAP!!! Goggle Blackworms and get them. That is the equivalent of crack to a tang. You can get them from Ebay I believe.

@Jay Hemdal
@4FordFamily
@HotRocks

@Jay Hemdal @Billldg We are going onto day 3 of no eating anything. I tried live Blackworms, no luck didn’t even budge at them.
I soaked seaweed and frozen food in garlic extract, no luck with that either, tried selcon same thing.
I’m going to do a 50% water change, should I go ahead and treat with PraziPro? Freshwater Dip? What should I try?
Thanks

KrisReef · May 31, 2021

Net that fish, or just catch him with your hands and while your are holding it tell it that it's new home is safe and you expect the fish to eat it he can.

It would give the fish it's best shot to then " DUMP " it into the DT, but since you are doing meds and observation tell it about the main tank and that you really need it to be happy and eat in the observation.

Yes, I talk to my fish. They may not speak English but I have observed they react positively to instructions of comfort.

If it was collected with cyanide there isn't much you can say that will make a difference, but tell the fish you bought it because it was beautiful and looked like it needed help, and you are it.

Good luck.

Billldg · May 31, 2021

ASIN28 said:
@Jay Hemdal @Billldg We are going onto day 3 of no eating anything. I tried live Blackworms, no luck didn’t even budge at them.
I soaked seaweed and frozen food in garlic extract, no luck with that either, tried selcon same thing.
I’m going to do a 50% water change, should I go ahead and treat with PraziPro? Freshwater Dip? What should I try?
Thanks

The problem with Prazi is that it only treats the outside of the fish, for internal parasites I use frozen food soaked in GC and Focus. Another problem with Prazi is that it usually makes fish eat even less as it effects their appetite.

@Jay Hemdal, any ideas on getting this fish eating?

Uncle99 · May 31, 2021

Any chance he’s eating when your not there?
Doesn’t look terribly malnourished to me.
Feed some and hide yourself, watch carefully.

Miami Reef · May 31, 2021

Is this fish currently in medication?

If so, can you remove all medicine ASAP?? If this Naso doesn’t eat soon it will die. The medicine will kill faster than any parasite.

Miami Reef · May 31, 2021

Small naso tangs are more carnivorous. They also eat plankton in their natural habitat.

Remove any medicine in tank. Run carbon. And feed. Add garlic. Red nori. Plankton.

His only chance of surviving is if he eats.

Miami Reef · May 31, 2021

Here’s my Naso 2 weeks ago vs now. Luckily he had a good feeding response. I had to feed the tank 6+ times a day. I was truly lucky. Naso’ are my favorite fish.

MnFish1 · May 31, 2021

updates?

lion king · May 31, 2021

Did you happen to check the sg from the store, anything lower than 1.020 they were likely holding internal parasites at bay. PP doesn;t deal with all the parasites which could be effecting him. GC is the best option. As mentioned the 20g is really small and naso's stress big time in small tanks, increase the flow and it may hel-p a bit, naso's also enjoy higher flow. Live macro was also mentioned, whatever forms of caulerpa and gracilaria you can get your hands on. Other live foods like black worms and even brine shrimp, big fat amphipods if you have some in your reef. So deal with possible internal parasites, increase flow, and offer some live foods; any or all may help.

Jay Hemdal · May 31, 2021

Billldg said:
The problem with Prazi is that it only treats the outside of the fish, for internal parasites I use frozen food soaked in GC and Focus. Another problem with Prazi is that it usually makes fish eat even less as it effects their appetite.

@Jay Hemdal, any ideas on getting this fish eating?

It looks like General Cure is no longer available. Sorry, no, I don't have any ideas for this fish. It is unlikely that it was collected with cyanide (as somebody mentioned) as Naso are typically net-collected, also, as I mentioned, something has changed to cause the fish to stop feeding in a tank where it had been. To me, the main causes of that our water quality issues or some pending disease problem....but I just don't see any clues in either direction.

Jay

MnFish1 · May 31, 2021

Jay Hemdal said:
It looks like General Cure is no longer available. Sorry, no, I don't have any ideas for this fish. It is unlikely that it was collected with cyanide (as somebody mentioned) as Naso are typically net-collected, also, as I mentioned, something has changed to cause the fish to stop feeding in a tank where it had been. To me, the main causes of that our water quality issues or some pending disease problem....but I just don't see any clues in either direction.

Jay

Though 'general cure' is not available - the ingredients (metronidazole and praziquantel) should be from a veterinarian (or MD). I do not know the dosage to use. I assume it would be given orally in food. @Jay Hemdal

Jay Hemdal · Jun 1, 2021

MnFish1 said:
Though 'general cure' is not available - the ingredients (metronidazole and praziquantel) should be from a veterinarian (or MD). I do not know the dosage to use. I assume it would be given orally in food. @Jay Hemdal

For proper dosing of medicated food, there are these two resources:

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods

Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods Jay Hemdal c. 2020 Oral medications are an excellent way to target internal diseases of fishes. Marine fish absorb aquarium water, so in certain cases, they “drink” enough medication from the water to effect a cure. However, freshwater fish actively export...

www.reef2reef.com

Fish Weight Calculator / Medicated Fish Food Mix Calculator

If you follow threads on the Fish Disease Treatment and Diagnosis forum, you know that whenever oral medication is the recommended treatment, @Jay Hemdal cautions that achieving the proper dosage is critical to success. He often refers to his article Proper Dosing of Medicated Foods. That...

www.reef2reef.com

Not easy to do though.......

Jay

lion king · Jun 1, 2021

Dosing food doesn't work for a fish that's not eating. You can also dose metroplex in the water column along with prazi pro.

ASIN28 · Jun 1, 2021

Update: So I have decided to instead of watching this fish not eat day by day and just sit back and pray he does, I took a different approach. I assumed the possibility of some type of parasite so I went ahead and dosed PraziPro, along with Metroplex dosed directly into the water column.
I understand prazipro takes away appetite but you know what, I’d rather take this approach and rule out possible parasites rather than just sit back and just pray he eats one day.
My water quality is good so that’s ruled out, he was acclimated correctly, so it’s gotta be some type of parasite or maybe he is just stressed being in such a tight space.

Will provide another update within the few days

ASIN28 · Jun 4, 2021

Update: Naso Tang is eating seaweed and flakes again and seems to be more active!! Not sure if the prazipro or metroplex had any effect on the outcome, however he is eating!

lion king · Jun 5, 2021

ASIN28 said:
Update: Naso Tang is eating seaweed and flakes again and seems to be more active!! Not sure if the prazipro or metroplex had any effect on the outcome, however he is eating!

Definitely, follow up on 2nd dose of pp, as if flukes may have been involved, eggs hatch after effectiveness of 1st dose. Try some live black worms as they have a high amount of protein. I'm glad to hear he is eating again. Watch for stringy poo, whether white or brown, sometimes you can even see it on the bottom of the tank.

Jay Hemdal · Jun 5, 2021

lion king said:
Definitely, follow up on 2nd dose of pp, as if flukes may have been involved, eggs hatch after effectiveness of 1st dose. Try some live black worms as they have a high amount of protein. I'm glad to hear he is eating again. Watch for stringy poo, whether white or brown, sometimes you can even see it on the bottom of the tank.

Sometimes, like with Neobenedenia, even a third treatment is required, Neo eggs can take 3o days to hatch.

Jay