Blue Eyed Kole - it's Huge!

[D3DPrintedThingz]

So I have an order of fruit loop cyphastrea that is AWESOME and a blue eyed kole eye tang that came in today. I think the kole tang is like 75 years old in fish years, it's huge.

1) I know this is super morbid but I am worried if it's life expectancy is 5 years and it's 4.5 years old, did I get a fish at the end of it's life cycle?

2) I have a 75g tank, and plan on upgrading it. I did not think that the kole tang would be full grown when I received it. It just looks too big for the tank. I see that 75g is around the minimum size for the kole but this is my first tang and now I understand why 'tang police' is a thing.

I would legit swap out this beast for a smaller one, but don't know if there are lil babies out there or if that would be something any one would feel like doing?

It arrived and I got the box 9 minutes later - the fish did not look great. Temp acclimated it and dropped it in DT, both salinities are kept at 1.025 so I figured the temp match was enough.

It sat on the bottom for a bit, I threw some pellets/nori on a clip/mysis in there, and it munched on the mysis. I had to go back to work, stupid lunch break, and by the time I left it was swimming around slowly.

I took a second lunch break and went home and it was swimming around, slowly, but looked good.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Looking for answers- specifically on the "end of it's life cycle" fish aspect?? Thank you so much for your help!!

 

[Aspect]

If it's eating that's a good sign, it is possible that the salinities didn't actually match (Was the bag checked?) and it shocked the fish slightly at first. Tangs are active and don't lay on the bottom.

 

[Aspect]

I have never heard of a fish store keeping their salinity at 1.025 as it would be expensive, and it is sort of a medication to keep hypo salinity levels. I've purchased from many different fish stores and the highest salinity I've received was 1.021

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Salty Underground in their email confirmation stated they keep & ship their livestock in 1.025 salinity, but I didn't check the bags salinity. I read that the ammonia turns toxic almost instantly when exposed to air from shipping bag, so after it was temp acclimated I cut it open and immediately removed the fish and into DT it went.

Do you have any advice on the size/age/life expectancy ? It's at least 6" in length

 

[Aspect]

I'm surprised they sent you a fish that old, 6" is as large as they will get. It is possible for them to live much longer than 5 years as long as they don't fall to illness/predation. Although the older they get the weaker their immune system will become. Feed at least 3 times a day of varied food and also with nutritional supplement like Selcon/Vitachem. Nori on a clip if you don't have algae on your rocks for it to graze on as well.

 

[HBtank]

Tangs reportedly live for decades, like clownfish and some other species. I wouldn’t worry about it in that context,

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

I was kinda looking forward to raising a lil baby into an adult but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers! She is currently only in with 2 clowns and I have a lil red and a lil green algae for her to munch, mysis, omnivore pellets, and a nori clip. She was mostly interested in the mysis but that’s probably cause she saw the clowns eating it. Might not realize the nori is available

 

[Aspect]

I was kinda looking forward to raising a lil baby into an adult but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers! She is currently only in with 2 clowns and I have a lil red and a lil green algae for her to munch, mysis, omnivore pellets, and a nori clip. She was mostly interested in the mysis but that’s probably cause she saw the clowns eating it. Might not realize the nori is available

My tangs aren't really interested in Nori, but they graze basically all day on my rocks. Mysis is relatively not as nutritious as pellets are, so I would be soaking the mysis in a nutritional supplement like Selcon.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Tangs reportedly live for decades, like clownfish and some other species. I wouldn’t worry about it in that context,

This does help thank you, I was seeing life expectancy 5 years + but didn’t know what the + really meant

 

[HBtank]

I was kinda looking forward to raising a lil baby into an adult but I suppose beggars can’t be choosers! She is currently only in with 2 clowns and I have a lil red and a lil green algae for her to munch, mysis, omnivore pellets, and a nori clip. She was mostly interested in the mysis but that’s probably cause she saw the clowns eating it. Might not realize the nori is available

This does help thank you, I was seeing life expectancy 5 years + but didn’t know what the + really meant

I certainly understand wanting to raise it.

Also IME bristletooth tangs like a Kole don’t really love nori sheets like other tangs. Their mouth can’t really tear, and they end up mostly making a mess of it trying to graze off it like other surfaces. Some grid type clips make it better for them, but they really are designed to eat films and not macro algae.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

I'm surprised they sent you a fish that old, 6" is as large as they will get. It is possible for them to live much longer than 5 years as long as they don't fall to illness/predation. Although the older they get the weaker their immune system will become. Feed at least 3 times a day of varied food and also with nutritional supplement like Selcon/Vitachem. Nori on a clip if you don't have algae on your rocks for it to graze on as well.

I am unfamiliar with Selcon/Vitachem - it looks to be a fish vitamin. That is awesome stuff, I have ordered it and will definitely include it into their diet.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

I certainly understand wanting to raise it.

Also IME bristletooth tangs like a Kole don’t really love nori sheets like other tangs. Their mouth can’t really tear, and they and up mostly making a mess of it trying to graze off it like other surfaces. Some grid type clips make it better for them, but they really are designed to eat films and not macro algae.

I had another reefer mention to me "hikari wafers" and went to LFS to buy some. The gentleman told me kole's will not eat them, and they will quickly dissapate and lower your water quality, and sent me home with Nori sheets.... :/

Have you any experience with the hikari wafers and koles?

I am afraid the $7 of nori sheets will be used when I decide to learn how to make sushi. (not with my DT fish)

 

[TastesLikeChicken]

Look into Rod’s food. My fish, including my tangs kill for it. They have one made for herbivores. And some of their products have Selcon in them.

 

[HBtank]

I had another reefer mention to me "hikari wafers" and went to LFS to buy some. The gentleman told me kole's will not eat them, and they will quickly dissapate and lower your water quality, and sent me home with Nori sheets.... :/

Have you any experience with the hikari wafers and koles?

I am afraid the $7 of nori sheets will be used when I decide to learn how to make sushi. (not with my DT fish)

I mean they will eat pretty much anything in my experience, it’s just more about what is easy for them to eat and how much of a mess they will make. They can’t eat large things or really tear or break things down.

I feed a variety of high quality frozen (mixes like Rod’s food or LRS frozen foods) and pellet foods, I don‘t worry about algae for the sake of algae (so no Hikari) with bristletooth tangs because they seem to get lumped in with all tangs and really are not macro algae eaters. They eat film/micro algae and anything else they can scrape, which isn’t something you can really “feed”. If I put nori out my wrasses are more interested than my current tang.

 

[vetteguy53081]

So I have an order of fruit loop cyphastrea that is AWESOME and a blue eyed kole eye tang that came in today. I think the kole tang is like 75 years old in fish years, it's huge.

1) I know this is super morbid but I am worried if it's life expectancy is 5 years and it's 4.5 years old, did I get a fish at the end of it's life cycle?

2) I have a 75g tank, and plan on upgrading it. I did not think that the kole tang would be full grown when I received it. It just looks too big for the tank. I see that 75g is around the minimum size for the kole but this is my first tang and now I understand why 'tang police' is a thing.

I would legit swap out this beast for a smaller one, but don't know if there are lil babies out there or if that would be something any one would feel like doing?

It arrived and I got the box 9 minutes later - the fish did not look great. Temp acclimated it and dropped it in DT, both salinities are kept at 1.025 so I figured the temp match was enough.

It sat on the bottom for a bit, I threw some pellets/nori on a clip/mysis in there, and it munched on the mysis. I had to go back to work, stupid lunch break, and by the time I left it was swimming around slowly.

I took a second lunch break and went home and it was swimming around, slowly, but looked good.

These guys are tough and should do well. I rarely get the large size fish I want- Good find
75 will not make a permanent home but youre good for now. Its mainly the length it needs

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

These guys are tough and should do well. I rarely get the large size fish I want- Good find
75 will not make a permanent home but youre good for now. Its mainly the length it needs

It instantly felt too small. It’s four foot long and has 4 foot of unobstructed swimming space in the water column but dang, makes a 75 look real small. Have to keep an eye out in wanting 200g+

 

[vetteguy53081]

It instantly felt too small. It’s four foot long and has 4 foot of unobstructed swimming space in the water column but dang, makes a 75 look real small. Have to keep an eye out in wanting 200g+

Manage water quality and diet and you’ll be fine

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

I take back all the negative stuff I said about “rainbow” she’s not too big she’s just a lil chubby for her age, we worked it out. Soooo active. She stole the clowns home luckily there are 2 mushrooms now that they split so the clowns can host in the other one.

 

[D3DPrintedThingz]

Lil cutie