New silver spot tang not eating

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

I have had my silver spot tang for a week he is not eating anything other than nipping at the rock work or the occasional nip at the algae clip I have tried shrimp,pellets and flakes.What should I do?

Jay Hemdal · Oct 24, 2023

tanglover13 said:
I have had my silver spot tang for a week he is not eating anything other than nipping at the rock work or the occasional nip at the algae clip I have tried shrimp,pellets and flakes.What should I do?

Welcome to Reef2Reef!

Do you know its history before you got it? Was it eating well for the LFS?
Is the fish getting thin yet?
Can you post a video of it?
When you say "shrimp", did you mean mysid shrimp?

People have a lot of opinions about enticing a fish to feed, but in most cases, there is an underlying issue that is causing the fish not to want to feed. Attractants like garlic and such don't work well unless the underlying cause is addressed.

Some items that keep a fish from eating include:
Disease
Stress from aggressive tankmates
Poor water quality issues

Here is a general article I wrote on fish not eating:

Chronic Anorexia in Aquarium Fishes

Don't fall into the trap of assuming the fish will begin feeding when it gets hungry enough, or conclude it must be eating something, just not when you are watching.

reefs.com

Jay

tzabor10 · Oct 24, 2023

Jay makes excellent points, but trying garlic might help. It’s not expensive and has few negatives

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

He does try to eat but everytime I put feed in he runs away and hides from me and by the time he comes out there is nothing left. I have fed my sis and brine.

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

Yes he is getting thinner each day

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

Should I be worried he is nipping at rock work and algae clip. What garlic should you use and how. Should I squeeze garlic juice in my tank. I will make a video of him on Friday I am in Birmingham today. I have put algae on clip and rock work so he should be fine right. Whilst I am in Birmingham.

tzabor10 · Oct 24, 2023

put this on the food.

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

Okay thanks but he does try to eat he just gets scared of me and then runs awa. Is there any solutions for that. He only knows shrimp and algae he does not under
stand pellets and brine but he still hasn’t ate anything for a week

tzabor10 · Oct 24, 2023

I always quarantine fish in a 40 gallon breeder. Getting them used to me, my food, cleaning routine. All of it. Once they are eating and fat, into the display they go. Good luck

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

How would I get them used to me he is only small about an inch if that. He is so scared of me.

Jay Hemdal · Oct 24, 2023

tanglover13 said:
He does try to eat but everytime I put feed in he runs away and hides from me and by the time he comes out there is nothing left. I have fed my sis and brine.

That could be called "observer effect" - where the fish is just too shy to feed in your presence. The best I can tell you is to set your phone up to video the tank, then carefully/gently, add a good amount of food and quickly leave the room. If the fish is eating, you'll see it on the video.

Jay

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

I will try that but everytime I put food in he hides for about 3 minutes and by the time he comes out everything is gone

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

should I be worried

Jay Hemdal · Oct 24, 2023

tanglover13 said:
should I be worried

Yes - any fish that is getting thin will eventually reach a point where it cannot continue on.

I hate to have you over feed the tank, but I do think you need to find out if it is not feeding simply because it is scared of you. Dumping more food in and then getting out of the room may tell you that. Another option would be to use a tank divider to keep this fish away from the more aggressive feeders....

Jay

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

Okay thank you I will try it

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

He is eating because one day I put a lot of food in and he came out and ate one piece when I left and stood back.

tanglover13 · Oct 24, 2023

But he just gets scared of me and hides in the hidy hold to the point where I can’t see him and he can’t see me

jda · Oct 24, 2023

Turn off all of the pumps, feed and then get out of there. They are grazer type of fish, but they will eat from the water column. You might need the food to settle down to where it can graze on it.

You could try some marine cuise or other meaty food that looks like what it might have seen in the wild. Mysis are from freshwater lakes - they don't know what a mysis is... flakes and pellets too.

If you just have a bunch of caves and arches then this can stress fish too. IME, they need to be able to get away and fully hide out of complete sight. Caves and arches are for humans and not fish.