Why is my blue tang losing color?

[TBSB2019]

That's a good idea! I saw videos of people hanging their nori and the tang would come up to eat as much as it needs which will be good to see her eat!

As for the comment about 55 being too small, i am also aware! The tang is currently an inch big and will take time (if she survived) to outgrow the 55. At that point i would've either loved the hobby enough to expand to a permanent 100+ gallon, or shut down the hobby.

Thank you all for the advice!

Using the garlic soaked will entice her to eat and will help her immune system. We have a Hippo Tang in a 180 that is always on the go and loves her nori.

 

[Reefering1]

I'll leave you to mourn your loss. If she makes it out of this hospital tank, make a post asking about appropriate tank size for this large fast growing fish.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

Just to add some food suggestions for this tang species - the diet described below was used for broodstock conditioning (so it's the diet used to get these fish healthy enough to spawn in aquariums):

For the blue hippo tang (Paracanthurus hepatus), A.K.A. the pacific blue tang;

"Feed on zooplankton and occasionally on algae (Ref. 9710, 48637, 27115, 83665)."***

"Pacific blue tang broodstock were fed a varied diet to apparent satiation three to five times daily. The diet consisted of a mixture of a commercially prepared seafood blend (LRS Fertility Frenzy, Larry's Reef Services, Advance, NC, USA); fish eggs (LRS Fish Eggs, Larry's Reef Services); frozen mysis shrimp, Mysis diluviana (Piscine Energetics, Inc., Vernon, BC, Canada); and a commercially available 1.7-mm extruded pellet ([EP1 – 46% crude protein, 16% crude fat, and 2% crude fiber], TDO Chroma Boost, Reed Mariculture, Inc., Campbell, CA, USA)."****

***Source:

Paracanthurus hepatus summary page

www.fishbase.de

****Source:
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/action/oidcStart?redirectUri=/doi/10.1111/jwas.12426

And some general food recommendations for a broad range of fish:

Personally, my suggested feeds would be as follows (I apologize, I haven't looked into frozen algae-heavy feeds enough to have one that I would suggest at this point; I'll have to remedy that):
Frozen (Meaty) - LRS Reef Frenzy, Hikari Mega Marine, then Rod's Original.

Pellets (Meaty) - Otohime, then TDO Chromaboost.
Pellets (Algal) - NLS Marine Fish Pellets (has 8 types of algae and one terrestrial plant).

 

[Uncle99]

The 55g will be fine for a few years, mine went 3 years before moving to 180g.

But I don’t think the clowns like him, and someone has beaten the crap out of him.

Separate or he’s toast.

 

[SteveMM62Reef]

I’d get San Francisco Bay Brand Angel & Butterfly Formula, seven drops of Selcon on each cube, let thaw, and feed a little bit through the day. Store any uneaten food in the refrigerator, between feedings. Also keep the Selcon in the refrigerator and shake it up, and squeeze the dropper bulb several times, before adding to the cube.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Some recommended foods, as this fish is a herbivore are:

LRS herbivore diet
Formula 2 flake and frozen
TDO Pellets
small plankton
Hikari Marine cuisine
Ocean nutrition veggie diet
spirulina brine shrimp
mysis shrimp
Prime reef
Nori seaweed basted with garlic extract

Add selcon vitamins to foods occasionally

As mentioned , this fish is thin and will need to get beefed up or it will weaken

 

[namlessdude]

Thank you all for the advice. I have bought nori and newlife spectrum and have been feeding her. She has been swimming around and eating well. I will continue beefing her up and hopefully she recovers. Considering that she is still alive id assume she didnt eat her own liver yet so that's good. Also, i think its not the clowns that injured her, she got herself scratched on the new rock which i have removed. The clowns leave her alone all the time.

I am rooting for her recovery!!

Thank you all for the help and I will definitely educate myself more on feeding from now on.

 

[MrWellington]

Thank you all for the advice. I have bought nori and newlife spectrum and have been feeding her. She has been swimming around and eating well. I will continue beefing her up and hopefully she recovers. Considering that she is still alive id assume she didnt eat her own liver yet so that's good. Also, i think its not the clowns that injured her, she got herself scratched on the new rock which i have removed. The clowns leave her alone all the time.

I am rooting for her recovery!!

Thank you all for the help and I will definitely educate myself more on feeding from now on.

I'm rooting for you and your tang. Fish loss can be deviating. It's also why i stopped giving fish names. It becomes too emotional if they should pass.