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Thread: AH! HELP! My tang is sick :(

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    Insightful Reefer Ocelot199's Avatar
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    AH! HELP! My tang is sick :(

    Yellow tang. I put him in my tank 4 days ago, and he's been fine until now... I just got home from work, and looked in there... he looked almost bruised on both his sides, and he was swimming into things and bumping around the bottom of the tank. I took him out, put him in a container with water from the tank, did a 10% water change, tested everything, and now i'm reacclimating him. He looks a lot better now than he did when I got home, but he's still pretty pale. Anybody have any ideas? He mostly eats algae off the rocks, but sometimes he'll nip at the flake stuff I put in there for my damsels. I'm gonna go out to get him some better food tomorrow...

    Any ideas on whats wrong?

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    Site Owner Rob's Avatar
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    not too sure from the description
    what size was the tank?

    as for the food, make sureyou get some Nori, as they need lots of vegie to stay healthy. you can get Nori from an asion market or from your LFS (for more $$)
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    Insightful Reefer Ocelot199's Avatar
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    Its a 75 gallon, with another 30 gallons or so split between the fuge and sump. All the water tests come up well within limits. 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 1 nitrates... etc.

    He looks fine this morning. I dunno what was wrong with him. I think he was just hungry or something... the damsels chase away any other fish that try to eat their food. I put some of the flake stuff in the container I had him in, and he ate it all. I'll go out and get some better food for him.

    I read somewhere that giving them sea lettuce is good (or something). Where do you buy that? I looked at my crappy LFS and they didn't have anything other than pellet and flake food, and some frozen brine and the like.

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    Apprentice d-ster's Avatar
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    I have a purple tang and I occasionally feed him regular green leaf or romaine letuce. He seems to like it just fine, even the tomato clown gets in on the action.

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    Expert Reefer PSH's Avatar
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    This thread has very good information on why not feed terrestrial lettuce to our fish. The lettuce thread

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    Apprentice d-ster's Avatar
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    WOW!!!!


    I understand its not prefered to feed letuce, but does that mean its detremental?
    I have only used it as a treat, (entertainment for company)?

    Sorry for the bad info(blame it on the newbie) I dont have a place near me that can provide nori, will look into it more to confirm.

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    i feed dried seaweed to all of my tangs. i just soak it in garlic water and clip it to the tank. its gone in minutes !! they also get PE mysis, enriched brine, cyclopeeze, and sometimes even squid.
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    Grand Master Reefer Seahorsedreams's Avatar
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    We really need to encourage peeps to QT their fish.

    It's really one of the basics of this hobby and we should make sure all of our basics are covered.
    Renee

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    Grand Master Reefer gwen_o_lyn's Avatar
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    Housing damsels with a tang is not always a good idea. I don't have personal experience, but I've read many threads in which the tang was so stressed out it perished. Just something to think about.

    Hope he is ok.
    Gwen - 2008 Atlanta Reef Club Board
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    Master Reefer Danamck's Avatar
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    My 2 cents:

    I agree with PSH - seaweed and marine algae is a much better choice over lettuce.

    And I agree with Reef Keeper - tangs need A LOT of algae and sea weed. It should be the item that makes up the majority of their diet.

    And I agree with Gwen that most Damsels are not the best "room mates", though there are exceptions. (Green and Blue Chromis, Yellow Tail Blues have proven to be relatively peaceful in my tanks over the years.)

    And I could not agree more with Seahorsedreams - QT is a must, not an option. Back in the days when we kept fish in tanks with coral skeletons, we could always add copper directly to the tank. But in reef tanks, or FOWLR tanks, this would be disaster. Setting up a QT tank is easy and in the grand scheme of things - cheap. It can also double as a back up tank, should something happen to your main tank. I have a 46 I use to quarantine fish, and (2) 10 gallon tanks for corals and inverts. While this doesn't guarantee that a disaster will never happen, it does make it very unlikely.

    I have now stepped down from my soap box.

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    Grand Master Reefer CarmieJo's Avatar
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    Check at an Asian market for dried seaweed.
    Carmie


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    Master Reefer Danamck's Avatar
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    I've also found dried seaweed in almost every grocery store I go to, including big chains like Safeway/Vons.

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    Insightful Reefer Ocelot199's Avatar
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    I found nori at Dommicks... checked to make sure there were no additives or anything, and put it in there earlier today. All my livestock pretty much ignored it at first, so I left a little bit in there when I went to work. Its gone now, so I guess they figured out it was there. But the same thing happened... I got home, and my tang looked like he did last night. I took him out and put him in the same container with new water from the tank, and he already looks a lot better.

    Heres some pics I took of him right after taking him out. Already the brown bruise-like spots had faded, and he was more active... it only took a few minutes from taking him out of the tank. I put some flake food and a little piece of nori in there for him, and hes eating it up.




    Those were 20 minutes ago. Now he looks normal and healthy. I don't get it...


    I'm planning on getting a QT, and soon. I'm still a new startup right now though, so... I don't see the point of quarantining fish against nothing thats in the tank :P


    The two damsels are just blue damsels, and they don't seem to mess with the tang. They were the first livestock I put in the tank, and they were sort of territorial when I put in my blenny, but they were terrified of the tang when he went in, and for the most part they all just ignore each other... unless they get more territorial at night when I'm not around to see whats going on, I don't think they're the problem. They don't even pick on the blenny anymore, now that they're used to him. My blenny, two damsels and my flame angel all look perfectly healthy and happy. Its just the tang thats being weird :/

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    Apprentice d-ster's Avatar
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    This may sound silly and I could be way off, But were your lights when you came home from work?
    I have noticed that shortly after my lights are turned of my tang too changes his colors, and after a short time back in the light his color will come back to normal.

    Dont know if Im on here or not but it was a thought.

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    Grand Master Reefer Seahorsedreams's Avatar
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    Please please please do some reading on the purpose and setup of a QT tank. It will save you some headaches in the future! You should have set up a QT before the first fish hit the tank water.

    Quote Originally Posted by Ocelot199 View Post
    I don't see the point of quarantining fish against nothing thats in the tank :P
    To protect your damsels, blenny and flame angel! If you had of brought the tang home, and put him in QT, the other fish would never be exposed to what the tang possibly has.... it could kill them all. Everytime you introduce a new fish to the tank without QT you risk every other fish you own. Even the first addition should be QT'd, even if there is no one else in there to get sick. They could be "housing " something you wouldn't want in your tank... something that it hard or impossible to remove once in there. Time in the QT before introduction to the display tank gives you time to make sure the fish doesn't have any undesireables.

    It also gives to a good opportunity for you to observe the new addition. You'll know exactly what he's eating, exactly what he's excreting. You'll be able to inspect him every day because he'll be nice and visible in an ole QT tank.

    It doesn't guarantee the fish still won't bring something into the display tank..... but it's the best chance we got and one that is well worth going an extra mile for.
    Renee

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    Insightful Reefer Ocelot199's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by d-ster View Post
    This may sound silly and I could be way off, But were your lights when you came home from work?
    I have noticed that shortly after my lights are turned of my tang too changes his colors, and after a short time back in the light his color will come back to normal.

    Dont know if Im on here or not but it was a thought.
    I got home around 10:15pm, and I have it set so the lights all turn off at 9pm. So they'd been off for a little over an hour.

    And yeah, I know I should set up a QT. I'm just short on funds :/ I'll get to it before I add anything new. Right now I'm saving up all my cash for a good lighting system.

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    Apprentice d-ster's Avatar
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    try extending your light time till after you get home and see how he does then. My guess is that the lights being off is whats causing your dilema. Thats why 20 min. later he looks fine. It takes a bit for the color to come back with the lights.

    Someone jump in here if im off base.

    As for the QT arnet we all a bit short in this hobby

    I went to the lfs looking for nori again and found Green marine algae. it says its natural dried seaweeds(Macroalgae) would this suffice?

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    Grand Master Reefer Seahorsedreams's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by d-ster View Post
    As for the QT arnet we all a bit short in this hobby
    Yup!

    It needs to be talked about more. It needs to be mentioned when it is seen.
    Renee

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    Apprentice d-ster's Avatar
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    Im sorry if it seemed as though I was down playing the need for a QT, as I was not. I have one myself. I was more making light of the amount of money this hobby can require. As always proper reaserch and tecniques should be used always when adding new fish, coral, ect.

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    Insightful Reefer Ocelot199's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by d-ster View Post
    try extending your light time till after you get home and see how he does then. My guess is that the lights being off is whats causing your dilema. Thats why 20 min. later he looks fine. It takes a bit for the color to come back with the lights.

    Someone jump in here if im off base.

    As for the QT arnet we all a bit short in this hobby

    I went to the lfs looking for nori again and found Green marine algae. it says its natural dried seaweeds(Macroalgae) would this suffice?
    I found the same stuff at my lfs. The thing of nori I found at Domminicks was a LOT cheaper, and it looks like the same stuff. So I guess thats what you want, if you can't find it at your grocery store. I found mine in the 'asian' aisle (yes, its called that).

    I'm gonna watch my tang tonight, since I've got the night off. Lights are gonna turn off in an hour, so I'll go sit there and see what happens to him.

    How did you set up your QT? Just a small tank with a HOB, heater and some LS?

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    SPS Reefer / TR Admin lReef lKeeper's Avatar
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    it is best to go with a bare bottom in a QT tank. live sand can incubate parasites, such as ICH. with a bare bottom you can vaccum everything on the bottom out and refill the tank (water change), and leave it running for the next species to be QT'ed.
    lReef lKeeper (Bobby) Admin and Reefer

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    Apprentice d-ster's Avatar
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    Yes I use a 29 with a few peices of LR a bare bottom, a heater, and a HOB. For lighting I just have an old flourecent light bar I used on one of my FW tanks.
    Dont know if this was an okay way to do it but I used some of my water from a water change in my main tank to make up my QT. Seems good so far has worked like a charm.

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    Insightful Reefer Ocelot199's Avatar
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    How long do you usually keep new stuff in there before introducing them into the main tank?

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    Grand Master Reefer Seahorsedreams's Avatar
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    I'm not trying to pick on anybody here, just the topic has presented itself. And some statements are concerning to me. QT tanks are the cheapest piece of equipment you can buy for your tank.... and the most useful.

    • 10 gallon tank (appropriate for most fish.... and really any food grade tub container will do as long as you are able to maintain water quality. But a clear walled container will allow you to visualize the fish better.
    • Airline tubing
    • Air pump
    • test kits which you should have anyway for the display tank (pH, salinity, temp, ammonia.)
    • Heater
    • Shelter or item of comfort. PVC fitting for cave... PVC tubing for seahorse hitches (depending on their size)


    That's pretty cheap.

    I understand having to save up for a new lighting system but it's not essential like a a QT tank is.

    I wouldn't put in a QT tank anything that you can't throw away or sterilize.
    Renee

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    Grand Master Reefer Seahorsedreams's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Ocelot199 View Post
    How long do you usually keep new stuff in there before introducing them into the main tank?
    I do a month. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 3 weeks. Unless it's a WC seahorse and then it's 6-8.

    I still have seahorses in QT since before father's day.
    Renee

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