Convict tang: who has had luck?

[Michael43]

I want to start this thread "knocking on wood". Since I set my tank up over a year ago I have never had any fish casualties. I bought a solid looking convict tang about 6 weeks ago who has been doing great. Somehow instantly got along with my hippo and purple tang living in complete harmony. A couple days ago he stopped eating and sitting in the corner where there is minimal current. Coming home tonight I found him stuck to my powerhead filter but still breathing. I do what I feel was right for him and the tank and bagged him and put in the freezer. No idea what happened. Are these tough fish to keep alive? I'm nervous considering I haven't dealt with death much in the hobby besides corals. Everyone else looks great and water parameters are fine. Are they hard fish?

 

[mort]

Your experience is very common unfortunately. They are a species which often fades away. Lots that come in are badly under weight and fail to put it on again. It used to be mentioned that their gut fauna was destroyed or knocked back and they therefore couldn't get the nutrition from their food (from antibiotics or medications used at the storage facility or wholesaler) although I have no knowledge as to how accurate that is.
People have success and I myself had a skinny one from Fiji who didn't eat for the first three weeks but then I managed to get going and it became the plumpest tang I've ever had. We don't see Hawaiian convicts over here and Fijian are the only ones i'd even try, those from Indonesia are shipped or cared for poorly compared to them and i'd expect Hawaiian fish to be well care for as well. The only downside of Hawaii is the capture size limits. I was told when I got mine that half the battle was its size, which couldn't have been got from Hawaii.
If you were humanely destroying the fish, and forgive me if I have it wrong, but putting them in the freezer to shut down isn't the best way to go. It is much better to either knock it on the head or sever the spinal cord with a knife (easier said than done).

 

[Michael43]

I read somewhere the best was to put it in a bag with water and put it in the freezer to slowly die down. In this case I mean the fish was nearly stiff and just barely breathing. If it had any real fight at all in it I would have put it in my acclimation box but it was for sure a goner. Yeah I'm not sure I could have done what you said. But just trying to find out more so if people normally do well with them

 

[eatbreakfast]

Small convicts have a ridiculously high metabolic rate, and often also have internal parasites. Treating with prazi or metro help with the parasites and frequent feeding helps with their dietary needs.

 

[mort]

That's a good point that I forgot. I treated for internal parasite before beginning qt.

 

[tj w]

While in Hawaii, convicts are one of the most prevalent fish that I saw. They all seemed to forage on the rocks and swim constantly. I haven't heard a lot of happy endings with these guys. I myself would love to find a healthy one but that seems to be a chore. Let's hear some success stories.

 

[Tigerbear]

Fortunately, I've never had a problem with them. Well, other than with them being like a vacuum cleaner when feeding, zipping around and eating everything in sight. And I feed my fish generously twice a day so it's not like they're starving. I got one about a year ago from my LFS. It was very skinny and I feared it would not last long at the LFS. I was willing to take a chance. They really need some algae in the tank to graze on all day long. And I had just the tank! A year later and he's quite plump. Perhaps it was just bad luck on your part. But try again and make sure he's got some algae to graze on. Good luck!

 

[jda]

I have had good luck when they have a bit of algae in the tank to graze on at first while they get accustomed to eating pellets from the auto feeder. They do seem to need a lot of food.