Sailfin Tang and Peppermint Shrimp

Graphicsplus · Nov 20, 2015

Hey all,

I just joined and had a question or two.

Saltwater 65 Gal (cycled and well)
Live Rock, Sand, ornamental corals
1 Clown, 2 firefish, a pair of CBS and about 10 peppermint shrimp.

Anyway I picked up a Sailfin Tang yesterday and while I was acclimating it started getting erratic in the bag floating. Darting around crazy. It finally stopped and seemed to be very still. When the acclimation finished I released him into the tank.
He went directly to the bottom and appeared to be struggling to stay upright kinda bouncing along the sand bed. He eventually found a spot hidden behind some coral when a bunch of my peppermint shrimp started going at it. I figured they were cleaning but the Tang looked pretty stressed and had a tough time keeping them away. I let it go on for a few minutes and started shooing the shrimp away from him. I couldn't stand it and with no effort was able to net the tang and place him in a 10 Gal hospital tank which I had ready to go just in case.
The Tang didnt look like it was going to make it so I just kept an eye on him. This morning I noticed him doing much better and at least staying up but he got erratic again. I backed off and came back later on. He seems to be doing even better now and I introduced some brine shrimp to see if he would eat. He looks to be recovering well but I have some anxiety about trying to put him in my DT again. How long should I wait to try it again and do you think the shrimp sensed the weekness?

Any suggestions would be great

Thanks

Reefing Madness · Nov 20, 2015

Put him in the main tank, its typical for fish to freak out in their new surroundings, he also knows what the shrimp were doing. You just need to put him in, and leave him be, by moving him around your stressing him out big time.

cmcoker · Nov 20, 2015

Graphicsplus said:
Hey all,

I just joined and had a question or two.

Saltwater 65 Gal (cycled and well)
Live Rock, Sand, ornamental corals
1 Clown, 2 firefish, a pair of CBS and about 10 peppermint shrimp.

Anyway I picked up a Sailfin Tang yesterday and while I was acclimating it started getting erratic in the bag floating. Darting around crazy. It finally stopped and seemed to be very still. When the acclimation finished I released him into the tank.
He went directly to the bottom and appeared to be struggling to stay upright kinda bouncing along the sand bed. He eventually found a spot hidden behind some coral when a bunch of my peppermint shrimp started going at it. I figured they were cleaning but the Tang looked pretty stressed and had a tough time keeping them away. I let it go on for a few minutes and started shooing the shrimp away from him. I couldn't stand it and with no effort was able to net the tang and place him in a 10 Gal hospital tank which I had ready to go just in case.
The Tang didnt look like it was going to make it so I just kept an eye on him. This morning I noticed him doing much better and at least staying up but he got erratic again. I backed off and came back later on. He seems to be doing even better now and I introduced some brine shrimp to see if he would eat. He looks to be recovering well but I have some anxiety about trying to put him in my DT again. How long should I wait to try it again and do you think the shrimp sensed the weekness?

Any suggestions would be great

Thanks

Since he is already in the hospital tank, I would leave him. Observe him for some time, get him eating well, just keep an eye on ammonia.

IMO , a quarantine period for any new addition is a good idea.
Some just use it as an observation period and treat if a problem is observed, others treat prophylacticly for ich/flukes.

More on quarantine :
https://www.reef2reef.com/index.php?threads/189815/

eatbreakfast · Nov 21, 2015

If you have the means to quarantine it is always a good idea to do so.

The peppermints likely sensed the weakness, but a healthy fish should be able to easily escape. While peppermints can provide cleaning services, it would not be done simultaneously by more than one or two at a time.

Graphicsplus · Nov 23, 2015

Just wanted to thank everyone for the responses. I kept it in quarantine for a few days and then put it in DT. He is doing great and not stressing like before.