Should I buy this...? I have issues

specialk · May 2, 2014

Hey all --

FIrst let me formerly introduce myself. My name is Kenny and I am a crazy reef/saltwater fish addict.

Had a ich outbreak 7 months ago in which I did not have my sterilizer set up yet and it killed alot of my previous fish. So I hooked up 2 300 gal capacity sterilizers and went bare for 2 months. Now in my 125 I have only 2 clowns, some chromis right now.All have been doing great for about 5 months.

I am possibly going to a swap tomm and while I have waaaay overdone myself in spending already, I continue to buy more, even though I am out of town for work, and may or may not be able to get back in time. IF I cannot get back in time I have someone who can pick the stuff up for me, and I will be home tomm night around 8 worst case scenario. My disease is def in full effect. :faint2: I refuse to not buy .. no matter where I am.

HOWEVER, I have come across a 3 inch Powder Blue Tang, 3 inches that has been with a previous owner and has been QT'ed already and is eating everything and has been treated in the QT. It is $60. I want to buy this. However I do not have my own QT here now, so I would have to set all that up and that would cost more money. So setting it up by the time tomm night comes is probably not going to happen. But again it has been QT'ed really with this owner.

What do you think .. I will lean on other addicts to guide me in what I should do. Does this sound like a good deal? Buy or not to buy?

oh:

cpayne015 · May 2, 2014

be prepared for another ich outbreak...powder blues are notorious for ich regardless of quarantine

Huntor0 · May 2, 2014

I would suggest taking the $60 and putting it toward the QT setup. In my expierence impulse buys without quarintine lead to flushing money and fish down the drain.

specialk · May 2, 2014

Uggh.....I thought maybe the fact that he was already QT'ed in the other owners QT setup would save me the time of doing it. (this is me still talking my way around my disease and making it right) And yes I do agree with the impulse buys ...

Daniel@R2R · May 2, 2014

Hi Kenny! Sounds like we will be at the same swap tomorrow! Maybe we'll bump into each other. I'm kind of on the fence here. Do you know the previous owner? Do you know his QT process? If you know and trust him, then I'd say you could treat it as though you have already QTd him, but otherwise, I would probably not chance it (unless you will do the QT yourself). Having lost all of my fish a while back due to not QTing, I feel your pain, so from now on, I'll be QTing everything.

specialk · May 2, 2014

mdbannister said:
Hi Kenny! Sounds like we will be at the same swap tomorrow! Maybe we'll bump into each other. I'm kind of on the fence here. Do you know the previous owner? Do you know his QT process? If you know and trust him, then I'd say you could treat it as though you have already QTd him, but otherwise, I would probably not chance it (unless you will do the QT yourself). Having lost all of my fish a while back due to not QTing, I feel your pain, so from now on, I'll be QTing everything.

Yah I hear ya .. I lost like 13 fish moving from my 90 to 125 .. so I am NOT going thru that again. If you go to the swap site and look under fish you will see the powder blue and what he has QT'ed it with. That was the only reason I was thinking about getting it, because it had been "quarantined" -- BUT like everyone knows it was not me myself doing it so some say it is a gamble and I would agree with that side of the fence as well. BUT as my thought was, if he had done it already previously what does it matter if he was in my QT or his .. he IS eating everything and all.

mike007 · May 2, 2014

As said powder blues do seem to get ick. Since you will be moving from one tank to another this may cause some stress which might be a issue. If the fish is eating well and is strong may not be a problem. But best to qt these guys.

davocean · May 2, 2014

Even in ideal conditions PB's are such ich magnets

specialk · May 2, 2014

Annnnd..... this is why I am glad to lean on other addicts. I think I am close to being talked down off the ledge now. I need to learn how to deal with these flare-ups...lol

Reefing Madness · May 2, 2014

I'd get it, knowing that its going to come down with ICH, the severity would all depend on you at that point. If he's eating now, get what he's used to eating. For the most part, the first couple of months you have him, feed him that. Once he's been in the tank for awhile, then I'd say your safe to change it up.

My Hippo still gets it, even though I haven't added any fish. She doesn't like that fact that I move thing in the tank once in awhile, and gets a bit stressed out, it always goes away in a couple of weeks. She remains active and eats during this time frame.

specialk · May 3, 2014

Reefing Madness said:
I'd get it, knowing that its going to come down with ICH, the severity would all depend on you at that point. If he's eating now, get what he's used to eating. For the most part, the first couple of months you have him, feed him that. Once he's been in the tank for awhile, then I'd say your safe to change it up.

My Hippo still gets it, even though I haven't added any fish. She doesn't like that fact that I move thing in the tank once in awhile, and gets a bit stressed out, it always goes away in a couple of weeks. She remains active and eats during this time frame.

After talking to the guy and considering my situation .. I think I am going to get it. I am back in town and can set up a QT for him, and also knowing he will indeed come down with ich .. at least I only have clowns and chromis in there right now .. so I am not at risk of ruining my entire tank. No better time then now. AND I am going to treat his food with Focus and Metronidazole (one of the greatest tips I have ever gotten for dealing with ich) which should take care of any ich

mfinn · May 3, 2014

I didn't see if you mentioned how long the fish has been in qt.
And what the history of that period.
And do you trust the person to be completely honest with you?
If it has been in qt for 5-6 weeks with no sign of any problem, then I would get it.
But as already mentioned, they are a fish that gets ich pretty easily.

specialk · May 5, 2014

mfinn said:
I didn't see if you mentioned how long the fish has been in qt.
And what the history of that period.
And do you trust the person to be completely honest with you?
If it has been in qt for 5-6 weeks with no sign of any problem, then I would get it.
But as already mentioned, they are a fish that gets ich pretty easily.

Yah it was in QT for a little over a month and was getting treated. I do trust the person that had the fish, because this person is at all the local swaps, and him being dishonest and selling something that turned out to be "junk" would only ruin his credibility for all future swaps. He has far more to lose by lying. I do believe him and the fish looked great. AND.....

... I decided to get him. Impulse buy? Maybe. But this was a fish I have always wanted and when I weighed all the options it made some sense to get it. Had he not been in QT and had he not been eating, along with any other worry-some factors .. I would not have. But I decided to and he is doing great, very active in the tank and within 24 hours was already seen nibbling on some seaweed rubber-banded to a rock. So that he good. He comes right up to the tank when I go over to it and seems to have a pretty good personality as well. SO FAR .. I am pleased.

I have a whole host of foods to throw at him .. from standard mysis to Larry's frozen. So far it looks to be a pretty good call. I may have gotten "lucky"

mfinn · May 5, 2014

specialk said:
Yah it was in QT for a little over a month and was getting treated. I do trust the person that had the fish, because this person is at all the local swaps, and him being dishonest and selling something that turned out to be "junk" would only ruin his credibility for all future swaps. He has far more to lose by lying. I do believe him and the fish looked great. AND.....

... I decided to get him. Impulse buy? Maybe. But this was a fish I have always wanted and when I weighed all the options it made some sense to get it. Had he not been in QT and had he not been eating, along with any other worry-some factors .. I would not have. But I decided to and he is doing great, very active in the tank and within 24 hours was already seen nibbling on some seaweed rubber-banded to a rock. So that he good. He comes right up to the tank when I go over to it and seems to have a pretty good personality as well. SO FAR .. I am pleased.

I have a whole host of foods to throw at him .. from standard mysis to Larry's frozen. So far it looks to be a pretty good call. I may have gotten "lucky"

I probably would have got him too.

specialk · May 5, 2014

So here is where I am at now .. and I have never really dealt with this so I am not sure. All the other times I have gotten fish and QT'ed them, I have got them to eat seaweed and Mysis with no real problem and then they obviously stuck to eating that once in my DT. However, as I have gotten him, and all be it, it has only been 2 days .. he is only eating a responding too live brine shrimp. Again my first time using live brine but I did do this because the previous owner who had him in QT said he would devour live Brine and pellets. So in doing some research I am gathering that live brine does not have all that much nutritional value. Protein yes but not much else.

So, does anyone have a good plan of attack for how I should approach this. After I put the live brine in, and tried sneaking some mysis in there as well -- and he did not bite. I obviously have the standard seaweed veggie clip stuck to the side and on the bottom so that is there for him as well.

Just looking to see if anyone has maybe ever encountered this or has any suggesstions.

Daniel@R2R · May 5, 2014

You could try shredding some of the seaweed into small pieces. I'd keep introducing a mix of the food (brine shrimp along with mysis and seaweed), and I'd soak the non-live stuff in a garlic supplement before adding it.

reeffirstaid · May 5, 2014

Honestly, the only real way to totally prevent a Powder Blue from getting ich, is to keep it in a fish only environment, where either hyposalinity or a small measure of copper, can be a constant.

reeffirstaid · May 5, 2014

specialK, how long have you been in the hobby?

specialk · May 5, 2014

Yah I am trying that as well. That is how got my Atlantic Blue to eat in QT when I had my old 90.

specialk · May 5, 2014

mdbannister said:
You could try shredding some of the seaweed into small pieces. I'd keep introducing a mix of the food (brine shrimp along with mysis and seaweed), and I'd soak the non-live stuff in a garlic supplement before adding it.

Yah I am trying that as well. That is how got my Atlantic Blue to eat in QT when I had my old 90.