Tang in trouble

[Murice]

Had tomini tang about 4 days... he was fine until today... noticed he was in the back of tank on bottom breathing fast.... moved him to a qt tank, fed him... he ate very little. Any thoughts? Parameters are in line

 

[Jon Fishman]

Not much to go on.

Plenty of aeration?

 

[Bryson.bobby]

#reefsquad, @Big G, any clue here? In the meantime, any signs of infections? Noticeable white dots?

 

[Murice]

Plenty of airation, no white dots, easy to catch, didn't try to swim away

 

[Big G]

Was the tang shipped or did you pick it up at your LFS?

 

[Murice]

LFS

Was the tang shipped or did you pick it up at your LFS?

LFS

 

[NowGlazeIT]

Looks scared. More hiding places to start.

 

[NowGlazeIT]

You sure ammonia did not spike?

 

[NowGlazeIT]

The rock looks freshly cured and not yet cycled

 

[Murice]

So this isn't the tank he stays in moved to a qt

 

[NowGlazeIT]

So this isn't the tank he stays in moved to a qt

Yea that’s good. But how long was that tank running prior to his arrival? Where was that rock before? Did you put him in the QT right from the start or was he in one of your other tanks?

 

[Big G]

Here's a list of things to consider. Some you may already be doing for your new fish:

Turn off the tank lights and only use the ambient room lighting. Avoid bright lights for a few days.
Cover the back wall and the two ends of the tank to provide some privacy for the fish. Old newspaper works temporarily. I paint mine a dark blue or black.
Add some floating plastic aquarium plants to provide shelter.
Use a Seachem Ammonia Alert Badge. Best way to view the colors on the badge is to light it from behind. A small flashlight works great.

Consider giving the fish a freshwater dip to check for flukes.

 

[Big G]

LFS
LFS

Great, so we are probably not dealing with some ammonia burn to the fish's gills.

 

[Reef AquaCult]

It looks skinny and under nourished to me. Was it eating well previously?

 

[Murice]

Here's a list of things to consider. Some you may already be doing for your new fish:

Turn off the tank lights and only use the ambient room lighting. Avoid bright lights for a few days.
Cover the back wall and the two ends of the tank to provide some privacy for the fish. Old newspaper works temporarily. I paint mine a dark blue or black.
Add some floating plastic aquarium plants to provide shelter.
Use a Seachem Ammonia Alert Badge. Best way to view the colors on the badge is to light it from behind. A small flashlight works great.

Consider giving the fish a freshwater dip to check for flukes.

Awesome thanks!... will I see the flukes come off? Also no more than 3 min in freshwater?

 

[Big G]

Awesome thanks!... will I see the flukes come off? Also no more than 3 min in freshwater?

RO water temperature matched to the QT and 3-5 minutes. Flukes usually start coming off at about the 3 minute mark plus or minus. Normal for the fish to freak a bit at the beginning. But if you see it continuing to have problems, pull the fish from the FW. Look for small white-ish sesame seed things on the bottom of the FW container. A dark container helps to see them.

As always we never know if there is some underlying problem the fish has when doing a FW dip.

 

[vetteguy53081]

How was fish acclimated when you brought it home?
When you dropped it in QT tank, did you just drop him in or did you acclimate him into tank?
Eating a little is a good sign. Add liquid vitamins and garlic to its' food. I agree on lights off or very low for 24-48 hours to keep fish relaxed and assure salinity is not high in your tank.