Urgent Help Please - Heavy Breathing Tangs in Quarantine

[Gonzo74]

This happened to tangs in my quarantine. I had a similar setup as yours and I ended up adding a bubble rock with an air pump to my quarantine. It seemed to help and mine eventually started acting normal again. This may not have been what fixed my problem but they seems to respond well to it.

 

[KMench]

Glad to hear the problem has improved.

 

[Punchanello]

Just by way of update, I lost the desjardini. I think the combination of those couple of days with low oxygen, stress and general lack of appetite were too much. On inspection of the dead desjardini I noticed erosion around the 'temples' (if fish had temples) so it's possible he was being affected by something else also.

The Powder Blue is fine. More than fine.

This kind of brings me to another question. The Blue tang has now been in QT for 3 weeks and shows no signs of illness, in particular no signs of ich. I have not commenced the copper treatment again. AT this point I'm wondering if I should continue to observe him for a few more weeks and treat if necessary rather than just recommencing treatment right now.

I previously asked this as a general question here on R2R and there was a 5 to 1 consensus that tangs should be treated prophylactically. I have previously read articles that strongly argue that this isn't in the best interests of the animal.

 

[AquaLifeStudio]

My vote is to treat all fish with Copper, let there be no buts about it. Minimum 2 weeks and check with a Hanna Copper checker every few days. I've had good success ramping up to therapeutic levels over a weeks time.

 

[ihavecrabs]

Just by way of update, I lost the desjardini. I think the combination of those couple of days with low oxygen, stress and general lack of appetite were too much. On inspection of the dead desjardini I noticed erosion around the 'temples' (if fish had temples) so it's possible he was being affected by something else also.

The Powder Blue is fine. More than fine.

This kind of brings me to another question. The Blue tang has now been in QT for 3 weeks and shows no signs of illness, in particular no signs of ich. I have not commenced the copper treatment again. AT this point I'm wondering if I should continue to observe him for a few more weeks and treat if necessary rather than just recommencing treatment right now.

I previously asked this as a general question here on R2R and there was a 5 to 1 consensus that tangs should be treated prophylactically. I have previously read articles that strongly argue that this isn't in the best interests of the animal.

If you want to "check" to see if there is any ich in the display, go find a tropical fish store that sells freshwater black mollies.. Remove all copper from the tank, acclimate the black mollies to SW and drop one in. If you see any white spots in the next week, start copper over.. The molly can be removed and put back in fresh water to treat as the ich won't survive. However, that fish is now unable to test going forward (return to store or give it to someone with a fresh water tank).