Unknown killers

[Peterbuff]

Hi I have quarantined a Sailfin tang for about five weeks with copper and a little more than a week ago I had added him to my display. He seem to be fine until today I saw him start to lay on his side and put him right back into my quarentine tank he has been laying on his side breathing heavily ever since. I tried freshwater dipping him for three minutes and he is still back to being on the bottom of the tank breathing heavily on his side. I don't want to lose him please help thanks

 

[jay0705]

First no fw dips. Its just more stress. 2nd did you match the dt and qt prams?

 

[Peterbuff]

Everything is the same except for the salinity. Dt is 1.027 and qt is 1.020, but I don't think the salinity shock would last a week. I drip acclimated him for a good half hour to an hour when I transferred him from qt to dt

 

[jay0705]

Oh it can take a bit. Thats a huge diff. With only an hr of drip no way u got it close enough

 

[Peterbuff]

Really you think that's the culprit, could it have been an internal parasite like flukes, I didn't see any visible signs of anything on him. Also I noticed little rips on his top fin could've been a fish being aggressive towards him. The only real threat I would think would be my fox face rabbit fish

 

[2quills]

That's a huge swing in salinity. I'm sure it's suffering from osmotic shock.

 

[Peterbuff]

That's a huge swing in salinity. I'm sure it's suffering from osmotic shock.

What should I do to help him he's just laying on his side at the bottom of my qt breathing heavily

 

[2quills]

Personally I'd leave it alone and hope it bounces back. If it does bounce back in a few days then slowly start raising the salinity in the quarantine tank by about .01-.02 per day until it matches the display tank and then transfer.

 

[Peterbuff]

Personally I'd leave it alone and hope it bounces back. If it does bounce back in a few days then slowly start raising the salinity in the quarantine tank by about .01-.02 per day until it matches the display tank and then transfer.

So I can rule out any disease you think?

 

[2quills]

Sorry, no. I miss read you first post. Didn't realize he seems fine for the first week in the display.

I wouldn't rule out anything but I'm thinking between shipment, quarantine, copper and the acclimation it all may have been just too much stress on the fish.

Not to sound gloomy but it sounds like it's knocking on deaths door at this point. Could be a combination of all of the above.

 

[Peterbuff]

Sorry, no. I miss read you first post. Didn't realize he seems fine for the first week in the display.

I wouldn't rule out anything but I'm thinking between shipment, quarantine, copper and the acclimation it all may have been just too much stress on the fish.

Not to sound gloomy but it sounds like it's knocking on deaths door at this point. Could be a combination of all of the above.

I mean while in the quarantine for 5 weeks he was completely healthy and chomping on seaweed, when I first moved him to the display he wasn't as energetic as he was in the qt but I took that as him getting used to the tank and I guess he slowly got worse and worse but showing no signs of illness, he literally ate some brine yesterday I have no clue what happened

 

[2quills]

Gonna win some and lose some in this hobby. Happens to the best of em.

One note on Tangs in general is that they don't handle stress well at all. They aren't as hardy as some of the other common fish. If you get another one in the future it may be better to observe in quarantine first and only treat if absolutely necessary.

Not necessarily saying that's what is killing it. But any stress that can be avoided should be avoided whenever possible.

HTH

 

[Peterbuff]

Gonna win some and lose some in this hobby. Happens to the best of em.

One note on Tangs in general is that they don't handle stress well at all. They aren't as hardy as some of the other common fish. If you get another one in the future it may be better to observe in quarantine first and only treat if absolutely necessary.

Not necessarily saying that's what is killing it. But any stress that can be avoided should be avoided whenever possible.

HTH

So don't treat unless you see signs of illness, and i understand thanks for the help! Also how should I got about quarentineing in general when getting a new fish

 

[lmforbis]

The easiest way is to just keep them in a small tank by them selves with a couple pieces of pvc to hid in for 30 days. Watch very closely and only treat if needed. If yo do need to treat, that will likely extend the QT time.

 

[jay0705]

Agreed with above

 

[Peterbuff]

The easiest way is to just keep them in a small tank by them selves with a couple pieces of pvc to hid in for 30 days. Watch very closely and only treat if needed. If yo do need to treat, that will likely extend the QT time.

How would i know to treat a fish like with an internal parasite. Wouldn't they just be dormant till I put him in the dt?

 

[lmforbis]

Internal parasites are easy to diagnose and treat. The fish's poop is usually white and stringy when they have intestinal parasites. They can be treated with oral medication bound to food with seachem focus. This can be done at any time.

That is the easy way to QT but not the only way. I always treat with Prazipro for worms and I follow a protocol for ich. My QT protocol is fairly involved but has worked well for me. More work than a lot of people want to do.

 

[Peterbuff]

Internal parasites are easy to diagnose and treat. The fish's poop is usually white and stringy when they have intestinal parasites. They can be treated with oral medication bound to food with seachem focus. This can be done at any time.

That is the easy way to QT but not the only way. I always treat with Prazipro for worms and I follow a protocol for ich. My QT protocol is fairly involved but has worked well for me. More work than a lot of people want to do.

What's your protocol for ich? I don't mind the work . What do you think of doctor g's anti parasitic caviar?

 

[lmforbis]

I follow the tank transfer methods. It is detailed pretty thoroughly on reef to reef. Essentially it uses the parasites life cycle against itself. You transfer the fish into a sterile tank every 72 hours (no more than 72 hours). This happens 4 times with a final transfer into a regular QT for observation for another 2.5 weeks. Depending on the fish and how they are doing I either treat with prazipro during the transfers or during the observation period.
I use 2, 10 gallon tanks, or smaller if the fish is really tiny, an air stone, a heater and some PVC connectors. I have multiples of each. After each transfer I soak the tank and al the equipment that was inside it in bleach. After it is clean I rinse it out and allow it to air dry. Once dry the bleach is gone and the tank is ready for the next transfer.

 

[Peterbuff]

I follow the tank transfer methods. It is detailed pretty thoroughly on reef to reef. Essentially it uses the parasites life cycle against itself. You transfer the fish into a sterile tank every 72 hours (no more than 72 hours). This happens 4 times with a final transfer into a regular QT for observation for another 2.5 weeks. Depending on the fish and how they are doing I either treat with prazipro during the transfers or during the observation period.
I use 2, 10 gallon tanks, or smaller if the fish is really tiny, an air stone, a heater and some PVC connectors. I have multiples of each. After each transfer I soak the tank and al the equipment that was inside it in bleach. After it is clean I rinse it out and allow it to air dry. Once dry the bleach is gone and the tank is ready for the next transfer.

The only problem with that method is that I don't have a lot of room. Is there any other efficient method I can use for now till I get more room and more tanks. Ps thanks for all the help!