clown tang in qt not eating ...help.

[apu701]

hey everyone, my tang had ick (or flutes) i couldnt really tell. ok i started a qt with heater, biowheel. it is a 20 gallon and the tang is about 3 inches long.
ever since i put him in there he has not been eating anything i try. he loved nori but doesent touch it now. its has been about 4 days since the qt started. the salinity is at 1.009 and everything including pH are normal.
the white spots are gone now. my question is should i normalize the salinity back to 1.025? i know this hasnt cured ick but i rather take my chances again with some other treatment lik copper as soon as i get him to eat again. he is looking pretty skinny now.
how should i proceed?
if i do raise salinity back, should i do it over the recommended 5 days or make it faster? i rather not starve him.

 

[m0nk]

Originally Posted by apu701
hey everyone, my tang had ick (or flutes) i couldnt really tell. ok i started a qt with heater, biowheel. it is a 20 gallon and the tang is about 3 inches long.
ever since i put him in there he has not been eating anything i try. he loved nori but doesent touch it now. its has been about 4 days since the qt started. the salinity is at 1.009 and everything including pH are normal.
the white spots are gone now. my question is should i normalize the salinity back to 1.025? i know this hasnt cured ick but i rather take my chances again with some other treatment lik copper as soon as i get him to eat again. he is looking pretty skinny now.
how should i proceed?
if i do raise salinity back, should i do it over the recommended 5 days or make it faster? i rather not starve him.
Definitely don't raise salinity faster than over 5-7 days, that will likely kill him, especially if he's weak from not eating. I'm personally not sure about the rest, it's tough to say, but someone else will likely chime in with help. I just wanted to point out the raising salinity thing a while so you know to still take it slow.

 

[m0nk]

Oh, I guess one thought would be to used crushed garlic to entice him to eat. Basically, chop or crush fresh garlic and mix it in with the food, making sure that it's really soaked well in the juice. Accounts from hobbyists have suggested that it could even help with the immune system. I wouldn't start raising your salinity until you see if the garlic will help the tang eat. If it does, then definitely keep the hypo going for the 3 weeks, otherwise, I couldn't say....

 

[apu701]

i tried the garlic. i put 4 cloves of garlic in a juicer and added alit bit of water as base. i put the nori in as a dip for 10 mins and tried that... didnt work. i put the garlic juice in with some mysis shrimp and soaked it for 10 mins but no good.

i tried every food i have which includes, formula 1,2 in both flake, pellets, and frozen. prime reef, brine, mysis, angel formula, spirulina.
anyone have similar problem?

 

[aquaknight]

Keep the fish in Hyposalinity for 4 weeks after the last spot is gone, then 4 weeks more after raising the salinity back to normal. Take 5-7days to raise it back.
As far as the hungry strike, have you been monitoring pH (noticed, 'normal' what does that mean?) and salinity using a refractometer? He's not eating probably becuase he's still adjusting. Keep offering the nori everyday (remove the old stuff if he doesn't eat and replace). Does he have enough hiding spots? What do you have in the QT? Do you have any macro-algae from a refugium from another tank? I got my Naso on chaeto and caulerpa, while 'he settled into' his 55gal QT. Offer mysis every-other day.

 

[sepulatian]

I agree with Aquaknight here. The reduced salinity wouldn't cause him to stop eating by itself. If the qt has only been running for four days, have you been testing the ammonia? If it was not cycled then that is likely to spike. Keep the lights minimal and be sure that there are plenty of hiding areas. Him not eating for a few days is not going to cause him to starve. Keep trying to feed him. Let us know how he does.

 

[aquaknight]

Ammonia, that's what it was! (brain farted and forgot lol). You seemed to run down a pretty solid list of foods and I imagine all that wouldn't be too good for a lil' old 20 gal. Definitely test ammonia and report back.

 

[apu701]

hey everyone, thanks for the inputs.
i have been very careful with the levels. definilty did not cycle the tank but i am doing 50% water changes every day matching temps and salinity. the ph has been at 8.2 using oceniac salt and i add a little seachem buffer just to be sure... i test everyday and every time i do a waterchange i suck up the left over food on the bottom as well as inside the chamber in the biowheel.. ammonica, nitrites, are all 0, nitrates are 10 after 5 mins of testing.. yes, i have been using a refractometer...
he looks very very thin. it could be the angle im looking at him though.. but i know he loved nori bc he was pickin at it all day in the display. oh i forgot to mention that he is new.. i had him for about a week.. i also did a freshwater bath for 20 mins bc i though it was flukes after 2 days of QT, in the FW bath after 20 mins there were a lot of white things on the bottom of the bucket...
I have a fake coral in there for him to hide next to. i didnt have PVC piping. but i was gonna rotate the fake corals as i have a bunch of old ones just in case it was ick reproducing somewhere on it... everything i have now im soaking in fresh garlic. i dont have cheato or caulrpa. there is always a new nori peiece every 12 hours in the tank though. hmmm..
should i try differnt greens? romain lettuce? how do they like the purple or red seaweed? i never used them.
i have a feeling it was flukes and maybe not ick. do u guys think maybe i should raise up the salinity back to normal levels in the proper time but still keepin him in the qt for 4 weeks to be sure? if it is ick, i can use copper next time.
thank you all for your help.

 

[sepulatian]

I would wait on raising the SG. Try different seaweed. He is probably very nervous. He is new, is in a tank that does not have much shelter, you are doing 50% changes daily, and he probably isn't feeling well from the parasites. There is no need to do 50% changes if the water readings are zero. Do enough to vacume out the left over food. I have done 50% changes on my tank a few times and my fish swim for cover in the rockwork. These are very healthy and comfortable fish. I can imagine how it is making your tang feel. Add more decorations. If he has ich it will die in the reduced salinity no matter what decor is in the tank. Have you actually seen spots on his body? Why do you think it is gill fluks?

 

[apu701]

i have seen ick and it more like a white dot. one of the white dot on this fish looked like a piece of <1mm white cotton stuck on the surface of the fish. plus it feel off when i did the freshwater bath after about 5 mins in the bath.
i dont think ick falls off like that. its hard to tell bc alot of the white spots i noticed were on the underside of this fish and its white to begin with so i couldnt make it out well. i figured i do the hypo regardless of what it is bc im pretty sure the treatment of either was the same.
one of the reason why i think the levels are at 0 is bc of the 50% waterchanges. i think im gonna slow this down bc hopefully that biowheel i got had some time to get some bio filtrations on it by now..
i still havent noticed the clown tang eating. it was eating in the display. i guess i will put more fake coral in there just in case this is the problem. i noticed in the display he doesnt eat nori when i place it on the clip and put it on the glass, only when i put it around a rock with a rubberband. i think i have a fake rock im gonna try tommrow. i already turned the lights off for tonight. so far i been putting the nori on the bottom glass via a clip and tried sticking the nori under the fake coral. i will see if the rock makes a difference.
i really dont want to lose this fish. any thing u guys suggest i will try. thanks you so much.

 

[apu701]

bump
still not eating. looks really thin. what is safest way to get him back to normal salinitly. im gonna put him back into display. this rate he is definity gonna die if i dont do anything.. i keep my display at 1.021 bc its a FOWLR. the salinity is at 1.009 and im gonna try acclimate him over 3 days. anyone have any method of getting him to eat another way please help me. thanks.
sorry for making everything to wordy.

 

[parkercandleco]

well i definitely know that biowheels are NOT good for a saltwater aquarium.. they are a breeding ground for ammonia and nitrates. i was told this by a very experienced aquariest.. so that is one thing that i think should probably be removed

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by parkercandleco
well i definitely know that biowheels are NOT good for a saltwater aquarium.. they are a breeding ground for ammonia and nitrates. i was told this by a very experienced aquariest.. so that is one thing that i think should probably be removed
Im at a loss for words and for me that Is something if you believe your very experienced friend I have some land to self you in the everglades

 

[florida joe]

Ok now I am going through something alone the same lines with my RG he was eating fine although live food in QT when I got my salinity down to 1.009 he stopped eating I wonder if there is a correlation with lower salinity and the desire to eat I have questioned this in my own post

 

[tangwhispr]

Clown tangs can be a pain to begin with, I think at this point I would personally just get him back in the display tank, he may not make it while you are trying to slowly increase the salinity. I think either ways its a bad situation....pick the less of the 2 evils.

 

[sepulatian]

i have seen ick and it more like a white dot. one of the white dot on this fish looked like a piece of <1mm white cotton stuck on the surface of the fish.
That is lymphocystis.
one of the reason why i think the levels are at 0 is bc of the 50% waterchanges. i think im gonna slow this down bc hopefully that biowheel i got had some time to get some bio filtrations on it by now..
Are you actually testing at all or just assuming?
You can bring the SG up over a week. The hypo is not why he is not eating. If you insist on adding him back into the display then all I can say is, keep the qt running. I have a feeling that you will be needing it soon.

 

[sepulatian]

Originally Posted by parkercandleco
well i definitely know that biowheels are NOT good for a saltwater aquarium.. they are a breeding ground for ammonia and nitrates. i was told this by a very experienced aquariest.. so that is one thing that i think should probably be removed
Not even close to true.

 

[florida joe]

Originally Posted by sepulatian
Not even close to true.
Guess i cant sell you any land then Sir Q

 

[parkercandleco]

o really.. so biowheels are in fact good for the saltwater aquarium.. ??? because i was told a many times that they were good for freshwater but not saltwater.. well doesnt that suck.. because i took mine off and disposed of them...

 

[florida joe]

A bio wheel is only a medium for nitrifying bacteria to grow on its principle is simple its many pleats increases the surface area for the bacterial to grow water runs over it turning it exposing the area to the tank water all done in a rather small unit please tell me the down side