Picking up new fish

florida joe

Well-Known Member
I think it would be a good idea to have someone With some knowledge of electronics come over and help you and DO NOT PUT ONE END OF PROBE OF THE METER IN AND OUTLET AND THE OTHER IN YOUR TANK
 

monsinour

Active Member
You still have not installed those GFCI outlets yet sparty? what are you waiting for, the place to catch fire?
 

sparty059

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328408
I think it would be a good idea to have someone With some knowledge of electronics come over and help you and DO NOT PUT ONE END OF PROBE OF THE METER IN AND OUTLET AND THE OTHER IN YOUR TANK
I know I know... I wasn't thinking about it until I had typed it out and entered it. Then I realized well hey... that just wouldn't be good now would it?!? Just so you don't keep in the back of your head that you may have possibly sent me to my death, I will let you know I'm not going to put it in an outlet and in the tank! Rest assure.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Monsinour
http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328410
You still have not installed those GFCI outlets yet sparty? what are you waiting for, the place to catch fire?
Possibly...

I'll pick one up today. The wifey (gf) is going out with her girlfriends for a girls night out. That'll give me some time to do some work on the tank and get everything situated that needs to be.
 

sparty059

Active Member
So I just got back from my lfs. They only had one pacific blue tang in the tank that was brought in on Oct 1. I opted not to buy him because his underside was turning white and spotted white up his side. I figured this had to have been ich so I passed. They said they might get more in next week but weren't sure. I think this might be better since I should buy the rest of the test kits I need and then buy the tang. A little bummed out but rather purchase a healthy fish than a fish that I have to make healthy. Maybe some other time.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
You're always going to have some manor of stray voltage in the tank given off from your lights. For instance I just checked one of my tanks and I get a reading of 9 volts at the surface and my powder brown has never shown any sign of HLLE. You can do it safely using an outlet. Just don't plug your test leads into the slot on the right hand side of the outlet and you'll be fine. Plug it into the ground which is the bottom hole of a 3 prong outlet. I test for voltage though instead of current. If there was current passing through the tank you'd know it when you put your hand in the water. I did it safely using a 3 prong extension cord plugged into a local outlet. Set my meter to test for voltage...stuck my red lead into the ground opening on the extension cord and my black (common) lead into the tank. And I get about 9.5 Volts.
 

sparty059

Active Member
Ground Joe : laugh: on another note unrelated to this I found some cyano in my dt. I don't have anything to siphon with so I just grabbed it out with my hand. Hopefully I don't get some disease now.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328462
Just out of curiosity where was he told to test for current?
No where that I've seen. I was merely offering an opinion in agreement that checking for voltage is correct and that it can be done safely using an outlet. Simply pointing out the fact that if there was current in his tank he would probably know it wouthout having to test for it. Just throwing that out there since a mesely 9 volts isn't enough to register virtually any measurement of current even on my meter. No offense to you if that's what you were thinking.
 

florida joe

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059 http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328465
Ground Joe : laugh: on another note unrelated to this I found some cyano in my dt. I don't have anything to siphon with so I just grabbed it out with my hand. Hopefully I don't get some disease now.
On no you didn’t. Please ASAP PM meowzer she is the expert on people getting diseases from putting their hand on and in things they should not.
 

sparty059

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by florida joe http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328467
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059
http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328465
Ground Joe : laugh: on another note unrelated to this I found some cyano in my dt. I don't have anything to siphon with so I just grabbed it out with my hand. Hopefully I don't get some disease now.
On no you didn’t. Please ASAP PM meowzer she is the expert on people getting diseases from putting their hand on and in things they should not.
Joe, your humor shines though more and more each day. You had me running to the computer for a minute, as I started to look things up I chuckled a bit after reading some of the things.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059 http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328448
So I just got back from my lfs. They only had one pacific blue tang in the tank that was brought in on Oct 1. I opted not to buy him because his underside was turning white and spotted white up his side. I figured this had to have been ich so I passed. They said they might get more in next week but weren't sure. I think this might be better since I should buy the rest of the test kits I need and then buy the tang. A little bummed out but rather purchase a healthy fish than a fish that I have to make healthy. Maybe some other time.
I've always been advised to stay away from purchasing small (young) tangs and that there's a better success rate if you get them around medium size or larger. It's probably pretty good odds that you will get a fish that is carrying the parasite unless you can somehow verify that they have been treated prior to purchase and kept in a parasite free environment. Alot of the time they will already have it even if they don't show signs of it. If a fish is stressed or not eating very well their immune systems drop and they won't be able to keep themselves healthy enough to combat the parasite. And that's usually when it manifests itself into a form that we can see. What did the white spots on the fish that you saw look like? How big were they? And was the belly actually turning a whitish color or was it perhaps yellow? Just currious...
 

gemmy

Active Member
Isn't that part of the reason that everything should be QT'ed? (Yes, I know baby tangs have a poor success rate and I can't believe the prices of the baby tangs sometimes)
 

sparty059

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2Quills http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328474
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059
http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328448
So I just got back from my lfs. They only had one pacific blue tang in the tank that was brought in on Oct 1. I opted not to buy him because his underside was turning white and spotted white up his side. I figured this had to have been ich so I passed. They said they might get more in next week but weren't sure. I think this might be better since I should buy the rest of the test kits I need and then buy the tang. A little bummed out but rather purchase a healthy fish than a fish that I have to make healthy. Maybe some other time.
I've always been advised to stay away from purchasing small (young) tangs and that there's a better success rate if you get them around medium size or larger. It's probably pretty good odds that you will get a fish that is carrying the parasite unless you can somehow verify that they have been treated prior to purchase and kept in a parasite free environment. Alot of the time they will already have it even if they don't show signs of it. If a fish is stressed or not eating very well their immune systems drop and they won't be able to keep themselves healthy enough to combat the parasite. And that's usually when it manifests itself into a form that we can see. What did the white spots on the fish that you saw look like? How big were they? And was the belly actually turning a whitish color or was it perhaps yellow? Just currious...
That could be regarding the fish holding it but not visible to the naked eye yet. The other week I went into the store and that's when I had noticed there were two in a tank. They both looked VERY blue and in perfect condition. Today, there was only one in there, and the white spots almost looked like the discoloration on it's side/belly. It was more spotted. The belly was not turning yellow I'm sure of it, it was definately white spots though.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Gemmy http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328476
Isn't that part of the reason that everything should be QT'ed? (Yes, I know baby tangs have a poor success rate and I can't believe the prices of the baby tangs sometimes)
Yep, that's excactly why you should quarantine. Because had be purchased one of those fish a few weeks ago he may have purchased it under the impression that it was perfectly healthy only to find out a few weeks down the road in his quarantine tank that not everything was as had seemed. Some places are outrageous on their prices...but ya know, babies are so cute!...$$$
 

sparty059

Active Member
Sorry my posts are freaking out for some reason right now. I would QT him, but I don't want to buy a fish when he's already ill. It doesn't make sense to me to buy something that I have to bring back to health rather than a fish that I can buy that will be healthy from the get go.
Corey, I also like to buy baby fish. It makes me feel a little bit closer to them. I know the success rate is low, but I feel that I can do it. It'll be tough but it makes me enjoy watching them grow when I see them so small and growing to be so big. Sounds lame yes, I know... but I was bummed out when I bought my black and white clown because she was two months old. I eventually got over it and am very happy I bought her. But my white and orange was only two weeks old and I can already tell how much he has grown from when I bought him.
 

gemmy

Active Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059 http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328481
Sorry my posts are freaking out for some reason right now. I would QT him, but I don't want to buy a fish when he's already ill. It doesn't make sense to me to buy something that I have to bring back to health rather than a fish that I can buy that will be healthy from the get go.
Corey, I also like to buy baby fish. It makes me feel a little bit closer to them. I know the success rate is low, but I feel that I can do it. It'll be tough but it makes me enjoy watching them grow when I see them so small and growing to be so big. Sounds lame yes, I know... but I was bummed out when I bought my black and white clown because she was two months old. I eventually got over it and am very happy I bought her. But my white and orange was only two weeks old and I can already tell how much he has grown from when I bought him.

I would not purchase a fish that appeared to be ill. I would consider rescuing (as in my LFS gives me the fish to rehab). I think you might be able to pull off raising a baby tang.
 

2quills

Well-Known Member
Quote:
Originally Posted by Sparty059 http:///forum/thread/381817/picking-up-new-fish/20#post_3328481
Sorry my posts are freaking out for some reason right now. I would QT him, but I don't want to buy a fish when he's already ill. It doesn't make sense to me to buy something that I have to bring back to health rather than a fish that I can buy that will be healthy from the get go.
Corey, I also like to buy baby fish. It makes me feel a little bit closer to them. I know the success rate is low, but I feel that I can do it. It'll be tough but it makes me enjoy watching them grow when I see them so small and growing to be so big. Sounds lame yes, I know... but I was bummed out when I bought my black and white clown because she was two months old. I eventually got over it and am very happy I bought her. But my white and orange was only two weeks old and I can already tell how much he has grown from when I bought him.

It's cool...just wanted to throw that out there as to help prepare you for those facts. I haven't heard of anyone who's owned a tang that hasn't had to deal with Ich at one point in time or another. Unless perhaps they pre-treated them, themselves before ever being placed into their displays. I just remember the nightmare that I went through and don't want to see that happen to you.
 

sparty059

Active Member
What do you mean nightmare? Regarding what, the death of your tang? I recall you saying something about how your first tang was a disaster. Was that because you bought a baby?
 
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