Will the LFS give you the fish since it is sick already? It should! Especially since you may be purchasing meds from them to treat the fish!
Do you have a hospital tank setup to put this fish in? You certainly would not want to introduce it to your main tank.
It is hard to say at this point what might be troubling this fish...it could be shock, stress as a result of being in captivity, inappropriate diet [very likely] at the LFS, stress from other fish, etc., etc. the list is endless in terms of ill treatment of a newly captured fish. Is this fish in a small cubicle at the LFS? With other fish in his holding tank? The water quality at the LFS may not be adequate for this fish. Tangs need very good water circulation and higher o2.
You should check out TerryB's articles on STRESS in the Articles section of this BB. Terry is a authority on fish diesease and published in many hobby magazines. I think you will find these articles very insightful as to the possibilities of what might be wrong with the fish at the LFS.
You should be commended for wanting to rescue this fish. If you decide to do this, be sure to set up an adequate hospital tank for him. I don't beleive we can offer any specifics about what is wrong with the fish at this point; you will have to get him in the "intensive care unit" first
. It could be that an improved environment is all this fish needs. If you decide to take him on, let us know. I'd like to see what progress can be made on the rescue attempt!
[ December 29, 2001: Message edited by: Beth ]
