Tang question. I am so MAD!

eaglephot

eaglephot

Member
BAH!!! I am so mad right now! So I noticed that my tang was shaking and scratching on my live rock. I took a close look at him and saw a few white specks on his body. So I got a dip ready and went to take him out of the tank. It took me 15-20 minutes to get him out! Then, to top that off, my rock got all messed up!
Is there ANY easy way to get a Tang (or any fish) out of a tank with live rock in it? I am planning to turn this tank into a reef. How do I treat the tank for parasites? What will I need to add that is safe for Coral and Inverts?
I have a new 55 gallon FOWLR tank that I am going to turn into a reef tank. I have a Yellow Tang and Black Clown cycling it. Can anyone help?
 
nofish4u!!

nofish4u!!

Member
You've got to be kidding.... cycling with a tang and a clown? If you are serious, I think that is one of the most ridiculous things I have heard on this site. Please tell me I read that wrong.
 
unleashed

unleashed

Active Member
well without turning into a complete witch hunt here unfortunalty its a very very bad idea to cycle a tank with either one of those fish let alone a 55 that tank is way to small for a tang ich will be a problem no matter what due to stress levels that fish will be going under.as fro treating the ich itself you can try hypo if you dont have any corals or inverts in the tank yet which i doubt you have yet.you can also try a product called kick ick i have used it in the past with decent results and make sure your feeding properly good foods such as algae based foods with some meaty also my tangs and clowns love emerald entrese(frozen) veggie flakes(omega one) and also a non medicated anti paresitic formula pellet(thera+A by spectrum)i havent had a fish yet to refuse any of these foods.you can help reduce the stress levels if fed properly but i do think your moving way to fast with species that cant handle poor water quality.i wish you luck
 
rabid frog

rabid frog

Active Member
I think the stress and the Ick came from cycling your tank with those 2 fish in it. You can keep "A" tang is a 55. Just be prepared to move him later on down the road, as he will outgrow his surroundings. I kept a sailfin in my 55 for 2 years.
To get the tang and the clown out take all of your lr out and place it in a clean container. Net the fish and put them in a clean container w/tank water. Take them to the fish store where you bought them and get store credit or what ever.
Please take the advice on this board seriously. People may seem harsh at first but they mean well. Take the tang and the clown back to your lfs. They will treat them with copper in a seperate tank and may be able to save them.
Then start by telling us your set up, water params, etc.. How long has your tank been running? These are questions your going to see a lot so keep up with the info. I like to keep a diary on my tank, just for reference.
Lets focus on saving the fish then worry about the water in your "empty" tank.
 
coachklm

coachklm

Active Member
ive heard crazy stuff but that tops the chart.....i cant believe any lfs would sell you a tang to cycle with.... :hilarious ......they must certainly see you as a sucker...please realize that the reason lfs do this is so when the fish dies youll have to go back and buy more....
DO YOUR RESEARCH
please. and find a different LFS ***)
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Originally Posted by coachKLM
ive heard crazy stuff but that tops the chart.....i cant believe any lfs would sell you a tang to cycle with.... :hilarious ......they must certainly see you as a sucker...please realize that the reason lfs do this is so when the fish dies youll have to go back and buy more....
DO YOUR RESEARCH
please. and find a different LFS ***)

 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
To get the fish out of the tank without going crazy, get a deep bowl that fish will fit into easily, then get a small but longish poker. What your going to do is prod the fish into the device you plan on sticking into the tank. Hopefully its a clear container.
As for the ICK problem, if it hasn't gone to far, don't buy anything. For a 55 gallon tank I would throw in about 20-30 copper pennies into a lil jar and set it in your tank for a few days, providing you do not have any inverts or corals in there. After about 3-4 days you should see the ICK gone and the fish back to noramal (remove the pennies at this time). The tang is not a good individual to start with for a 55 gallon, these things love room, and although he is small now, he is going to get alot bigger. You can however cycle the tank with him and the other fish as well, but you are going to have to keep a very close eye on your parameters.
 
crimzy

crimzy

Active Member
Originally Posted by SaltFan
As for the ICK problem, if it hasn't gone to far, don't buy anything. For a 55 gallon tank I would throw in about 20-30 copper pennies into a lil jar and set it in your tank for a few days, providing you do not have any inverts or corals in there. After about 3-4 days you should see the ICK gone and the fish back to noramal (remove the pennies at this time)...
You can however cycle the tank with him and the other fish as well, but you are going to have to keep a very close eye on your parameters.
This is very bad advice. First, if you ever want to have a reef, you cannot add any copper to treat the ick. Second, you cannot cycle a tank with a yellow tang. As for the clown, it really depends what type but most will not live through the cycle.
I'm not sure if this is serious or not...
 
saltfan

saltfan

Active Member
The copper pennies are not the liquid that they wish you to put into your tank, and the few that go into the tank will not harm anything but the ick. However, as to the live rock, you will not want to turn it over to reef for at least 6 months after the pennies have been introduced. After removing the pennies replace your carbon with new.
 
O

oreo12

Guest
kick ich is reef safe and cures ich in 2 weeks I have used it with great succses.
 
rainfishy

rainfishy

Member
I understand that a lot of you guys have very strong feels about these issues. But the way some things have been said on this post ensure that the thread starter will not return to this board. What does that solve? How can we help that person become more educated now?
 
mopar9012

mopar9012

Active Member
Originally Posted by Rainfishy
I understand that a lot of you guys have very strong feels about these issues. But the way some things have been said on this post ensure that the thread starter will not return to this board. What does that solve? How can we help that person become more educated now?
i agree
 
eaglephot

eaglephot

Member
No one has ever heard of cycling a tank with a tang and a clown? I cycled my first tank with two perc. clowns. That was a 46 bow. Then, I cycled a 125 with a tang and damsels. I am NOT joking at all! I did not have any problems with it. Tangs are REALLY hardy. Please tell me that SOMEONE has used a Yellow Tang to cycle a tank. I can't be the only one. Thomas, you seem to know a TON about the saltwater world. Have you heard that people use them to cycle?
 
eaglephot

eaglephot

Member
Oh and the Tang is doing great. I cannot see any visual "specks" (parasites) on his body and he is eating and in great condition.
Back to one of my original questions.... :thinking: what can I do to rid my tank of parasites without adding anything that will harm coral and invert (NO!! I am not cycling my tank with coral! Are we clear on that?
) I guess a better question would be what EATS parasites besides cleaner shrimp?
By the way, I am not ignoring everything everyone said. I appreciate the advice.
 
firedog

firedog

Member
Originally Posted by Eaglephot
Oh and the Tang is doing great. I cannot see any visual "specks" (parasites) on his body and he is eating and in great condition.
Back to one of my original questions.... :thinking: what can I do to rid my tank of parasites without adding anything that will harm coral and invert (NO!! I am not cycling my tank with coral! Are we clear on that?
) I guess a better question would be what EATS parasites besides cleaner shrimp?
By the way, I am not ignoring everything everyone said. I appreciate the advice.

Cleaner wrasses will eat parasites, but some here may objectas keeping them can be considered "unconscientious". Some or most cleaner wrasses are hard to feed because they only feed on parasites. But one lfs by me had a wrasse that did take to frozen food. And no they were not pulling a fast one on me because I know the guy was knowledgeable, and in addition to that the fish was in a display and not for sale.
As for cleaner shrimp, I find them quite entertaining, much better than peppermints (shrimp not the candy).
As for the parasites, soaking the food with garlic may help keep the fish clear of parasites. Kick Ich worked for me, but I did take multiple measures. Many hate that product and will bomb your house and home town for using it. I had one fish with ich, I raised the temp to about 82 degrees, soaked their food with a garlic concentrate (the expensive one in the tube, cost me about $20). I treated with Kick Ich according to the aggressive treatment on the label. I also fed medicated food, it was an antibacteria food. Not the right approach, but at the time I couldn't find an anti parasite food. But I fed the medicated food for five days per the label to help prevent any secondary infections. More importantly, I did all I could to reduce the source of stress, or what I believed to be the source of stress, which was probably water quality. I was feeding a little heavy for a few days, so I did my best to cut back on the feeding.
Ok I hope that makes sense, my wife kept interrupting while I was writing and broke my train of thought.
 
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