Powder Blue Tang - need advice

[scubabr53]

Last Sunday I purchased a Powder Blue Tang from Pop Corals in Brooklyn.


The fish just arrived in the store and was in the original bag with drags that mixed for shipping to make the fish half a sleep. However fish looked fine more or less, no visual body damage, no traces of ick and was breathing not to fast. I decided to take a risk and to take it home.


When I got it home I place it in the bucket and drip acclimate it for almost two hours. Every 15 min or so, I took out some water from the bucket and let it be replaced from the dripping tube.


After 2hr. I netted my new fish out and place it in my tank.


My other fish in the tank are: Marine Beta, Pilot fish, and Lyretail Hogfish. They all looked at the newcomer and just went with their business not challenging Tang for territory or anything else.


I was relived but I guess prematurely, the Tang start swimming in circles and seems like it cannot see stuff. It banged against the corals and rocks, swam directly into bush of gorgonian. First I thought it still under the drug from shipping and gave it a another day to ware the drug out. To my disappointment the next morning and until today it swims like a blind fish. I tried to feed it and placed a cube of frozen brine shrimp, I thought the fish smelled the food and got a bit excited but still did not touch it, maybe it can't see it. I examined the eyes again and they seems in place, again examined the body for parasites and it seems clear. My only guess now is it might be internal parasite or this fish was cyanide when captured.


Does anyone have suggestion or experienced a similar problem in the past.

 

[lrasser]

Powder tangs have a history of loosing there vision when sick. Sad to say but it doesn't return. (google search will show reports of this and I have personally experienced it). I love my powder blue but IMO this is prob one of the most difficult fish to keep. It requires a few months of QT and ich free DT or your just looking for major trouble.

 

[scubabr53]

Irasser, What happened to your tang that lost vision?

 

[lrasser]

I took in a powder brown from someone as a rescue to try and save it. He had the fish for a long time but it came down with ich. I was able to treat and cure the ich. He was a very fat health fish but when the ich hit its peak he stated swimming in circles. He eventual fell to starvation due his loss of eye sight.

 

[marrone]

This is very common with PT, and it will probably just waist away and then die. The only real hope is that it just snaps out of it, which usually isn't the case.

This, swimming in circles, and the eyes moving back and forth, are signs of a PT that is not doing well, and will probably die, and should be avoided.

 

[scubabr53]

wow, I am thinking "should I take it out now before it might develop ich?"

 

[scubabr53]

I wonder, how is the other Blue Powder Tang doing, when I got this one the POP Coral got one more in the same shipping?
I'll try to stop by today and see if it still there and maybe, MAYBE, get some store credit.

 

[marrone]

wow, I am thinking "should I take it out now before it might develop ich?"

You don't need to worry about it developing Ich, but just that it may have been carrying it before you placed it into your tank. If it was there is a good chance that it may have introduce Ich into the tank.

 

[lrasser]

I will never purchase a fish until its been there health and eating for at least a few days. Usually more. and watching them eat prior to purchase is a MUST.

 

[SIReefer]

Hey Scuba - You know what they say about impulse buys. I did something similar at POP Corals a few weeks ago. I picked up a few fish that were swimming in the tanks - I observed them for a while, they looked healthy and are now doing fine in my tank. I saw a wrasse that I wanted that was still in the styrofoam acclimation container. I took a gamble and got it. It went in the tank, started swimming funny, disappeared into the rockwork and two days later was belly up in the tank. I now will only purchase a fish that I have observed swimming in the stores tank. Lesson learned.

 

[scubabr53]

Shame on me, I have been in the hobby for a while, maybe before some of MH members were borne. Still, I thought I can get away with it, but I guess not. Lesson learned!!!!!
Thanks everyone who responded, don't think I will be able to save this fish. Hope POP Coral will issue some credit on my resent purchase.

 

[greg 45]

Why would you purchase out of the bag from anyone / you have no idea where it was shipped in from / there was another person on here selling anemones out of the bag and if I remember he showed a whole lot of dead fish from the anemone dying . We really need to find a way of saving what is shipped in and sold to the consumer . All I read about are death's of fish . This is good for the seller to make money not good for the person purchasing. Tired of seeing quick flips .

 

[BioMan]

WOW! I did not know about the blind fish thing, terrible! Thank you for learning that for us! Sorry for your loss.

 

[marrone]

http://www.manhattanreefs.com/forum/fish-database/21329-acanthurus-leucosternon.html

 

[lrasser]

great read! I can agree with everything written there. I have a 6ft tank and mine doesn't stop swimming all day long. He does play well with others but is def the king of his castle.

 

[B.BASH]

I've heard that when acclimating a fish that has been shipped in a bag for an extended amount of time it's best to put it directly into a qt with matching parameters to the bag water. I've read that the ammonia in the bag is not toxic until it you open the bag and introduce fresh air. I had the same issue with a tang I purchased from john. I'm not saying it's the vendors fault. But I will no longer purchase fish that just came out of transport because I don't have a qt

 

[scubabr53]

I can not blame John, he told me that fish has not been acclimated and I am taking the risk. It's me who need to take a blame. In any case I was pleasantly surprised when I showed up at POP Coral this afternoon. They already knew about my issue and without a second word offered me a store credit for a full amount. I thank you guys for this and will stay a loyal customer.
Hope guys at POP Coral know better how to treat these type of issues and have more facilities to quarantine and treat the fish. I promised that I will come back for this fish in a month if it survives and eats.
POP Coral - thanks for the right customer's treatment.