Any tricks on getting fish to not be so scared??

[BigAirHarper]

I have a 30L QT setup with a baby Vlamingi pair and a baby blue tang. All 3 fish are 1.5" long. Standard QT setup with powerhead, HOB filter, and PVC for them to hide. I've got them in copper b/c the blue showed ich really bad. All are eating, but the biggest wimps. Especially the blue. He stays in the same spot and barely moves to reach out and grab food that floats by. The Vlamingis will at least swim the front from time to time. I've had them for over 3 weeks now. Anything I can do to get them warmed up to tank life? I wish I could throw some swimmers in there like Chromis but fear the bioload would overload my system. Any ideas would be great.

 

[Shells4]

It is more difficult in a QT tank. Over the years I've noticed the more hiding spaces there are, the more the fish tend to come out. I would imagine they feel safer knowing there are many hiding spaces close by in case they need them. Add as much pvc that you can, at different angles so they have choices, and try to keep the QT in a quiet area that doesn't get alot of traffic. We have had a couple of fish (wrasses and small trigger) that really didn't like the pvc very much. We had some medium size barnicals we got from a shell shop years ago that I boiled and put in the tank. The holes in the barnicals were about an inch or more in diameter. They seemed much happier and mostly stayed near the barnicles and ignored the pvc. It was a more natural setting for them. Just keep in mind you can't use those barnicles in a tank with corals or inverts after that and you may need to add more copper if they absorb some of it. Just keep testing your copper levels.

 

[snorvich]

You have fish that will reach a foot (Hepatus tang) or much more (16 inches for a vlamingi tang). What sized tank are these going into?

 

[Daniel Reef]

Are the fish for your 57g rimless?

 

[Mel 2038]

Just leave them be. If there eating in QT they should be OK. You can offer more hiding spots like Shells said but just remember this is a temporary situation. They will need to adjust again to life in your display. Good Luck!