blue tang problems possibly?

[rsxs1212]

well i just got my blue tang and after he acclimated (in the bag) i put him in my quaratine tank. he just sunk to the bottom and kinda just stays there.. moves around a little but doesnt swim.. im not to worried im guessing its just part of the acclimation he may be in shock or something but i just want to make sure if it is a disease i can treat for it soon so he doesnt die

his gills are moving pretty fast but not extremely..

thanks in advance

 

[bureau13]

Just leave him be for a while. Is there anything in the QT that he can hide in or behind? If not, throw in an appropriately sized piece of PVC pipe. These fish can be extremely shy at first.

jds

 

[Fishfanatic#1]

he may just be really stressed out.

 

[rsxs1212]

yeah as of now (about 3 hours later from when introduced in tank) he is now still in the same side of quarantine tank but is going up to the surface and is at all levels.. i put a couple flakes in there and he has eaten 1 or 2 and i also put an algae strip in he hasnt eaten any but i htink he notices it.. overall i think he is fine, like both of you said just a little stressed.. ill leave him in there for a couple days to a week then put him in main tank.. i think hes from indonesia so he still has to adapt to aquarium life as well i think.. Thanks!!

 

[bureau13]

I would leave him in QT for at least 4 weeks, and I would medicate with either a copper-based med, or hypo, for 2-3 of those weeks. You won't know for sure if there is an ich problem in one week.

jds

 

[rsxs1212]

ok yeah i was wondering about ich and was going to say something about it actually but you caught it before me so which medications are good?? i also have a couple anemones i was about to pull over in a couple days in there too so i dont want to harm them but i can probably swith them over soon.. thanks

 

[bureau13]

Hypo is popular for ich. No medications, but you need to gradually lower the salinity to a certain point and let it stay that way for 2-3 weeks I think. I don't use it so I don't know all the details, but you'll need to stay on top of the salinity...you don't want evaporation causing it to raise back up unexpectedly. I use Cupramine, which is a copper-based medication, so it also works on Marine Velvet, which you can think of as "ich from hell." Do keep in mind however that if you treat that QT with copper you're not going to want to use it with inverts again. Also, make sure its bare bottom with no rocks, coral skeletons, etc.

jds