clown tang...how difficult?

[MIKE ALERS]

i visited a couple of lfs today and a clown tang in stock @ one of them.the owner of the lfs told me they were easy to maintain...but when i asked him to feed him it completely ignore the food and wouldn't eat.the lfs employee then told me that they would put the tang in hold for me.until it stars eating.but now im scared of purchasing it...and i think they're prone to ick

 

[bluerug]

Well all tangs are proned to ich, but i would not get a clown tang if i was you, as they are pretty darn hard to keep.

 

[bluerug]

And not to mention they are very aggressive.

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=340

A little info for you and plus look how big they get, 1'3".

 

[MIKE ALERS]

yeah im trying to avoid hard to keep fishes.i just lost a powder blue and a kole to ich...thanks

 

[thor32766]

yes clowns are really hard fish. I would stay away.

 

[mrcrab]

If that's the case I wouldn't be putting ANY fish in that tank right now. Are there any other fish in there?

 

[MIKE ALERS]

two allard clowns and a six line wrasse

 

[tangers]

kept many different tangs, the only one that was harder was an achilles if that tells you anything!

 

[mrcrab]

If I were you I'd be taking them out and putting them in a qt tank and lower the salinity over a couple of days to 1.010 and leaving it there for 45 days. Then bring up the salinity slowly back to 1.025. If you don't let the tank go fallow (no fish) for at least 45 days the ick will keep coming back, you need to break it's life cycle and you need to kill any on your other fish.

 

[MIKE ALERS]

should i treat my tank with kick ich.just to eliminate any ich in it?

 

[bluerug]

In the past i have had great success with kick ich but others feel that it does not work, but for me it did.

 

[MIKE ALERS]

i figure may be ill give it a shot...

 

[bluerug]

Well one things for sure, it aint gonna hurt em.

 

[mrcrab]

The only thing I've found that will truly eliminate the ick is to let the tank go fallow for 45 days to break the life cycle.

 

[Swirlygig]

When my fish get ich...I just lower the salinity a tid bit to 1.020 and leave it and it goes away...It is usually from stress and if the fish are healthy with a "good slime coat" will be fine...I don't think the meds work all that great just in my opinion...

 

[sytanek]

Mike are any of the fish in your tank showing ick?

 

[MIKE ALERS]

no signs of in any of them.sytanek your back in town give me a call

 

[cschweitzer]

If they were in the tank when the others had ich, they have or will have ich.

Leave the tank fishless for 6 weeks and treat the clowns and the six line in a QT(30G should do). Hyposalinity works for the treatment, but if you really want to be safe, use copper. Display needs to take the "food source", or your fish, away from ich for at least 6 weeks.

 

[cschweitzer]

With only a pair of clowns and a wrasse, it should be pretty easy to do. When you're talking about buying more fish, it is always best to make sure they'll do well.

 

[mrcrab]

Craig...what are you doing agreeing with me?