Did I make a mistake?

[JSeymour]

Ugh, I'm so upset. So after a three week quarantine of my pair of Geometric Pygmy Hawks, Plectranthias inermis, I decided it was time for them to move to the display. The male is maybe 3/4". In the tank is a 10+ inch, fat Yellowfin Surgeon, Acanthurus xanthopterus. When I released them from their isolation container, the surgeon immediately chased them around abit trying to eat them. Even if they just hung out somewhere, she tried her best to get them. Pretty soon they dived into the rock work and haven't been seen since.

Now this tank has automatic feeders full of flakes, pellets, cut up seaweed selects, and freeze-dried foods. With my additions of frozen foods and sheets of seaweed selects, the tank is fed ~6-14 times daily. I don't feel it was "hunger-driven", just she wanted to see if they tasted good.

I'm pretty sure I won't be able to get them out short of a full tank tear down. The tank has numerous small animals and she's never done anything more than a side display towards them.

So my question, do you think it's possible my surgeon will leave them alone as they slowly start to peek out in the coming weeks, if she hasn't eaten them already?

 

[Stumped]

I don't want to be negative, but I'm going to guess you made a mistake by adding them. In my experience they are super, super, super cryptic fish and not aggressive feeders. I had two as well, and intended to add them to my main display, but I ended up not doing that because I figured there was no chance I'd ever see them again based on their behavior in QT.

I ended up keeping them in a nano tank with a prawn goby. For the sake of full disclosure, both of mine ended up dying (at two different times) for completely unknown reasons. They were eating regularly, showed no signs of illness, etc. One minute they were alive, the next they were dead, type of thing. Hope yours survive though, I love those fish, just haven't brought myself to buy another.

 

[jjk_reef00]

Acanthurus xanthopterus will eat anything and everything you put into the tank. I had one that was 14" and could easily eat 2 table shrimp in a single feeding. Amazing fish but extremely aggressive and powerful fish.

 

[JSeymour]

Well, I have spotted the male. He has an area he seems to be comfortable in. Luckily it's in an veiwable spot. When I first enter the room and after I'm in there for about 10 minutes, he comes out. He's not afraid of me, just my begging tang. He seems to be getting enough food. Still no sight of the female. If she finds the male, I think it will be ok. Everything I read said they were shy, but while in quarantine they were quite bold, begging for food at the surface.

Although my tang is a very aggressive feeder, she's not mean/predatory. She leaves my small blennies alone, as well as the various shrimp. She is definitely powerful though. At one point she was in a reef. While begging she would destroy sps colonies and tear herself up, wagging that tail of hers. I love her though.

Now that the male has made an appearance, and the tang leaves him alone, I think it will be ok, hopefully. We'll see... :headwally:

 

[JSeymour]

As an update, I have yet to see the female. Part of me still hopes she'll come out one day...

As for the male, I see him about every other day. He's always fat, and looks like he's grown a bit.

 

[jwm2k3]

Well thats good about the male, Jason. Keep the hopes up!

 

[MrTuskfish]

I can't imagine putting any 3/4" fish in with any 10" fish. Even so-called herbivores eat small critters as they graze. IMO, 3 weeks is not long enough to QT. Parasites can wait unseen for quite a bit longer.

 

[JSeymour]

I do hear you about small fish with large, but my tang and tuskfish are pretty mild mannered. Yes, I said tuskfish. I even had some sexy shrimp in there for a while, while babysitting some corals. They left them alone, which is what started the whole idea.

Three weeks may not be the longest quarantine, but it's my minimum. The fish has to eat the next day and NEVER show any signs of distress to do only three weeks. All fish are given appropriate dips, Praziquantel and Cupramine treatments, prophylactically. At the slightest sign of disease or parasites, they get a minimum of six weeks, longer if necessary. It works for me and nothing has made it though to my displays. What would you recommend?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Well, seeing the newer info on the time an ich cyst can wait to release its free-swimming parasites, its getting difficult to suggest an exact QT period. I've gone to 8 weeks. This sticky is quite technical, but offers great logic for a longer QT period:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?
t=2041951

You're lucky with the tusk; most harlequin tusks love to dine on live fish, if they're small enough. Mine love 1" clownfish (culls from a breeder) l. They never bother anything they can't eat though, and don't rip fish to pieces in order to eat them; like many triggers do.

 

[JSeymour]

Well, seeing the newer info on the time an ich cyst can wait to release its free-swimming parasites, its getting difficult to suggest an exact QT period. I've gone to 8 weeks. This sticky is quite technical, but offers great logic for a longer QT period:http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?
t=2041951

You're lucky with the tusk; most harlequin tusks love to dine on live fish, if they're small enough. Mine love 1" clownfish (culls from a breeder) l. They never bother anything they can't eat though, and don't rip fish to pieces in order to eat them; like many triggers do.

Isn't this post more about how long CI last in an untreatable system? This isn't really what I'm dealing with. Can CI cysts survive a two week cupramine treatment?

 

[MrTuskfish]

Isn't this post more about how long CI last in an untreatable system? This isn't really what I'm dealing with. Can CI cysts survive a two week cupramine treatment?

Copper does not kill the cyst stage of ich or the ich parasites embedded in the fish; only the free-swimming stage. So waiting for all of the cysts to release their free-swimming parasites is the only path to a sure cure. (Or at least maximize the chances).

 

[JSeymour]

Ugh, well thank you. At some point I must have read something wrong. I was under the impression that Cupramine killed dormant cysts laying in the tank too. Well atleast it hasn't screwed me yet. Looks like I need a new quarantine protocol. With a minimum of an eight week quarantine, I think I'm going to have a hard time keeping my clean up crews well stocked.

Thanks for the correction by the way.

 

[JSeymour]

Just thought I'd post an update. Both the male and female still remain, and they aren't nearly as shy as many would think. They still cower if the surgeon(over 14 inches now) comes really close, but don't react to any of the butterflies, angels, or the harlequin tusk. They don't look very fat in the pics, but this was just before first morning feeding. They devour mysis and reef plankton. Occassionally they'll eat some flake or small Formula pellets, but they prefer their shrimp. The female for the most part stays around that peice of rock she's in. That's their home. The rock is so porous they have a dozens of pathways through the rock. The male is more adventurous, he'll even cross the entire tank and sit out in the open sand.

 

[Grouperhead]

Very cool.

Got any pics of the yellowfin?

 

[JSeymour]

Thank you.

I do.

Here's one from the other day, a close up with flash. The small white spots are reflective pigments in her skin and the big ones are feather dusters on the glass, not ich or disease.

A couple quick shots from today. Sorry they're abit blurry. I should have cleaned the glass and made my bed. :headwally:

The rest of the crew, or most of them.

 

[Grouperhead]

Extremely impressive. Keep up the good work.