My Journey with C./P. multifasciata

[Dmorty217]

There is no reason to bypass a proper quarantine protocol for this fish, if anything it's more important. As previously stated, rock really isn't going to help unless it's established with more than just bacteria (pods, algae, etc). Flow seems like a no brainer, every single fish I've ever quarantined has perked up after I turn on the qt powerhead (I leave it off until the second day usually). Not achilles tang flow, of course, but the extra water movement aids in gas exchange and is stimulating for the fish.

Ambition, why would you put your current healthy male at risk by introducing a female that hasn't gone through thorough quarantine?

I'm with you Ami, I guess the questionis how long do you leave a delicate fish in QT or TT with them not eating? Until they die if that's what it takes? I'm the foremost believer in QT and treating and doing it right since I didn't and now I'm starting over as far as QT and leaving the tank fallow goes. I also on the other hand believe that you can lose the same delicate fish a few time in QT because it's not a natural enviroment with sterile conditions and PVC in the tank, typically without other fish to stimulate the new fish to eat or "show" them how to eat. All my fish are going into a 210g and a 75g plumbed together for CP and PP treatment while my DT sits fallow for 12 wks. I'm fed up with disease but I. Guess when do you call it on a delicate fish in QT not eating? Or just let them go and try again on another later since it isn't worth the risk of introducing disease into a DT? It's all about managing expectations I suppose

 

[Dmorty217]

The QT tank is kept at 76 (lower temp to slow metabolism while getting fish to eat) and isn't lit, just sunlight from the north-facing window.

DT is being kept at 79-80 and is lit with a 6-bulb ATI T5 fixture. Currently, with light acclimating the male again, I'm running only two bulbs right now. Should be at full power by the middle of next week.

My QTs all have ambient light only provided by a ceiling fan and the lights above my kitchen island. (yes I have a tank setup in my kitchen... My wife loves me right now!) only one of which lights is on at once. I have never had a light for my QT tanks. I feel it's better like this and helps the fish acclimateand eating more quickly. So currently I have my 220g DT with 50g sump, a 210g plumbed with a 75g for my DT for the next 3 months and a 29g QT running with a 2" tusk and potters angelfish pair I got today from QM. Plus a Multibar that didn't pair out of the 3 my buddy got in the same order I will be putting into my QT tomorrow

 

[Rea17]

I'm with you Ami, I guess the questionis how long do you leave a delicate fish in QT or TT with them not eating? Until they die if that's what it takes? I'm the foremost believer in QT and treating and doing it right since I didn't and now I'm starting over as far as QT and leaving the tank fallow goes. I also on the other hand believe that you can lose the same delicate fish a few time in QT because it's not a natural enviroment with sterile conditions and PVC in the tank, typically without other fish to stimulate the new fish to eat or "show" them how to eat. All my fish are going into a 210g and a 75g plumbed together for CP and PP treatment while my DT sits fallow for 12 wks. I'm fed up with disease but I. Guess when do you call it on a delicate fish in QT not eating? Or just let them go and try again on another later since it isn't worth the risk of introducing disease into a DT? It's all about managing expectations I suppose

I suppose I'm just one of those people that views qt as the ultimate "stress free" environment. This doesn't necessarily mean a hospital tank that's completely sterile, for delicate fish it can be views more as an "intro tank" with some rock for grazing purposes. If the fish doesn't eat in this environment, I can't see how it would in a relatively busy, high light, high competition display tank. Just my opinion though. It's never worth risking all current and future livestock to try to get a picky fish eating. I have a couple of quarantines that have been running continuously for over a year now, one with lights, and they have sponge and mature algae that grazers love despite being plain PVC.

 

[droog]

@ Ambition (OP)

Have you tried feeding NewEra marine grazer? Might be worth a try, the fish can graze on this over the course of the day.

Have to agree with the earlier poster that your DT looks very sterile. I feel like more biodiversity would help you out.

-droog

 

[nonimmigrant]

Kyle, what's your dissolved O2 level? I agree that flow is important for most fish, but it also raises O2 levels. With the cyano I'm wondering if that may be why the multis are sitting in front of your pumps more often.

 

[Ambition]

Sorry that I've taken so long to reply. I've been extremely busy getting settled into college with "Welcome Week" activities that allow you to meet people and learn where everything is. The University of Minnesota has quite the large campus...

Sadly, prior to my moving I lost the new multibar (though it didn't look starved... ie. no pinched head or stomach region) and flasher wrasse. I'm not sure why they ended up passing since they had no visible maladies. I would observe them before bed and they would be fine, only to find them dead when I woke up the next morning. Good news is that whatever killed them is in a QT tank and not the display since I decided against introducing the angel to the DT. If I did have to guess at a COD, it would be heater related since I've had 5 of my 6 heaters between QTs and DT go bad in some manner.

 

[Pinkskunk]

Kyle can you please name the heater brand that keep failing for you? i would like to know so i can avoid any potential issues, the reef tank we have is WAY too expensive and we dont want to risk it.

 

[Ambition]

I think it was an Aqueon heater of some sort. I've had issues with anything MarineLand as far as heaters go, and another brand that I can't remember the name of right now...

Since I'm posting, I thought I would update quickly.

My brother has been taking care of my tank while I'm attending college. He's been able to keep the angel going without difficulty, which is great. He's also been able to make the clown pair in the tank rather fat, so we'll see if that goes anywhere in the future. I haven't been looking for a new multbar yet, and probably won't until the school year is done or winter break if I manage to find a really good specimen. From my brother's reports, the angel is eating spirulina brine, myis, and flake food with gusto still. I might try another phase of trying to get the angel to accept more foods over winter break, but I think it is at a good point for now. I can do another, more thorough update tomorrow when I get home and see how the fish is doing in person.

 

[Ambition]

Didn't have much to add since the last visit home because nothing much has changed other than algae growing. My brother cleared a small spot on the glass of algae early last week and the multibar angel began to do a peek-a-boo behavior whenever someone entered the room. It was described as the fish swimming up to the clear spot and looking out for a couple of seconds before swimming to the area of the tank my brother puts food in. When no food was added, the angel would quickly swim back down to the spot to see what was going on again. I thought this would be quite the sight to see. My brother sent me a picture of the angel doing his thing, and it is just as I would picture him doing:




On a side note... There is a pair of venusta sitting on DD right now calling my name, if only I had time to acclimate them!

 

[HPark]

Didn't have much to add since the last visit home because nothing much has changed other than algae growing. My brother cleared a small spot on the glass of algae early last week and the multibar angel began to do a peek-a-boo behavior whenever someone entered the room. It was described as the fish swimming up to the clear spot and looking out for a couple of seconds before swimming to the area of the tank my brother puts food in. When no food was added, the angel would quickly swim back down to the spot to see what was going on again. I thought this would be quite the sight to see. My brother sent me a picture of the angel doing his thing, and it is just as I would picture him doing:




On a side note... There is a pair of venusta sitting on DD right now calling my name, if only I had time to acclimate them!

Great picture! Sorry, but the venusta are headed to Chitown Saturday.

 

[Ambition]

You know, I was literally ordering them when you did... A friend of mine said that he could house them until I had some time to work with them before leaving them with my brother. Be sure to let me know how they do!

 

[HPark]

Ahh...bummer...I had been eyeing them all day and was hesitant b/c I've been QT'ing a ton of stuff lately and the water changes are getting old but decided that I wouldn't likely have a better shot at a pair in a while so went for it.

Will definitely post pictures!

 

[HPark]

Hey,

Not to photobomb your thread but I took a quick picture of the Ven pair when acclimating on Saturday. The DD bags were huge and had to acclimate separately into the 20g. Will probably move them into a 55g after TT. I'm surprised how much they interact. The assumed male (in the bag) will take a go every once in awhile at the smaller one but so far, no torn or nipped fins. I actually caught them tonight circling each other for 5-10 seconds at a time but not in a totally overly aggressive manner. I'm not 100% sure what behavior to look for in a pair but I'm tentatively excited.

They like spirulina brine and nls pellets over mysis. I think its the size, they prefer smaller stuff. Cool fish.

 

[Ambition]

Great looking fish! Happy they went to a good home since I didn't get them.

Once settled in you'll want to watch for the male to nuzzle the stomach/anal area at a T to the female. You'll also see the male patrolling and showing off towards lights out time and if the female is interested she'll swim into the open to spawn. This is down the line, but if they aren't tearing each other's fins they should be fine. I'm sure they'll get along better in a larger tank as well. I hope they continue to do well for you!

 

[caribfan]

Glad to see the pair came in well!

Hey Kyle,

I've got two multis in quarantine right now, boy are they a challenge. One eats live brine reasonably well, but the other hasn't shown interest n anything.

Do you know how to tell male from female? I'm afraid I have two males.

 

[Ambition]

Glad to see the pair came in well!

Hey Kyle,

I've got two multis in quarantine right now, boy are they a challenge. One eats live brine reasonably well, but the other hasn't shown interest n anything.

Do you know how to tell male from female? I'm afraid I have two males.

Yes, they are very challenging fish to care for, especially in acclimating them to captivity. I've found that once the three month mark is past, that they are actually pretty hardy since my brother is successfully taking care of mine with only feeding and topping off the tank. Last WC the tank got was in August (noting that I did at least weekly when the fish was in QT). I definitely recommend having stronger flow than the typical QT since mine is very fond of high flow.

Sadly, I cannot tell the difference between male and female at this time other than the size of the individuals. I was hoping to note some differences other than size once I had a proven pair, but I only have one right now and likely won't have a proven pair for some time now.

Hope you can have some success with the two you have! Do you know where they originated from?

 

[caribfan]

No idea on origin, they are nice and fat though. They seem to both be in decent health and are very active. One of them does have armed streak along its dorsal fin, it's the one that's not eating.

I plan to keep offering live brine mixed with frozen and keep up on the water changes every couple of days.

Any other tips?

 

[pktech]

No idea on origin, they are nice and fat though. They seem to both be in decent health and are very active. One of them does have armed streak along its dorsal fin, it's the one that's not eating.

I plan to keep offering live brine mixed with frozen and keep up on the water changes every couple of days.

Any other tips?

When I had a pair, they didn't eat for 7-9 days. I tried every trick I knew. I didn't qt / hospital tank them, but instead I put them into an established 55 w/ sand & live rock & left it a little grungy so they could pick. I added tigger & tisbe pods. Not sure if they helped but I like to think they did when I wasnt looking.

They were cruising & not showing aggression to each other like other pairs I've kept. After the 9th day, I decided to add a small, peaceful, blue head fairy wrasse & as soon as I added it, the 2 multi's took notice & just destroyed every morsel of food that hit the tank! I strongly feel that was the key for me. They were such a pleasure to watch & care for.

 

[Pigpen17]

When I had a pair, they didn't eat for 7-9 days. I tried every trick I knew. I didn't qt / hospital tank them, but instead I put them into an established 55 w/ sand & live rock & left it a little grungy so they could pick. I added tigger & tisbe pods. Not sure if they helped but I like to think they did when I wasnt looking.

They were cruising & not showing aggression to each other like other pairs I've kept. After the 9th day, I decided to add a small, peaceful, blue head fairy wrasse & as soon as I added it, the 2 multi's took notice & just destroyed every morsel of food that hit the tank! I strongly feel that was the key for me. They were such a pleasure to watch & care for.

That's what I plan to do as well. I'm starting up a 20L with sand, live rock, Pods and some C. Prolifera. I'll probably leave it running for a month, and then wait for a Marshal Island Multibar to come up for sale.

After I'm done I may keep it running to grow good.

That's the plan anyway.

 

[caribfan]

I've got a spare talbots damsel in my sump that I couldn't catch when I moved everybody into my 240, maybe I'll try move him over to the multibar's tank.

I think the big issue with the one that's not eating is this red streak/infection thing going on. Not really sure what to treat him with though.