New tang acting weird

[Fmellish]

I just moved my sailfin tang from my 6 gallon QT tank to my 120 gallon reef tank. The temp difference was +2 degrees and the reef tank flows a lot more. Other than that, all params are the same.

He is not swimming into the center water, he is just swimming along the walls dragging his body against them. He also keeps swimming into the walls and corners. It's like he's hell bent on getting out of the tank.

Is this ok? Is he just getting used to the new larger tank? Or is he stressed? Did the warmer water make him stressed? He had a 1 hour acclimation in the new water. He was fine in the acclimation container. I thought he'd love his final home, but he's just blindly smashing into the walls.

I've turned off the lights and I'll check on him again soon.

Is he ok?

Thanks
JOsh

 

[dxtr]

My yellow tang is doing something similar. He is up against the back wall (painted black) and keeps "fluttering" his tail fin against it. Not really bumping into or hitting hte glass, more like a cat rubbing against it's owner's leg. (if that makes any sense. lol)

 

[Fmellish]

I can envision it.

I'm just freaked because he was not exhibiting this behavior in the quarantine tank. He is acting like he is on speed.

 

[PatMayo]

I would turn the light off and let them be. It's a strange new place to be and yes they are going to be stressed. A lot of fish will act like that especailly tangs. Think of them as a purebed dog. They are highstrung and take a little while to calm down. If they were both in QT long enough then it should not be a disease issue.

I would just wait and see how they are tomorrow.

Regards,

Pat

 

[joe90usa]

I'll second that tangs can stress easily. He may take a while to eat for you in his new home as well. He will be more susceptible to disease at this time, so watch for that too. Make sure you keep his home stable until he is well settled in...no new additions to the tank for a while.

 

[dchao]

Josh:

Did you do the acclimation procedures when you move the tang from QT to main tank. Even you might have taken the QT water straight from display, there might be difference in some water parameters, for example, the pH could be quite different due to the difference in filtration and CO2 level.

I agree that there is not much you can do now, just let him stay in the display and see what happens tomorrow.

 

[Fmellish]

Thanks guys, he is quite calm now. He even found some rocks to sleep within. He even ate a mysis shrimp or two before I turned out the lights.

He sure regurgitates a lot. He'll swallow a shrimp, spit it out, swallow it again, etc. Maybe mysis are too big for him.

Thanks
Josh

 

[dchao]

... when that happens, I will try brine shrimps.

 

[Fmellish]

Sounds like a plan.

BTW, I have been thawing the cubes first and letting the food warm up. Does this matter or can I just throw the cube in whole? I seem to remember back when I had my fish only tank I would just thrrow the cube in and it would provide the fish a bigger target to eat from, rather than them chasing individual shrimps throgh the water column.

opinions?

THanks
Josh

 

[dchao]

I normally throw away the juice. The juice from the cube will just fuel the growth of unwanted algae.

Chasing the shrimps, I think that's good excise for them, otherwise they will have nothing to do the whole day.

 

[JR719]

May want to add a portion of a nori sheet for it to feed on. Do you have any cleaner shrimp in there? That is a must have I think for tangs. If you do start to see any problems with the tang and not eating well, add a little garlic juice to the food.

 

[Fmellish]

THanks. I rigged up a clip and I'll get some Nori today. I'll also get a cleaner shirmp too then.

Thanks
Josh