Please Help, Dead Tang

[calvertbill]

I guess what I have is a math problem I don't know how to work out.

Sometime last night my Orange shoulder died and his corpse is in one of the caves in my rockwork so I need to decide whether or not to do a major dismantling or not to retrieve it.

He was 10" long so I'm anticipating a huge ammonia spike as he begins to decompose in 630 gallons of water.

My RO/DI can crank out about 2-3 40 gallon water changes/day.

The only other piece of data which may be relevant is the presence of six cleaner shrimp to attack the corpse.

As you might be able to imagine removing 300 lbs of rock from a 36" deep tank is a bit of a pain but I'll stay up all night and do it if there's any danger from the free ammonia... or will one 10" fish not produce such a frightening load in that many gallons?

 

[christpuncher]

I would personally leave it and assume the CUC will help in addition to a 10% water change every other day for a week.

 

[Dyzio545]

There would be an ammonia spike, but there is an alternative you can try. Because of your large tank size, I don't think the ammonia will be that large, but you can use Nite-Out 2. I used some when my ammonia was high. Did not hurt inverts, fish, and corals. I used 15 ml of Nite out 2 for my 55 gallon tank. I only used it once and never had to use it since.

IF you get an ammonia spike above .25 then I would use it. I'm not sure how much you would have to use for a tank of that caliber.

 

[Dyzio545]

I would personally leave it and assume the CUC will help in addition to a 10% water change every other day for a week.

I agree with this also. Water changes will help.

 

[bracket50]

I would agree on the CUC taking care of it followed by water changes. The risks involved in a complete dismantle to recover the fish far outweigh the weeklong water changes. There should not be that large of a spike in such a large tank.

 

[calvertbill]

Thank you all.

What's a CUC?

 

[geaux xman]

CUC = clean up crew

snails, shrimps, hermit crabs, etc...

 

[tkeracer619]

One of the great things about humans is our ability to use tools.

Can your really not get the fish out? Even if you get creative? Stick with a hook?

 

[on the spot]

A curved forceps can be had quite cheap, sometimes free if you know the right people. Harbor freight or your local Tarps and more may have them, or a medical supply, or your own doctor might hook you up. Most of the medical pieces are scrapped after each use. I ask for mine every time.

I'd try to get it out.

 

[AfricaOffroad]

Try blowing/sucking it out with a flexible siphon tube

 

[Dee12Dee12]

Any pics of this enormous tank

 

[dogstar74]

Shopvac?

 

[SushiGirl]

The only other piece of data which may be relevant is the presence of six cleaner shrimp to attack the corpse.

I would agree that the cleanup crew would take care of it, if he had one...

 

[Algaenot]

I’ve had fish die with the same relative size as yours that I could not remove from the tank. There was an increase in ammonia but nothing a few water changes couldn’t fix. My clean up crew took care of the remains very quickly.

 

[kevincp]

ur doing water changes the siphon tube does work i have done it before just keep moving it around use a smaller tube so you don't pull a lot of water out good luck that was a big fish and will put a HUGE spike..i would least try

 

[NatureNerd]

In a similar situation, albeit at a much smaller scale, I directed a powerhead and used a turkey baster to "blow" the corpse out of my rockwork. It took about a half hour but most of the remains became net-able. Good luck.

 

[sanchoy]

CUC, bristleworms, will take care of it. no worries.

big tank. good