QT and Achilles Tang(He is on the way)
- Thread starter Reefsi
- Start date
Reefsi
New member
So I have a pair of clowns in my tank, I got them from a lfs that has had them for 2 months. I did not qt these as they appeared fine and I did not have a qt available at the moment. Someone told me qt'ing my AT is pointless then, is this true? I mean they have shown no signs of any disease and from my understanding the only way ich or, any other parasite for that matter, can be introduced to my tank is by another fish bringing it in correct?
Rea17
New member
It can take weeks for a fish to exhibit symptoms of parasites. As far as ich goes, it can host in the gills of the fish and won't be visible until an outbreak occurs. Clowns have very heavy slime coats and aren't very susceptible to disease, but they can still host the ich parasite like any other fish. If ich is in your tank, your achilles will likely contract it and display spots with 2 weeks of being added.
Reefsi
New member
Should I take the clowns out and go fallow? or risk it? I plan on monitoring the achilles for 3 weeks with no meds unless I notice something. I may run a round of prazi just to be on the safe side but I dont want to run through a copper based treatment or hypo if I dont have to. I can always set up another QT and hypo the clowns I guess.
I would definitely pull all fish and go fallow.
I would QT EVERY fish with some sort of copper. The reason is that just because you can't see the ich in your tank, it can still be there. Some fish can have ich all their life and not hardly show any signs. Some fish really have a hard time with ich, like AT's and a lot of sand dwelling fish. Read the AT primer. People say they are sensitive and die easily. Read what they are dying of. It's pretty much always ich. If the tanks they were introduced to didn't have ich, many many more would have survived. I don't believe they are that sensitive outside of ich personally.
right now you just have a couple of fish, but some day you might want to add a PBT or some jawfish or some other ich magnet. If ich is in your tank, they will have a very hard time.
so take the time now while it's easy to pull fish out to make sure you never get ich in your tank and QT (i would suggest with meds) every fish that goes in, no exceptions.
I would QT EVERY fish with some sort of copper. The reason is that just because you can't see the ich in your tank, it can still be there. Some fish can have ich all their life and not hardly show any signs. Some fish really have a hard time with ich, like AT's and a lot of sand dwelling fish. Read the AT primer. People say they are sensitive and die easily. Read what they are dying of. It's pretty much always ich. If the tanks they were introduced to didn't have ich, many many more would have survived. I don't believe they are that sensitive outside of ich personally.
right now you just have a couple of fish, but some day you might want to add a PBT or some jawfish or some other ich magnet. If ich is in your tank, they will have a very hard time.
so take the time now while it's easy to pull fish out to make sure you never get ich in your tank and QT (i would suggest with meds) every fish that goes in, no exceptions.
Reefsi
New member
Ya I have read every page of the AT primer and that is what made me post the question. I get back in town tuesday(left for business today), my GF is watching over the AT, he was nice and fat this morning with no sign of anything. My GF knows the routine of feeding, clipping seaweed to the side and simple 5 gallon water change/topoff, So I have confidence. I think when I go back ill pull out the fish that are in there. I have 2 clowns and a yasha goby that may be impossible to catch. You guys think that the AT will be alright in the 29g for that long? I feel bad for the guy he wants to swim so bad and has no room. I have 2 powerheads running for mass waterflow in the tank. One 500GPH runs all day, the other one is 1200GPH and runs during daylight hours. I also have the HOB filter sitting higher than water level to help saturate the water with oxygen.
Reefsi
New member
Im going to set up another QT when I get back, I may just build a 5ft long acrylic tank since I can do that in no time and low cost for me. Make the dimensions 1'W x 18"T x 5"L and put my AT in there for the time being and all the other fish in the small 29g. Just so he can have some room to roam free and swim. Also with the larger water column the water should stay nice and clean for him.
Rea17
New member
He's fine, just displaying mood.
Also, he's likely fine in the 29 for the fallow period. If you are worried about it pick up a 55 on Craigslist or the dollar-a-gallon sale at petco. I prefer long qt periods for achilles anyway (8+ weeks for full meds and observation), so the 12 for a fallow isn't terrible.
Also, he's likely fine in the 29 for the fallow period. If you are worried about it pick up a 55 on Craigslist or the dollar-a-gallon sale at petco. I prefer long qt periods for achilles anyway (8+ weeks for full meds and observation), so the 12 for a fallow isn't terrible.
Reefsi
New member
Also this is the first fish that I have qt'd and I believe that most people dred the "sound" of qt. To be honest there won't be another fish that isn't qt'd I have learned more about this fish in the last 4 days than any fish I can recall. It almost gets you to know the fish on a personal level. I've also started understanding his nature. It's funny I paid attention to him more so than my 240 gallon tank the last 4 days haha
Btw thanks everyone for the help!
Btw thanks everyone for the help!
I can attest to this. Ran my AT through almost 16 weeks of QT, 10 days of Nitrofuracin green powder, 30 days of chloroquine phosphate, two rounds of parazi, and then another 7 weeks or so of observation. Wasn't until in my DT that it got ich ..... #%&@%#
