yellow tang

[phk36]

Hi all I have a five inch yellow tang. He had stoped eating so I put him in my qt. He looks to pick at the bottom of the tank for any food that has fallen but will not go after it at all when I feed him.He also kind of bounces off the bottom when he swims around??? I have copper in my main tank at a safe level ,if any its well under not over. I have no copper in my qt the tang has been in the qt for two weeks. I had him for two weeks in my main tank before he showed any signs of this. The qt has lots of green alge in it its been running for over a year. Any help or any ideas please Thanks Pete

 

[biger]

Just to clarify, you said you have copper in your main tank? If so why?

 

[phk36]

I have had a bout with ich on and off for about one year. Back in septeber I picked up a bta, I had not had copper in the tank for six months. I put the bta in my tank and I think the rock it was on had to carry some ich, boom the cycle starts again. MY 180 will be up for three years in august. I want to add some soft coral so I started with the bta and it did well. It took about three months for the ich to get bad ,thats with 45 watts of uv on. I put the bta in my qt this has been up for 1 year, its a 20 gallon. I have way to much fish to qt so I put in the copper, I am tired of loosing fish. I have about 150 lbs of live rock plus a 4 inch sand bed.Thanks Pete

 

[biger]

Wow, not many use copper in DT. One thing about copper is too low a dose and ur wasting ur time. Too much and u kill ur fish.

 

[biger]

Also all ur rocks, sand gravel etc. will absorb copper so it is almost impossible to treat in ur main tank unless u take all that stuff out. It will also kill any inverts or pods in there too.

 

[biger]

Here is a lot of info u should look at if u haven't already.

http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/marineich.html

 

[biger]

And this one about copper, it also slows nitrification so u may get an ammonia spike.

http://atj.net.au/marineaquaria/cupramine.html

 

[biger]

One more thing to remember is that UV will only help to control ich a little but not prevent or eradicate it. I think of UV like a bug zapper. They will help keep the numbers down but will never get all the bugs.

 

[phk36]

Thanks bigger but what about help with the problem the tang has.

 

[biger]

Does his belly look swollen even tho he's not eating. I had a naso tang that did the same thing and it turned out to be dropsy. I lost my naso.

 

[phk36]

He is not swollen he eats but only after food drops to the bottom. What is dropsy?

 

[biger]

"There are multiple possible causes. Usually caused by kidney damage. Kidney damage may be caused by overuse of drugs or a disease. Eventually the swelling will cause the scales to raise, giving the fish what is called the pine cone appearance".

"You can best see this by viewing your fish from the top. Fish may also stop feeding, appear off-colour, become listless and/or lethargic, have sunken eyes, and hang at the top or stay at the bottom of the aquarium."

Quotes taken from http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/dropsy/

 

[phk36]

well its not dropsy he is not swollen . He just bounces off the bottom not any sides. as if he can not stop from doing it??????????

 

[galvatron3000]

the copper in your main display may have damaged your tang. I hve been reading that copper is damaging to tangs (insides) over a period of time. hopefully this is not the case and it can be diagnosed and fixed. You should really not be using meds in your display neither copper. That's why you have a qt in the first place so you can use it for such. Hoe things work out and corrective measures are made appropriately.

 

[phk36]

I had picked up three yellow tangs all five to six inches long. I only have a 20 gal qt and I know if I put all of them in its a good chance they all would kill each other. I think the copper may have done this to the fish but not sure as I tested the levels daily and put 400 drops in over a week. My tank is a 180 with a 75 gallon sump. The ich is gone as my hippo is the first to get it and the last for it to leave (he is 8 inc long). Iam removing the copper with a polly pad now and will leave a half pad in for six months or so. The tang does eat every day and last night it ate some food before it hit bottom. Coper works but not all fish can handle it well,I thought angel fish were the worst but I guess its harsh on any. I had sea cure copper.

 

[biger]

cupramine is a much safer copper imo