Concerned for my blue tang

[Rory's Reef]

So I got a blue tang today. The water in the bag was at a 1.028 SG and my QT is 1.024 so I did a long acclimation process to try and get the salinity as close as possible before adding her (now I'm starting to question this decision). She went straight to the corner and laid down. She didn't really move too much, so I covered her with a blanket thinking less light would be better.

After I first added her


Just a minute ago after the blanket had been on (stupid flash was on:mad


Should I be worried? She seems to be breathing a little heavy for my liking

 

[MamaLovesHerReefTank]

I would give her a bit more time. Mine hides whenever I do any maintenance besides feeding on my tank.

 

[Humblefish]

How long was the fish in the bag and how long was the acclimation process? You should see redness around the gills if she has ammonia burn.

Hippo Tangs do act all stressed out in QT, but if the heavy breathing continues you might have a problem.

 

[melypr1985]

Actually when going down in salinity it's ok to go quicker than you might think. They can handle going down much easier than going up. Was this fish shipped to you or bought at an LFS?

 

[Rory's Reef]

I would give her a bit more time. Mine hides whenever I do any maintenance besides feeding on my tank.

Thank you!

How long was the fish in the bag and how long was the acclimation process? You should see redness around the gills if she has ammonia burn.

Hippo Tangs do act all stressed out in QT, but if the heavy breathing continues you might have a problem.

Place in the bag around 1100 and put her in the tank around 1930. It was a big bag with a lot of water (I did dump a lot out) which is why it took a little longer than usual. I'll definitely keep a close eye on her. Is there anything I can do? or is it just sit and watch? Thanks!!!

 

[Rory's Reef]

Actually when going down in salinity it's ok to go quicker than you might think. They can handle going down much easier than going up. Was this fish shipped to you or bought at an LFS?

I picked it up locally today

 

[melypr1985]

I picked it up locally today

OK. I'd just watch her. If you don't see any redness around the gills, then just let her rest for a while before starting any medications for QT. See if you can get her to eat before medicating, but I'd wait to feed her until tomorrow.

 

[Rory's Reef]

OK. I'd just watch her. If you don't see any redness around the gills, then just let her rest for a while before starting any medications for QT. See if you can get her to eat before medicating, but I'd wait to feed her until tomorrow.

Thanks for your help!!!

I'll let her rest for now and try and give her some food tomorrow. She seems to be resting on the powerhead for now so I think that's at least better than lying on the bottom.

I follow Humblefish's How To guide on QT so I'm going to try and get her to eat 2 days in a row before treating with prazipro.

 

[melypr1985]

Thanks for your help!!!

I'll let her rest for now and try and give her some food tomorrow. She seems to be resting on the powerhead for now so I think that's at least better than lying on the bottom.

I follow Humblefish's How To guide on QT so I'm going to try and get her to eat 2 days in a row before treating with prazipro.

Perfect. Though, be sure she's just resting on it and not stuck to it. Try to just look at her and see if you can tell. Poking at her without a real need will just add stress.

 

[Rory's Reef]

Perfect. Though, be sure she's just resting on it and not stuck to it. Try to just look at her and see if you can tell. Poking at her without a real need will just add stress.

She's sitting at the base on the suction part near the glass. So she doesn't seem stuck at least.

 

[Humblefish]

OK. I'd just watch her. If you don't see any redness around the gills, then just let her rest for a while before starting any medications for QT. See if you can get her to eat before medicating, but I'd wait to feed her until tomorrow.

+1 Although 8 1/2 hours in bag water would be enough time for ammonia to creep up; depending upon how long the acclimation period lasted after the bag was reopened.

 

[Rory's Reef]

@Humblefish @melypr1985

Good news is I don't see any redness around her gills.

She was breathing pretty heavily this morning, but I covered her up again to allow her to try and relax. She seems calm now and only gets spooked when I go to check on her (which I'm keeping fairly limited now) but she is mostly hiding in the PVC pipes.

My original plan was to let her rest for a few days and then prophylactically treat her with Prazipro and then Cupramine once I got her eating. Would it still be wise to prophylactically treat her? or would it be better to observe her closely and only treat if she shows symptoms? The copper has me a little concerned right now.

 

[Humblefish]

My original plan was to let her rest for a few days and then prophylactically treat her with Prazipro and then Cupramine once I got her eating. Would it still be wise to prophylactically treat her? or would it be better to observe her closely and only treat if she shows symptoms? The copper has me a little concerned right now.

I would stick with your original plan, especially considering the heavy breathing you've already observed. However, I would allow extra time for her to settle in & begin eating before starting treatment.

 

[Rory's Reef]

I would stick with your original plan, especially considering the heavy breathing you've already observed. However, I would allow extra time for her to settle in & begin eating before starting treatment.

Ok, I'll do that then.

Thank you both for your help!

For future reference, what's the longest I should acclimate a fish before adding them and how close does my SG have to be then? I usually only temp acclimate and maybe an hour of drip acclimation if the SG is off (it's always been within in .01 before now). The fish was packed to be shipped overnight as they usually only ship, but they were only 40 minutes from me so I thought it would be better to pick it up instead. I figured a longer acclimation would be ok because of this, but it sounds like once the bag is open the timeline changes.

Again, thank you for the help.

 

[Humblefish]

For future reference, what's the longest I should acclimate a fish before adding them and how close does my SG have to be then? I usually only temp acclimate and maybe an hour of drip acclimation if the SG is off (it's always been within in .01 before now). The fish was packed to be shipped overnight as they usually only ship, but they were only 40 minutes from me so I thought it would be better to pick it up instead. I figured a longer acclimation would be ok because of this, but it sounds like once the bag is open the timeline changes.

It really depends on how long the fish has been in the bag. If it has been several hours then any built-up ammonium will get converted into toxic ammonia about 30 minutes after opening the bag. So if in doubt, just use an ammonia reducer to neutralize that threat (so long as no copper is in the bag water) and also add an airstone for O2. Then you do a drip acclimation for as long as you like.

I also wrote this guide on How to Acclimate

 

[melypr1985]

For future reference, what's the longest I should acclimate a fish before adding them and how close does my SG have to be then? I usually only temp acclimate and maybe an hour of drip acclimation if the SG is off (it's always been within in .01 before now). The fish was packed to be shipped overnight as they usually only ship, but they were only 40 minutes from me so I thought it would be better to pick it up instead. I figured a longer acclimation would be ok because of this, but it sounds like once the bag is open the timeline changes

To add to what humble said... the best/easiest route is to match the SG in the QT to that of the bag. That can usually be done fairly quickly if you have freshwater and saltwater available to make the changes OR you can contact the place you are getting the fish from and just ask what their SG is. That way you can have the QT already there when the fish arrives. Float for temp and release. This can work for fish that you buy from a LFS as well.

 

[4FordFamily]

Also, for the casual reader: hippo tangs often lay on the floor in QT when they cannot wedge between things to hide. This is unique behavior to hippo tangs as far as tangs go.

If they were in a DT with rock they'd wedge in to a rock and hide out to recover. Don't be too alarmed by this behavior if they show no other symptoms of stress for a day or so.

 

[Rory's Reef]

To add to what humble said... the best/easiest route is to match the SG in the QT to that of the bag. That can usually be done fairly quickly if you have freshwater and saltwater available to make the changes OR you can contact the place you are getting the fish from and just ask what their SG is. That way you can have the QT already there when the fish arrives. Float for temp and release. This can work for fish that you buy from a LFS as well.

Thanks! I usually don't have an issue as I get my saltwater from my LFS and all of my fish and the SG is the same. This is the first time I purchased a fish from anywhere else and it was only because she is supposedly captive bred (Although after reading the article about them on Reef Builders it's not as definitive as I'd hoped). I'm starting to mix my own saltwater now with my new tank and will need to keep this in mind for future purchases.

Also, for the casual reader: hippo tangs often lay on the floor in QT when they cannot wedge between things to hide. This is unique behavior to hippo tangs as far as tangs go.

If they were in a DT with rock they'd wedge in to a rock and hide out to recover. Don't be too alarmed by this behavior if they show no other symptoms of stress for a day or so.

I noticed she started to try and wedge herself under the PVC pipes this morning until she found her way into them. I'd never seen this kind of behavior before and that coupled with the heavy breathing got me concerned since this was not my typical process

 

[4FordFamily]

Thanks! I usually don't have an issue as I get my saltwater from my LFS and all of my fish and the SG is the same. This is the first time I purchased a fish from anywhere else and it was only because she is supposedly captive bred (Although after reading the article about them on Reef Builders it's not as definitive as I'd hoped). I'm starting to mix my own saltwater now with my new tank and will need to keep this in mind for future purchases.



I noticed she started to try and wedge herself under the PVC pipes this morning until she found her way into them. I'd never seen this kind of behavior before and that coupled with the heavy breathing got me concerned since this was not my typical process

Nope it's normal behavior for a scared or stressed hippo.