so what's the deal with my purple tang and fire shrimp?

[Makara23]

...not at Petco but at a highly reputable LFS in San Diego that a small Tang would help increase my bio load as there were low nutrients, I called the owner of highly reputable LSS store number two in San Diego, and he concurred that a small tang in my size tank would be fine...

Just curious, which two LFS was this? I've been to all saltwater LFS in San Diego and based on my conversations with the employees, I trust none of them.

Most of them have a single system with all tanks sharing the same water. Some of the fish in tanks have visible ick, which is a clear sign to not purchase ANY fish in other tanks either. I'd only buy corals from Aqua SD, but I've avoided fish and inverts from everywhere in SD.

 

[NanoNana]

no, of course, but you can still understand the quandary I'm faced in with factually when my LS owner really doesn't need my money that much. He's got a large store maybe hundreds of people going in there every day and he's telling me a small juvenile Tabg will be fine in my tank for ( 2 LFS owners) juxtaposed to here, very opposed to the concept. You can imagine that a new refer would be a little confused. I understand the dimensions. I understand the article. article it was written by PhD ? what sample size studies that use etc. etc. ? but all I can do is tell you what my experience was with my LGS and most LFS are telling people that juvenile tangs are OK in 42cubish style tanks maybe not all not telling people this that but I think many many are. I'm not arguing here. I want to rehome the tang. I was really never comfortable with in it in the first place. it was a bad decision for me to get it given so many other choices , but here I am. I just guys are fooling yourself. I think my tank is too small for my tang. I shouldn't have it. But I think you folks are fooling yourself to think that you're adult is so much better off in your larger tanks. The adult tangs are proportionally so much larger.

edit
edit what do you think the weight proportionally is of a juvenile tang compared to an adult thing? I imagine that if is twice in length is at least four times in weight , don't know but proportionally it seems very suspect that Tangs in general based on what I'm being told here about my juvenile tang that adults should be in any smaller than like I don't know 250 gallons. my Tang is I'm thinking 3 inches long. So what happens when a tank gets 8 inches? I don't know maybe it's five or six times the weight? I hope you guys got a big tank too. real real big.

I don’t have any tangs or any other open water or deep water fish.

You’re absolutely right. There should be no quandary. You should listen to everything your LFS tells you and stay off the internet. Period.

 

[littlefoxx]

no, of course, but you can still understand the quandary I'm faced in with factually when my LS owner really doesn't need my money that much. He's got a large store maybe hundreds of people going in there every day and he's telling me a small juvenile Tabg will be fine in my tank for ( 2 LFS owners) juxtaposed to here, very opposed to the concept. You can imagine that a new refer would be a little confused. I understand the dimensions. I understand the article. article it was written by PhD ? what sample size studies that use etc. etc. ? but all I can do is tell you what my experience was with my LGS and most LFS are telling people that juvenile tangs are OK in 42cubish style tanks maybe not all not telling people this that but I think many many are. I'm not arguing here. I want to rehome the tang. I was really never comfortable with in it in the first place. it was a bad decision for me to get it given so many other choices , but here I am. I just guys are fooling yourself. I think my tank is too small for my tang. I shouldn't have it. But I think you folks are fooling yourself to think that you're adult is so much better off in your larger tanks. The adult tangs are proportionally so much larger.

edit
edit what do you think the weight proportionally is of a juvenile tang compared to an adult thing? I imagine that if is twice in length is at least four times in weight , don't know but proportionally it seems very suspect that Tangs in general based on what I'm being told here about my juvenile tang that adults should be in any smaller than like I don't know 250 gallons. my Tang is I'm thinking 3 inches long. So what happens when a tank gets 8 inches? I don't know maybe it's five or six times the weight? I hope you guys got a big tank too. real real big.

For tangs its more about the length of the tank based on their swimming patterns. Which is why people are saying 6 foot minimum. Ive had two adult purples in my 125 gallon six foot tank. They used every inch of it. I now have a 300 gallon 8 foot tank to give the tangs more room. Does that make sense? As for LFS advice, I usually dont ask them questions about tank size and stuff for tangs, I research that before hand. Live Aquaria is a good quick source for this info (tank size, adult fish size, temperament). Ill also do that in the store for a fish Im not familiar with too before getting the fish. I like my LFS, but they are also a business. Many people go to my local stores too. What people here are trying to say is that researching fish before purchasing them is very important and not just trusting the LFS. Youve also said you felt odd about getting the tang in the first place with your tank size. Im a first responder, so I live by my gut feelings and its literally saved my life before. Always trust your gut, its usually right.

 

[Ballyhoo]

I have been aggressive with water changes and I dose the polip lab water treatment and the ich medicine that requires a binder. I would say that ich is almost nondetectable visually on the tang. I think I see a couple faint spots on the top of the dorsal fin which I suppose would be harder for the medication to reach since there's a little blood supply to the dorsal fin at the top.. none of the fish stock show any sign of ich and the behavior of all the fish is seemingly healthy. no noticeable aggression between any of the species and they all eat well. Each fish I have seems to have his own special place within the tank. I think my greatest challenge is cyano bacteria. It seems like the corals need a lot of light but the more light I provide the more I am constantly having to attend to the cyzno of the tank. It requires constant husbandry.
edit
I have not seen my pistol shrimp in a couple weeks though Which is quite strange the pistol shrimp and Randal Gobi were always partners in crime. where is my pistol shrimp?

 

[TheStrangler]

Moving past everything else. I'd just drop the whole, should I shouldn't I of the whole thing and just focus on treating the tang. You can go wherever you'd like from there after the tang is healthy. I'd search Ich treatment on here and look for two key things. Treatments that work, and treatments that work with what you have available to you. If someone's treatment plan is to feed their fish well to help boost their immune system in their 20 year old 300 gallon tank, that doesn't necessarily help you. Pay attention to mention of fallow periods, medication, maybe tank transfer procedure, whatever you can work with. As someone who has absolutely no dog in this fight, I'd just like to reiterate a point that seems to have been looked past. Marine Ich on a single fish means that your entire system is compromised. If your local fish store got down on their knees, apologized, and took back the fish, you've still got a problem that needs to be addressed. If you aren't 100% sure that there is ich, just assume you do. If you're right and you dont have ich, great! Treating for it won't really do any harm. If you do have ich and you ignore it the problem will just get bigger and bigger.

As a side note, I had a falling out with the most reputable and largest fish store in my state. Back in the day smart phone browsers sucked pretty badly so you couldnt rely on internet search.I went there with a plan in mind after learning all of the info I needed here. They didn't have what I went there for, but I had learned here the right questions to ask. I gave them detailed info about my 40 gallon tank and they recommended an oriental sweetlips for me. I confirmed my tank age, size, nutrient export, rockwork, and they assured me it was an appropriate fish. Got home, found out they get over 2 feet long and require massive tanks. Went back with the fish and demanded they take it back. Employee said no, talked to manager and he said no assuring me that it would be fine, the fish will only grow to fit it's tank. To this day I refuse to purchase anything from them.

We can fight and assign blame if everyone wants once the fire is under control no?

 

[Ballyhoo]

so whatever happened to that oriental sweetlips?


I don't know if I the Tang has ick or not. It did seem to when I posted that picture initially and took a closer inspection. But when that happened, I only quarantined it for like 14 hours which I know it's not enough, but I also did massive water changes, and, treated specialized products from polyp labs, and another brand where you bind the medicine to the food and add garlic. I continue to do it. I continue to add the polip lab conditioner to the water and the medicine to the garlic and with gratification, I see the tang eating the food that I had, in my mind, imagining the ich medicine being circulated into its system. I have done massive massive water changes to the point where my back is becomes sore quite a bit. I also know if the fish had i h it could re-emerge. But the tank they say the first year is challenging while it matures . So at least I have a juvenile tang for the first year, I'll have some novelty item and when my first year of uglies and mature tank comes to fruition I can exchange -return the tang and have a nice mixed reef tank.

I already am thinking about getting a 75 peninsula type, but I really need to show some success before I do something like that

 

[TheStrangler]

I wouldn't leave the store with it. Left the 5 gallon bucket I brought it in right in the floor and left. I assume it was sold to some other sucker.

Good job, stay consistent with your ich treatment and run the full course. There are a lot of treatment threads here you can reference. Just like with antibiotics with people, follow through with the entire treatment program. If the fish never had ich to begin with no harm done. If it did have ich, don't lose all of your progress by skipping when you're in the home stretch. Like I said whether you return the tang, get a bigger tank, or serve it with a squeeze of lemon (joke don't kill me tang gang) can all be decided on after the ich is treated in your system. You have some responses in this thread by some of the all around top fish disease experts in the world. Don't let an ongoing argument dull your judgement just because you're angry with people that aren't happy with you.

Everyone wants to see the fish healthy

 

[Ballyhoo]

I wouldn't leave the store with it. Left the 5 gallon bucket I brought it in right in the floor and left. I assume it was sold to some other sucker.

Good job, stay consistent with your ich treatment and run the full course. There are a lot of treatment threads here you can reference. Just like with antibiotics with people, follow through with the entire treatment program. If the fish never had ich to begin with no harm done. If it did have ich, don't lose all of your progress by skipping when you're in the home stretch. Like I said whether you return the tang, get a bigger tank, or serve it with a squeeze of lemon (joke don't kill me tang gang) can all be decided on after the ich is treated in your system. You have some responses in this thread by some of the all around top fish disease experts in the world. Don't let an ongoing argument dull your judgement just because you're angry with people that aren't happy with you.

Everyone wants to see the fish healthy

Thanks all great information. I see that Tangs are very delicate subject in the forum re anything less than 100 gallon aquarium, and I am planning on getting a larger aquarium next year, I'm just not sure if it will be more than 75g. I Can't quite discern if mine has any remnant disease . I am assuming it does. I really think it did have it last week because it kept visiting the fire shrimp and getting entangled with it which is a sign of ich. But as I stated I had I given it what was the equivalent of 14 hours quarantine in ro-di salt water in the bucket, and then did a massive water change, and began dosing polyp lab medic and, and I feed it Metroplex with a binder, all highly absorbed into the fish feed and garlic. I'm assuming that he's eating some of that medicine. That with continued large water changes. But there might still be some remnant, and I will continue to be a vigilant as I would hate to have an ick nightmare. At this point, Tang seems quite happy I'm not expert. Others might say it's stressed and not happy and angry, but he eats well and explores the tank as i would expect a normal fish to, and it's not aggressive and not showing any obvious signs of stress . other Tangdroids on the forum might look at it and opine differently.

 

[Rjukan]

Tangdroids

Huh?

 

[RockRash]

Huh?

Save me Bally-Whoo-Knobi your my only hope.

seriously though it was probably just a typo.

 

[Ballyhoo]

well so many people were having so much fun being the Tang police , I just realized that going through some of the posts above in this thread are more toxic than Ich itself. Are you still all telling me that I am facing absolute doom for my tang and my fish from ich and everything else? Or will I just be arrested by the tang police?
OMG, in spite of all the mud slinging, doom, gloom, and toxic posts in this thread my tank goes on and my fish go on. OK look to the post above three where I took pictures of my tang today. Is it going to die tomorrow ? is my Tang going to die and take all the fish and coral with it? or I'm just gonna be arrested by the Tang police ?

 

[RockRash]

well so many people were having so much fun being the Tang police , I just realized that going through some of the posts above in this thread are more toxic than Ich itself. Are you still all telling me that I am facing absolute doom for my tang and my fish from ich and everything else? Or will I just be arrested by the tang police?

No, nobody has said you're facing absolute doom. They were just saying the tank is smaller then the recommended size. As with anything there are exceptions to the rules and your tang might be perfectly fine until it needs to be rehomed. It looked like it had ich maybe it maybe it didn't time will tell. Your doing your best to take care of it and that's good. The toxicity you speak of seems to be from your abrasive replies to solid advice. My grandpa used to tell me something along the lines of if you run into A Holes all day well maybe....

 

[Ballyhoo]

No, nobody has said you're facing absolute doom. They were just saying the tank is smaller then the recommended size. As with anything there are exceptions to the rules and your tang might be perfectly fine until it needs to be rehomed. It looked like it had ich maybe it maybe it didn't time will tell. Your doing your best to take care of it and that's good. The toxicity you speak of seems to be from your abrasive replies to solid advice. My grandpa used to tell me something along the lines of if you run into A Holes all day well maybe....

I agree with what your grandpa said. But you cannot say that most of the posters on this thread have been supportive in any measure. It has mostly been mud slinging, doom, gloom, and the tang police. That's what it is. Any abrasiveness has just been because of some toxic posts. Or a number of toxic posts.
edit, once again, I agree with your grandfather, but sometimes it's just mob gone amuck.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

i think you got quite a bit of great advice. go with that

 

[ejsanchez92399]

Boy, this thread was some entertaining stuff! R2R needs to give this one an award for all the comments coming from every direction - wow!
SD has some good shops, and not so good, just like most cities! And boy I love how every made judgments without even seeing any actual vids of the tangs behavior, etc. Nevertheless, man, great thread if you want some entertainment and have some time to kill!

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

 

[RockRash]

I agree with what your grandpa said. But you cannot say that most of the posters on this thread have been supportive in any measure. It has mostly been mud slinging, doom, gloom, and the tang police. That's what it is. Any abrasiveness has just been because of some toxic posts. Or a number of toxic posts.
edit, once again, I agree with your grandfather, but sometimes it's just mob gone amuck.

I get where your coming from however you we

I agree with what your grandpa said. But you cannot say that most of the posters on this thread have been supportive in any measure. It has mostly been mud slinging, doom, gloom, and the tang police. That's what it is. Any abrasiveness has just been because of some toxic posts. Or a number of toxic posts.
edit, once again, I agree with your grandfather, but sometimes it's just mob gone amuck.

I get where your coming from, but you start a thread about having a tang in a 42 gallon tank because of a YouTube video you saw. It was explained in that thread why you shouldn't now we are here. There was also the argumentative threads "skimmer scammers" , " rodi cult" and I'm sure some more. You ask questions then people here give you there educated answers you dismiss their advice and seem to know better. Your posts come off as abrasive and whether that was your intent or not that's how it reads. I feel like we are going around in circles here, I'm genuinely trying to give you advice I wish you the best in the progress of your tank and I'm sure everyone else here does as well.

 

[littlefoxx]

I get where your coming from however you we

I get where your coming from, but you start a thread about having a tang in a 42 gallon tank because of a YouTube video you saw. It was explained in that thread why you shouldn't now we are here. There was also the argumentative threads "skimmer scammers" , " rodi cult" and I'm sure some more. You ask questions then people here give you there educated answers you dismiss their advice and seem to know better. Your posts come off as abrasive and whether that was your intent or not that's how it reads. I feel like we are going around in circles here, I'm genuinely trying to give you advice I wish you the best in the progress of your tank and I'm sure everyone else here does as well.

Agree 100%

 

[RockRash]

I really dont think he is.

 

[Townes_Van_Camp]

I really dont think he is.

It's hard to keep up an act this long, sure. But to keep coming back with contrarian information and actions while continuing to ask advice takes real dedication to ones craft. Be that craft stupidity, intentional obtuseness, contempt, or trollin'.

That said, there's nothing wrong with a good troll thread every now and then..