poor blue tang..

[tritan]

I search everywhere high and low for a blue tang and finally found one but he is "tiny". He likes to lay near the top at the overflows so I put screens over them just in case he accidentally slipped through. I went away for one night over the weekend and when I had come back the dumb snails pulled the screen down and the poor tang went through and sat in my overflow box for god knows how long. Theres still a lot of room back there but im sure the flow alone wore him out. He didnt look very good but when I put him back in he did swim around and actually ate. I woke up this morning and he looks worse.. he swims around barely and just wants to lay in the current of the overflow.

Not looking good, but is there anything else I can do?

 

[jr7168]

do you have a QT to put him in to heel and relax?

 

[wontonflip]

Chasing him around to put him in qt might make him weaker and more stressed, IMO.....if he's eating, he should recuperate fine. Make sure to leave him lots of algae sheets that he can reach easily.

 

[tritan]

I do have a tank I just set up yesterday that is kinda a QT. All it has is sand, ro/di water, pump, and heater. I just figured introducing him to a new tank would only stress him further.

I swear these guys are narcoleptic.. they will just lay down play dead all the time. I dont know if they do it to rest or not. It was funny at first when he was healthy but now that he isnt healthy I cant tell if its him resting or just too weak to move. He keeps just swimming up and letting the overflow suction hold him.

 

[wontonflip]

I had a sick hippo tang once....he would wedge himself sideways between the rocks and sand.....it's normal appparently.

 

[tritan]

Thats the risk we take getting them so small I guess.. I couldnt find one ANYWHERE online for less than $80 after shipping and my LFS had 2 tiny ones randomly so it was convenient even though he was so small.

I wonder why blue tangs are so hard to come by right now?

 

[jr7168]

yeah i guess if he is eating just monitor him and see how he acts.

 

[little_fish]

The really tiny blue tangs dont usually make it because they just starting their juvenile phase. They need feed pretty much constantly through the day to make it. When you do go to buy your next blue tang, make sure that they are at least 3.5 inch long. Those fish are more mature and can handle tank life much better than the little guys.

 

[Bifferwine]

Hannah is right again. The small ones have very poor survival rates. The larger you can find one, the better.