Yellow tang - twitching motion

[Dturner]

I just bought a yellow tang about a week ago and it acts really aggressive. It's constantly twitching and trying to attack itself in the reflection (I think anyway). It doesn't flow through the water calmly, it just makes the fish in my tank constantly move out of the way because he comes zooming through.

Is there anything I can do to calm the fish down or am I better off returning it in hopes of a refund or exchange?

 

[SeaBee]

Does he have a spot to hide in the rocks?

What about your temp, salinity and stuff like that?

 

[little_fish]

I would try turning the lights off for a day or so.

 

[SeaBee]

Does the fish eat? What are you feeding him?

 

[wontonflip]

I bought a yellow tang last year....he was twitchy, too....a couple of days later, black spots started to appear...his twitches looked like he was trying to shake something off, but was a very active swimmer, and would swim against the glass. It might've been black ich or some other parasite. Treated him, but didn't live.

It's always hard to tell what's wrong with a fish. Did you qt him or treat him for anything before putting him in the tank?

 

[Reefrookie]

I was told that twitching is a sign of being caught with cyanide when being collected from the wild.

 

[Northstar24]

+1 reefrookie - I've read the same thing someplace, but I cant recall where

 

[little_fish]

Ya, another sign of cyanide poising is extremely bright colors and them eating like they can never get enough, and then of course, they die suddenly.

 

[Dturner]

Does he have a spot to hide in the rocks?

What about your temp, salinity and stuff like that?

Salinity is normal ... 1.024
Temp is 82
All normal parameters... even did a 33% water change w/ RO water.
He has a lot of places he hides and goes out of sight completely, so I know it isn't hiding spots.

He eats normal, in fact, will eat all the seaweed and flake food that I put in and then some.

I bought a yellow tang last year....he was twitchy, too....a couple of days later, black spots started to appear...his twitches looked like he was trying to shake something off, but was a very active swimmer, and would swim against the glass. It might've been black ich or some other parasite. Treated him, but didn't live.

It's always hard to tell what's wrong with a fish. Did you qt him or treat him for anything before putting him in the tank?

He twitches the same way you described, and also swims up against the glass a lot. He seems to try to fight himself in the reflection as well. I actually didn't QT him as I know I should have, but he looked 100% healthy, best looking out of the 5-6 tangs there, full color and everything.

I don't know what else to do. Once the LFS opens up again on Wed. I am going to give them a call and see if they can take him back... I'm worried I won't be able to catch him even if I want to take him back.

 

[DAvis]

Once the LFS opens up again on Wed. I am going to give them a call and see if they can take him back... I'm worried I won't be able to catch him even if I want to take him back.

I've had luck catching one fish by removing the top, so it's easy to move around with the net quickly. I put in a net, already wet so you don't introduce bubbles, and let it sit there a while. Then drop in a mysis, or what ever the tang likes best, a piece at a time. Distracted by the food, you can usually scoop the unwary fish. Works once or twice, so be ready!

 

[PRC]

easiest way to catch a fish without freaking them out too much.

go to Home depot, get a piece of acrylic cut that matches the inside dimensionsof your tank HxW.

You use it as a wall.

Turn off your powerheads, move a few rocks, and voila you've turned your 4ft tank into a 1 ft tank. From there it's as easy as catching fish in a .....well, you get the point.

I can catch every one of my fish within 10 minutes using this method in a 180g tank.

On a side note, I also feed my fish with the net. I use it to rinse off the food, and I dip the net in the tank to release the food.

When it comes time for catching them, the net goes in, the poor little bastards think it's dinner time, they never know what hit'em. I feel bad for tricking them, I really do.:D

 

[DAvis]

On a side note, I also feed my fish with the net. I use it to rinse off the food, and I dip the net in the tank to release the food.

When it comes time for catching them, the net goes in, the poor little bastards think it's dinner time, they never know what hit'em. I feel bad for tricking them, I really do.:D

BRILLIANT! :Cheers: