Tang in QT acting funny

[magnetic1]

I got a Purple Tang from the BZA GB. Picked him up last week and has been in QT since. He was eating like a champ and getting super plump.

 

Today I noticed him acting a little funny. He would bring his fins in and and back out with kind of a quick twitch. It doesnt appear to be the normal "itching" kind of twitch. Id explain it to be more of like someone who has had 10 cups of coffee and just a sudden jerk or twitch

 

He has no spots on him, still eats. Just wondering about this twitchyness. I did notice a slight spike in ammonia and nitrite levels. Could be the QT cycling through more since he has been eating a lot. (I originally took a filter pad I use in my display sump and ran it in the QT a few days before putting the fish in).

 

pH: 8.2 (measured w/ pH monitor)

Temp: 79 (measured with probe)

Salinity: 1.010 (Refractometer)

Ammonia: Approx 0.044 (RedSea test kit)

Nitrite: 0.1 (RedSea test kit)

Nitrate: 0 (API test kit)

 

I did a 40% water change this afternoon and he seems a little better. The twitching is less frequent but he still does it. I have another 40% of water currently mixing that I will try to change later tonight.

 

Any other ideas?

 

Here he is in QT with the Citron Goby.

 

http://brakeswapracing.com/ericwong/tank/purpletang.jpg

Edited March 11, 2008 by magnetic1

[HowardofNOVA]

Troy,

Hard to say about the twitching, but seems that your doing everything right?

Beautiful Fish BTW!!!

 

I reached my 1.010 a couple of days ago and brought it up until last night when I put my Heraldi in the main tank. Doing well this morning, so might be time to bring yours up as well if he is eating fine?

[magnetic1]

Troy,

Hard to say about the twitching, but seems that your doing everything right?

Beautiful Fish BTW!!!

 

I reached my 1.010 a couple of days ago and brought it up until last night when I put my Heraldi in the main tank. Doing well this morning, so might be time to bring yours up as well if he is eating fine?

 

Hey Howard, actually Im Eric "gmubeach" is Troy :P

 

I thought I had to keep him in QT for 6 weeks to make sure there was no Ich?

[treesprite]

I honestly am re-thinking the whole deal of automatically doing a 4-week long qt on a fish just because it's new to me. QT is sometimes more stress on the fish than it's worth given constant water changes with hands in the tank all the time, the dropping and raising salinity, the barren unnatural environment, etcetera.

[Krewlor]

I honestly am re-thinking the whole deal of automatically doing a 4-week long qt on a fish just because it's new to me. QT is sometimes more stress on the fish than it's worth given constant water changes with hands in the tank all the time, the dropping and raising salinity, the barren unnatural environment, etcetera.

 

It is a decision only you can decide. But I feel putting one fish through a little stress is better then spreading something deadly to my entire tank exposing all corals and fish to disease.

[magnetic1]

I honestly am re-thinking the whole deal of automatically doing a 4-week long qt on a fish just because it's new to me. QT is sometimes more stress on the fish than it's worth given constant water changes with hands in the tank all the time, the dropping and raising salinity, the barren unnatural environment, etcetera.

 

Well, Ive slowly dropped the salinity 0.001 per 12 hours. My hands havent been in the tank though. I use tongs to grab the PVC the food is on and strap on Nori twice a day. This is also my first attempt at QT

 

Maybe I am just lucky, but so far everything seems ok aside from the random twitching. I tried to take video of him twitching, but everytime I point the camera he wont do it. Then as soon as I stop recording, he does it! ARGH!

 

Anyways, here is a video of him eating I used a digital camera to shoot the video so the file size is kind of big and is .AVI format.

 

http://brakeswapracing.com/ericwong/tank/MVI_0004.AVI

 

The Citron Goby on the other hand doesnt move or eat much. He is kinda boring to watch :P

 

So do I keep them for 4-6 weeks? Or is that only if I see signs of Ich?

Edited March 12, 2008 by magnetic1

[FishWife]

I have a purple tang and I saw the twitch thing going on. I know JUST what you're talking about. I was worried about my guy, but he's fine. I posit that he was trying to look tough. After he got out of QT, I seldom see him doing it at all.

 

Does yours have ample mugs/hiding spots in QT? We had ours in hypo because of ich. WATCH FOR AMONIA. I almost lost said purple tang to an amonia spike 'cause with hypo it can come up fast and sudden, 'specially in small tanks. We ended up needing to do 50% water changes every other day!

Edited March 12, 2008 by FishWife

[treesprite]

We ended up needing to do 50% water changes every other day!

 

Exactly why my hands are always in the qt.

Edited March 12, 2008 by treesprite

[magnetic1]

I have a purple tang and I saw the twitch thing going on. I know JUST what you're talking about. I was worried about my guy, but he's fine. I posit that he was trying to look tough. After he got out of QT, I seldom see him doing it at all.

 

Does yours have ample mugs/hiding spots in QT? We had ours in hypo because of ich. WATCH FOR AMONIA. I almost lost said purple tang to an amonia spike 'cause with hypo it can come up fast and sudden, 'specially in small tanks. We ended up needing to do 50% water changes every other day!

 

Hey Marcia,

 

I have one big, what looks to be 4", PVC "T" pipe in there. That is his only real hiding spot. There are some smaller PVC pieces in there for the Citron Goby, but he doesnt seem to hide much. Should I add another big PVC pipe in?

 

I finished another 40% water change and he seems to be twitching less? Maybe I had a slight ammonia spike. It is afterall only a 10G tank. What size tank did you guys use?

 

Exactly why my hands are always in the qt.

 

I just stick the tube in close to the powerhead and it pushes water out and creates a siphon

Edited March 12, 2008 by magnetic1

[HowardofNOVA]

10g tank with light, MJ1200, heater, Biowheel filter with just poly inside, NO CARBON and a couple of ceramic mugs. (In case they want a drink!)

[magnetic1]

10g tank with light, MJ1200, heater, Biowheel filter with just poly inside, NO CARBON and a couple of ceramic mugs. (In case they want a drink!)

 

Any reason why you dont run carbon? (assuming you arent running copper)

 

My setup is a 10G long with PVC, EboJager heater, MiniJet, AquaClear HOB filter with biomedia, foam and carbon.

Edited March 12, 2008 by magnetic1