Anyone available to help with an emergency quarantine for Gem Tang?

[mosheikh]

Hi everyone,

 

I ordered a small Gem Tang and it arrived yesterday and it was eating mysis shrimp. However, this morning looking at the Gem Tang, its laying off to the side.

 

Does anyone have a quarantine system in place where they'd be able to try to dose prazi-pro or something to see if this guy bounces back? Please let me know and can deliver him to you anytime today. Please send me a direct PM.

 

Thanks,

Mohsin

[YHSublime]

I'm in Hyattsville, but if you need a piece of live rock and can find yourself a 10 or 20 gallon, you could make it happen. I'm about to set up a QT myself, but it's not running yet. 

[DelRayTank]

Unfortunately, I’m out of town through Friday.... I have a running and cycled hospital tank in ALX. 
 

what I would do in this situation, especially with something like a Gem tang would be to run to Petco and pick up a 20 Gal tank with an aquaclear 70 and a bottle of biospira and a heater (if you don’t have one lying around). That would allow you to get a quick QT up and running for not much money. 

 

I would also urge you to post the issue you are facing on the HumbleFish forum at humble.fish . There’re a lot of great fish QT resources there. 
 

I wish you the best of luck

[mosheikh]

I've got a holding tank setup. Would it be preferred to use biospira or PraziPro? Any other advice? I don't see any ich/white spots on the fish.

[YHSublime]

5 minutes ago, mosheikh said:

I've got a holding tank setup. Would it be preferred to use biospira or PraziPro? Any other advice? I don't see any ich/white spots on the fish.

 

Any ammonia?

[mosheikh]

None not detectable. Other fish in the tank are healthy showing no symptoms.

[DelRayTank]

I would post at humble.fish 

 

if using prazi, make sure to add extra aeration. 

[mosheikh]

I bought an aerator as well. Will get oxygen flowing and do a 50% water change in the holding tank and see if he improves...will start prazi soon after. 

[mosheikh]

Does anyone have Methylene Blue that I can use?

[ReefdUp]

1. That quick of a decline does not sound like something PraziPro would treat (plus prazi is known to cause temporary anorexia).

2. I have methylene blue in Fairfax Station, VA

3. Have you tried a freshwater dip? If it is velvet, a freshwater dip may buy you some time (plus methylene blue).

[mosheikh]

Thanks ReefdUp, I was able to find a fish store open today and pick up Methylene Blue. It's been in the bath for 2hrs now. I'm monitoring the poor guy. Hope he somehow pulls through. Any other recommendations I can take after the MB bath?

 

I agree, I don't believe Prazi will help and will likely just diminish the fish further.

[DelRayTank]

Really glad to see you got help from HumbleFish. He’s an awesome resource on fish health issues and really timely in responding.

 

i really hope your tang pulls through! I’ll be back in DC on Friday AM. I’ve got a ton of fish medicine on hand that I’m happy to share on emergency basis. If you need anything after Friday, let me know. 
 

good luck!

[treesprite]

Sorry to hear about the tang. I hope it recovers.

 

Did you put something in the tank it is in for nitrifying bacteria? Either an additive or pieces of liverock, or maybe filter media that was in the main tank? If not, you will get ammonia buildup which could make the fish worse or even kill it.

[Jon Lazar]

IME a new fish suddenly laying on it's side like you describe means the fish is having trouble breathing.  I would take immediate steps to increase the oxygenation of the water.  Increase circulation and aeration.  An airstone under a powerhead creates massive air bubbles in your tank.  That's a good thing for a suffocating fish.  Set a  slightly lower tank temperature.  This increases the oxygen saturation, while decreasing the fish's need for oxygen. 

 

Then I would begin treating the fish with the assumption of velvet.  I would start with a 5 minute freshwater or 45 minute formalin dip, and start therapeutic treatment with copper.  I've been using Copper Power with good results.  If you can put the fish into hyposalinity, do it.  It won't eradicate velvet, but it will make the fish more comfortable.  As others have said, keep a close eye on ammonia.

 

I've bought a lot of fish over the last two years, from several very common online stores that we all use.  There's a lot of velvet out there that doesn't present like the "powdered sugar" pictures you see.  IME, it's extremely subtle and almost impossible to detect with the naked eye. 

 

Good luck!

[DelRayTank]

How’s the tang doing?