impulsive, need replieis fast

[ChrisB]

at the pet store i stopped by today they had about 1.5-2 inch long hippo/blue tang. I told him you could expect me back tomorrow maybe to buy it. I will be leaving town tomorrow for thanksgiving so i need to tell him to hold it for me , till saturday, so i can get the quarintine ready and be back in town. i have never seen one so small before and it was the first fish i wanted for my saltwater so its a little sentimental to me. now the part that troubles me I know for a fact that at one point i will move everything to a 180 gallon and also if im ready for this fish ive been in this since july so... i know how prone to ick they are but the guy in the lps says hes been in there fine for a week, no problems, evn after being through all that stress so would changing tanks really cause that much stress after that. im in a hurry so this message may not be to clear but would it be smart to buy this on saturday (its wednesday bty) and keep him in the 75 for a couple months and then change him. also any general information on these fish i need. ive done plenty of research bty but im a little paranoid. its wierd how when i get my aquarium i become so impulsive.
I realize this is a very stupid question and ill try not to nbother you with any more butsome thiongs you just want a straight answer to instead of spending hours researching it

 

[jaiden]

don't rush. put it on hold. think about it over the weekend.

After all, if he does have a problem when you bring him home, you wouldn't be able to help him till you got back.

 

[ChrisB]

yea but you dont realize how fast this will be sold im suprised he still had it. this place has 4 running sw tanks and a fast growing aquarium intrest (college stundents Ole Miss). i usually have to special order fish or go to memphis to another one full of sw tanks to get a fish. this place i have get the shipments in at 11 on thursdays its all gone by 12 on same day. i guess its thanksgiving so nobodies here. bty they had an achilles tang. im suprised, but no chance im paying 60 bucks for an almost guaranteed dead fish. well my impulsiveness is going down the more i think about it. well i guess we all have those days

 

[ChrisB]

and if he has a problem i figure he ll either die in my Q tank, the pet stores tank, or somebody elses tank. i didnt get into this hobby thinking all my fish would live though i hope they do

 

[lando]

My reccomendation is to wait until the timing is right. IT is not the last blue tang out there. This fish is very prone to infections and parasites and should be observed closely while in QT.

 

[MACATUA]

IME, the baby blue tangs are a bit more prone to disease. I have had better luck with bigger, older specimens. The couple of babies I had did not fare well at all. As far as the tank should be fine, as long as he will move within like 2 years.

 

[fishfreek]

All the advice given is good. Rushing will turn into problems later down the line. It wont be the last small tang he gets in for sure and if the store is respectable enough then they will purchase a fish on request and hold it for you when it comes in vs having it open to first come first serve.

Buying fish the instant they hit the store tanks istnt the best thing either.

Going from a 75 to a 180 wont be as stressful as shipping the fish to the store as long as things are setup and ready when the move is done and the water conditions are as close to the old tank as they can be in the new system. Another factor to the stress would be the method of how the fish is caught from the first system.

 

[ChrisB]

ok im giving up on that certain tang, but just to clear up, you know the pet store that you only go to to get food because there is no chance theyll have fish, well thats the one i have. there is one 2 hours away i go to when im in the mood to actually have fun spending money on fish but, its 2 hours. I have read (not that doing this will make me go buy a tang) that feeding garlic helps with the immune system. So when I finally do get one im a little more prepared, how do I go about feeding garlic. do I actually get a real garlic, and crush up a little in their food like mix it in the cup i thaw the frozen food. If this isnt right explain how

 

[fishfreek]

Im not blessed with the luxary of a good LFS local to purchase fish from either. There are stores close that stock fish but I would almost never consiter purchasing livestock from them.

The garlic can be administered a few ways. First they have some garlic products for fish exclusivly. What your looking for though is the garlic 'juice' or oil. What I used to do when I used it was get fresh cloves and crush them slowly. Put a small cup under the garlic press so catch the liquid. When the pulp starts to come out then you move it over to a plate and then repress the pulp once to get more liquid out. The slower you press the garlic thru the press the more liquid you will extract. Dump the pulp and use the liquid to soak the food in.

 

[Heineken]

Is this garlic treatment a preventative or a remedy? If so, how and what does it do/help with? First time I've ever heard about it. Why did you stop doing the galic thing FF? Thanks

 

[ChrisB]

there arent any side effects are there because last time i tried to help my tank with kent marine chemicals my shrimp died. $54 bucks down the drain because kent marine says it will help inverts but it ends up killing every one I have. just a little paranoid about putting things in my tank now.

 

[fishfreek]

Its been nonscientficly shown to help cure ich and some folks use it as a preventive. I stopped using it simply cause my PBT and other fish for that mater have not shown signs of ich or any other illness for years so i figured why bother.

If you search here for garlic you should find alot of resouces. There is no hard proof as to what it does. Some say it simply boosts the fish's appitite and thus increases its immune system indrectly. Others say the garlic oil is absorbed and released thru the fish's flesh and the ich parasite does not like garlic and thus releases before maturity thus killing it.

 

[ChrisB]

oh well thank you for that. so just soak the food in the garlic juice
thanks