blue tang sores?

[etemp714]

i have a tank at work, and ive recently added a blue tang to the tank. it was probably 2 weeks ago. Everything went smooth with the transition. He eats his fair share. But every morning i come in hes got himself stuck in a crevice in the live rock. i mean every morning hes lodged in a small place he cant get himself out. one time i had to break off a chunk in front of him to allow him to swim out. He eventually gets out but ive been concerned about his sides getting scratched up. Well today i come in and hes got a couple nasty looking sores on his sides. Im not sure if its something else, it doesnt look like a parasite issue. Could it be from another fish picking at him?










if anyone has seen this before let me know. and treatment wise as well. id hate to lose this guy.thanks in advance

 

[Flreefer]

Well Palette tangs are definitely one of the stupidest tangs out there. Dory, in the Nemo movie was a Palette tang for a reason!
I had a much smaller one that lodged itself in a rock and died, so this behavior is pretty common.
As far as the scratches on its side, as long as it is otherwise healthy, it should recover. Just keep an eye on it for infection. And maybe feed it some garlic fortified food, to boost its immune system.
Although they do this somewhat regularly, it is possible that it's trying to get away from other fish. What other fish are in the tank? If the Palette was the last introduced, it could be being bullied by others, like that Blue Damsel perhaps.

 

[carey]

It's normal behavior for the blue tangs to wedge themselves in the rocks. Mine goes into spaces so tiny at night I'm amazed he can get himself out. lol I have seen scratches here and there from this and they usually heal up in a few days, but mine hasnt hurt himself too badly before.

When I first got mine he hid under rocks and wedged himself in crevices as well, it took about 2 weeks for him to come out and be a regular fish. othe fish in the tank could be harassing him as well like mentioned above so keep an eye out to see whats up.

Good luck with him!

 

[etemp714]

i have a neon damsel, a bicolor blenny, and a citron goby. he seems to have some sort of beef with the damsel. they challenge each other frequently but it doesnt seem to be a problem. right now i just looked over and hes wedged in a crevice again. will that stress them out being stuck for awhile or is that common?

 

[Flreefer]

I would think that's it's pretty stressful.
What size tank are they in? That might be part of the problem too...

 

[etemp714]

hes in a 10 gallon at the moment. i know they need to be in way larger tanks, but at the moment hes really tiny(about an inch long)w, the plan is to add him to my 25 gallon at home for a few months until i get 100+ gallon tank next year. the guy at my LFS insists that he will be fine in my 10 gallon for awhile. he says he puts them in smaller tanks than that. So i know if im gonna have any success, hes gonna have to get in a bigger tank. Has anyone had success with a small tang in a small tank for a short while?

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Um no.. A blue tang in a 10 gallon is pretty much asking for desiese and ich. It makes no sence to me why people dont buy fish when they know they will have a bigger tank. You say you will have a 100+ gallon tank in a year, so what made you think "awesome, ill get a tang for my 10 gallon now" ???

Im sorry if that comes off as harsh, but i get tired of people doing stuff like this. Get a fish that is suitable for your tank, if not, then there will be consequences. You have only seen the begining of the consequences with these sores, ich is far worse.

 

[etemp714]

through discussion with the guy at my LFS, he said all would be good. Sounds like ill advice, you need to funnel your anger at the "experts", im just someone thats trying to enjoy the hobby.

 

[Nu-Nu the eel]

Haha we can all agree that the guy at the lfs was definitly wrong. If you want to enjoy the hobby i think you should get rid of the tang before it gets ich and that spreads to all of your other fish, causing the tank to crash without proper treatment. That is what i would do if i were you.

 

[crister13]

That was not ill advice at all. What the guy at the lfs gave you was ill advice. Nunu is COMPLETELY right. Usually, a fish at any size should be kept in an aquarium that will suite its needs as an adult, and you are FAR from that. If you had an extra 100 gallons that still wouldn't be enough (assuming a 110 is 4 feet long). All tangs except tomini and kole tangs really do need 6 foot tanks. It's not like you have it in a 4 foot tank..... You have it in a tank that's not even big enough for clownfish.

 

[Greenphantom]

I am going to chime in FOR THE MOST PART DO NOT TAKE THE ADVICE FROM SOMEONE YOU DONT TRUST even if that person claims to know what they are talking about for example I have been going to the same lfs for 20 yrs. you would think these guys would give me good advice yea right just recently I saw the craziest thing I ve ever seen at this lfs a sturgeon so I went and got the owner and started asking him questions about he said oh yea he will do great in your tropical community tank so I impulse bought took him home floated him for 45 mins and out him in and started researching to my dismay this is a cold water species I did ask him this and he said no as long as you acclimate him he ll be fine WRONG so I called him asked if I could exchange and he said no so within a day he was dead. Moral of the story BEFORE YOU BUY ANY CRITTERS OR FISH DO YOUR RESEARCH!!!! I am not yelling at you or mad at you but PLEASE for the sake of these poor animals NO WHAT YOUR BUYING find out what the water condition tank mates etc. With most not all but lfs make less then 20000 a year so they will make a buck anyway they can

 

[Flreefer]

Hey Etemp,
As far as the tang and the tank size, I won't beat a dead horse, but that probably is some of the problem. The other being, it's trapped in there with a territorial Damsel.
Like other post stated, most LFS will say anything they can to make a buck...anything.
It's up to the end user to know what's best for their situation. They do make reference apps for iPhone and I'm sure droid, that have basic stats for fish and corals. These can be valuable while at the LFS. Then you aren't relying on them for info., and susceptible to their mis-information.
Honestly, if you want what's best for that tang, put it in your tank at home ( it's twice the size of the 10g.). And start thinking about at least a 125g.
Best of luck moving forward.

 

[etemp714]

That was not ill advice at all. What the guy at the lfs gave you was ill advice. Nunu is COMPLETELY right. Usually, a fish at any size should be kept in an aquarium that will suite its needs as an adult, and you are FAR from that. If you had an extra 100 gallons that still wouldn't be enough (assuming a 110 is 4 feet long). All tangs except tomini and kole tangs really do need 6 foot tanks. It's not like you have it in a 4 foot tank..... You have it in a tank that's not even big enough for clownfish.

My bad I wasn't clear but I was saying I'll advice on my LFS guys behalf not nu nu .

 

[etemp714]

Yeah I'm definitely going to do something about the tang. The reason why I go to this guys store is I've never had a fish die. Everything he's ever sold me from fresh to salt has made it. But I feel like he tells me what I want to hear... Any fish combo I want will work, everything is reef safe lol. So moral of the story is I need to know my stuff and only buy what I know, not let him sell me more stuff. The other day I was in there and he sold a guy a red sea salfin tang for his 10 gallon .

 

[Flreefer]

Yeah, honestly that's disgusting...he's probably got some bills to pay. That's 12.5 times too small.
Best thing you can do is research what fish or coral you want, knowing that it will fit your tanks specifics ( size, tank mates, lighting ) and try to find it.
Impulse buying can cause a lot of trouble for you and your tank. It can also cost you a lot of money in losses, medications, and replacement livestock.
Best of luck!

 

[kdpuffer]

Something I always keep on hand when going to the LFS is google. Doing a quick google search typically yields better results than a reference app.