New yellow tang.

[fishman]

Well I have been preparing to get a yellow tang now since 10/25 when I set and cycled my QT Tank. I got the tang today and acclimated him all day long. Just released him into the 30 gallon QT. Hes about the size of a half dollar. I also went ahead and put a softball sized peice of LR from my sump in the tank. It has some macro on it so Im wondering if he will eat this. How soon should I feed him? I have not turned on the lights and probably wont until tomorrow around noon. Want him to remain calm. Any suggestions on caring for him in a QT tank? I have been in SW for 4 years and have not QT nor added a fish in 3 years. A little out of practice!!
Thanks!

 

[tecwzrd]

If you drip acclimated it to the cycled QT I'm sure it will be fine. Surprised you got such a small tang though. I prefer them 2 1/2"-3" but you still should be fine. You can try a small 2" x 2" strip of nori but it may not eat for a day or two. If it goes for more then 2 days without nibbling the nori on a clip then I'd also try frozen.

Good luck

 

[fishman]

Small?? This dude is big to me!! Well let me restate this. His BODY is half dollar sized and when he spreads his fins, hes really big. Maybe its just me but thats big for a tang in my mind!!

 

[roka64]

I only acclimate my fish for and hour. I would turn on the lights and let him do his thing. I would go ahead and get him fed.
Props on the QT!!!

 

[fishman]

Well I went to turn the light on and its not coming on. I think its the ballast. Anyone have an idea as to where I can get a light kit for a 36" setup? The bulb is new so I know its not this. I have been looking around myself. Let me know if you find one before I do. The one I have is from Oceanic but the date on it is from 1995.

 

[roka64]

Check out heliolights.com....I think, they might have what you are looking for....

 

[lando]

Most fish require a few days to settle into their new surroundings. I would leave the light off for a couple of days and then begin to offer very small amounts of food, and a good variety. Nori, as mentioned, is also a great addition.

On a side note...the purpose of a QT tank is to completely isolate the contents from your main. It is risky to use LR from the main in the QT and then put it back in the main when you are done. When I QT a new fish, I put a filter pad in the sump of main a couple of weeks before hand so it can develop the beneficial bacteria. I use it once in the QT and throw it out after my new arrival has been through a proper QT.

 

[melosu58]

I agree give him a few day and try to feed him some seaweed selects or nori being that he is a herbivore. I know he seems big but he will get much bigger. Mine is as big as my hand. Yellow tangs are very hardy and yours will be fine.

 

[fishman]

Well the good news is I turned the lights on and put a nori clip in there. He went right for it and is swimming around and checking things out.
Also I failed to mention I got the LR out of the sump when in reality its rubble rock. I have no intention of putting it back in the main. I will get more rubble from the LFS. I have LS in a baggie from the guys tank I bought the tang from as well as a biowheel and a softball size piece of rubble in the tank. Think this is enough for 1 fishs bioload?

 

[melosu58]

Just make sure that you do your water checks on your QT. Always have some fresh SW around in case your parameters get out of whack and you need to do a quick PWC. Congrats on the new Pick up.

 

[fishman]

Yes Im in the process of making 35 gallons of SW as we speak. Im also making FW as well so Im good! Im HOPING that the tang doesnt come down with anything. They guy I bought him from said he saw no ick at all in over 2 years. We shall see...

 

[tecwzrd]

I thought a half dollar was just slightly larger then a quarter which if was the full size of the tang would seem pretty young to me. Kind of shocked to hear it is already 2+ years old and is still that small. Mine is about the same age and is almost 5" long (head to tail) now.

Glad it's eating and roaming

I assume you bought the bio-wheel from the same person if I read your post correctly so if it was running on the tank with the tang it should easily handle bio-filtration but I'm glad you have 35 gal of SW for backup. I'd keep the bio-wheel for your QT but trash the wheel when you are done, they only run around $4.

 

[fishman]

Well needless to say Im bad with size...I will leave it at that. Could go many different directions but this is a family type board so I wont!!
Anyway after resizing the little guy, he is the size of a tennis ball at least - maybe little bigger.
The bio wheel I had in my sump for like 3 months. I keep 35 gallons running at all times for my main for sure so this will be back up too for the QT.
Yes I will trash the biowheel and LR (rubble) from my sump as well once Im done with it. Im going to QT this tang, then release him once he is good to go and then run about 5-8 more fish through it and then I will be done with all the fish I want.
Thanks for all the help.

 

[fishman]

I have another question. I have my tang in the QT since Dec 11 and I see no signs of ick. I know your supposed to keep fish in QT for 6-8 weeks, so with this said how long does it take for ick to show up if the fish has it realistically. Im thinking I will leave him in the QT for at least 5-6 weeks. Hes eating and all appears to be well to this point.

 

[fishman]

Anyone on my last question??

 

[Esra]

Is there a specific reason you want to cut the quarantine short?
If it's just because you want to see the fish in the tank then definitely do not shorten the QT time.

It's not just in there for Ich prevention, there are a myriad of diseases you want to make sure do not show up in your show tank.

 

[fishman]

No reason other than I want to move on to the next fish and put it in the QT tank. Plus this fish didnt come from a LFS. The fish came from a tank that has been set up and running for almost 2 years. The guy I bought him from said he has never had any disease that he knows of in his tank. I have had HORRIBLE luck in the past with the QT tank due to levels being out of whack. THis time all is running well and have had the tang in there for almost a week.

 

[Esra]

Ofcourse it's up to you but I would just wait the extra time and then get the next fish when the Tang is fully QT'd.

It may be a complete waste of your time, but then again 99% of the time quarantining is, it's to prevent that 1% ruining your show tank that it's done.

Maybe setup another QT if you really can't wait?

 

[fishman]

So how long do you QT fish? I have heard some say 6 and others say 8 weeks?

 

[Esra]

I don't do SW, but most of my friends to and they all stick to 2 months.

Probably overkill but it doesn't harm anyone.